Read the passage from The Importance of Being Earnest . Lady Bracknell: . . . [Turns to Jack.] Apprised, sir, of my daughter’s sudden flight by her trusty maid, whose confidence I purchased by means of a small coin, I followed her at once by a luggage train. Her unhappy father is, I am glad to say, under the impression that she is attending a more than usually lengthy lecture by the University Extension Scheme on the Influence of a permanent income on Thought. I do not propose to undeceive him. Indeed I have never undeceived him on any question. I would consider it wrong. But of course, you will clearly understand that all communication between yourself and my daughter must cease immediately from this moment. How does Wilde poke fun at Victorian society in the passage? Choose three correct answers.
Answer
A
Lady Bracknell says her maid is trustworthy but has to bribe her to get help.
B
Lady Bracknell says it is wrong to be honest with her husband.
C
Lady Bracknell does not approve of Gwendolen dating Jack.
D
The names of the college and class seem reasonable to Gwendolen’s father.
E
Gwendolen’s father appears to be an unhappy man.
Explanation
Lady Bracknell calls the maid “trusty,” yet says she bought the maid’s confidence with a coin, making the description comically ironic. The elaborate lecture title sounds respectable enough that Gwendolen’s father accepts it as an explanation for her absence, poking fun at conventional respectability. Lady Bracknell also claims it would be wrong to tell her husband the truth, satirizing dishonesty within marriage; her disapproval of Jack is a plot conflict, not the main joke in this passage.
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