The Importance of Being Earnest

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Algernon’s lax views on marriage are best illustrated by which of the following quotations?

A) “The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If I ever get married, I’ll certainly try to forget the fact.” (Act 1)

B) “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” (Act 1)

C) “More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read.” (Act 1)

D) “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his.” (Act 1)

2. Why does Lady Bracknell take issue with Thomas Cardew’s adoption of Jack after finding him at a train station?

A) Because she does not like train stations

B) Because she has not heard of Thomas Cardew

C) Because of Jack’s lack of an aristocratic lineage

D) Because she does not believe the story

3. What theme is best illustrated by Gwendolen’s assertion that “I am glad to say that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely different”? (Act 2)

A) The British Aristocracy and Class Anxiety

B) Wilde’s Personal Life

C) Alternate Identities

D) Social and Familial Obligations

4. What literary device does Lady Bracknell illustrate when she says that “land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure. It gives one position and prevents one from keeping it up. That’s all that can be said about land”? (Act 1)

A) Simile

B) Paradox

C) Personification

D) Symbolism

5. How do Gwendolen and Cecily react when they discover that they are both engaged to “Ernest” Worthing?

A) They are amused by the coincidence.

B) They both decide to break off their engagement immediately.

C) They try to find a reasonable explanation for the confusion.

D) They become hostile to each other.

6. What is the purpose of the relationship between Dr. Chasuble and Miss Prism in the play?

A) They demonstrate the importance of intellectualism in Victorian society.

B) They show that even those in lower social classes seek love.

C) They provide satirical commentary about Victorian views on morality and religion.

D) They simply provide some comic relief in the play.

7. When Lady Bracknell says, “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that” (Act 3), what does she suggest about her values?

A) She believes that people who are not part of Society should be shunned.

B) She makes fun of society because she does not think that social standing is important.

C) She is a social climber who only values a person’s social standing.

D) She believes that people should always be respectful and kind to each other.

8. Why does Lady Bracknell disapprove of Bunbury?

A) Because Algernon’s attention to him prevents her from getting her way

B) Because he does not exist

C) Because he wants to marry her daughter Gwendolen

D) Because he does not belong to the aristocracy

9. How does Lady Bracknell recognize Miss Prism?

A) Miss Prism is her sister.

B) Miss Prism is the nurse who lost her sister’s eldest son.

C) Miss Prism stole something from her.

D) Miss Prism was the governess of her daughter Gwendolen.

10. How does Lady Bracknell react when she discovers Jack’s true parentage?

A) She disapproves of Jack even more strongly.

B) She allows Jack to marry Gwendolen.

C) She is completely indifferent.

D) She bursts into tears.

11. Which two characters do not belong to the aristocracy?

A) Jack and Cecily

B) Miss Prism and Algernon

C) Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen

D) Lane and Merriman

12. How does Wilde use the motif of tea snacks throughout the play?

A) To satirize the triviality of the British upper classes

B) To illustrate the distastefulness of British cuisine

C) To show the gluttony of his characters

D) To demonstrate the conflict between social classes

13. In what way does Cecily’s diary illustrate irony?

A) Cecily uses her diary to record made-up events rather than actual events.

B) Cecily insists on keeping her diary private.

C) Cecily claims to have a diary but does not actually have one.

D) Cecily does not write about herself in her diary.

14. Which of the following quotations best illustrates why Cecily is attracted to Algernon?

A) “But I don’t like German. It isn’t at all a becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson.” (Act 2)

B) “You need hardly remind me of that, Ernest. I remember only too well that I was forced to write your letters for you. I wrote always three times a week, and sometimes oftener.” (Act 2)

C) “You must not laugh at me, darling, but it had always been a girlish dream of mine to love someone whose name was Ernest. [Algernon rises, Cecily also.] There is something in that name that seems to inspire absolute confidence. I pity any poor married woman whose husband is not called Ernest.” (Act 2)

D) “I have never met any really wicked person before. I feel rather frightened. I am so afraid he will look just like everyone else.” (Act 2)

15. Why did Algernon invent the persona of “Bunbury”?

A) To avoid paying his gambling debts

B) To spend more time with family in the city

C) To meet Cecily Cardew

D) To escape his unwanted social and familial obligations

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How is the three-volume novel used as a symbol to mock the Victorian middle class?

2. What is the difference between Algernon’s “Bunburying” and Jack’s use of the alias of Ernest?