Part 1: A Comedy of Manners: The Importance of Being Earnest — Quiz
Question 4 • English Language Arts 12
Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest . Jack: [Irritably.] Oh! It always is nearly seven. Algernon: Well, I’m hungry. Jack: I never knew you when you weren’t . . . Algernon: What shall we do after dinner? Go to a theatre? Jack: Oh, no! I loathe listening. Algernon: Well, let us go to the Club? Jack: Oh, no! I hate talking. Algernon: Well, we might trot round to the Empire at ten? Jack: Oh, no! I can’t bear looking at things. It is so silly. Algernon: Well, what shall we do? Jack: Nothing! Algernon: It is awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don’t mind hard work where there is no definite object of any kind. Which is an example of how Wilde pokes fun at the upper-class lifestyle?
Answer
A
Algernon states that he is hungry once again.
B
Algernon says it is hard work to live in this leisurely manner.
C
Jack rejects all of Algernon’s suggestions.
D
Jack has trouble listening and speaking.
Explanation
Algernon jokingly calls “doing nothing” hard work, even though he says he does not mind it when it has no definite purpose. The contradiction makes fun of the upper-class habit of having plenty of leisure while treating idleness as an effort. This is the example in choice B.
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