Part 1: A Comedy of Manners: The Importance of Being Earnest — Quiz
Question 6 • English Language Arts 12
Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest . Lady Bracknell: Pardon me, you are not engaged to any one. When you do become engaged to some one, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself . . . Wilde uses Lady Bracknell’s words to poke fun at marriage by having her
Answer
A
imply that young women do not have a choice in their own marriages.
B
speak lovingly of her own husband.
C
imply that marriages are happiest when based on romantic love.
D
speak unhappily of her own marriage.
Explanation
Lady Bracknell says that she or the young woman’s father will decide when the girl becomes engaged, and that the girl should not arrange it for herself. This mocks a society in which marriage is controlled by parents rather than chosen by the young woman. The correct choice is “imply that young women do not have a choice in their own marriages.”
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