Part 2: Literary Devices in The Importance of Being Earnest
Question 3 • DBN LA 8-CR
Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest.Algernon. Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it.Jack. That is nonsense. If I marry a charming girl like Gwendolen, and she is the only girl I ever saw in my life that I would marry, I certainly won’t want to know Bunbury.Algernon. Then your wife will. You don’t seem to realise, that in married life three is company and two is none.
Answer
A
make marriage seem easy and simple.
B
convince Jack that marriage is unnecessary.
C
make a critique of married life.
D
convince Jack that his wife will be dishonest.
Explanation
Algernon jokes that married people need a third person to keep them company, suggesting that marriage between two people is tedious. This exaggeration pokes fun at the difficulties and expectations of married life. So the dialogue makes a critique of married life, rather than showing it as easy or trying to prove that Jack’s future wife will be dishonest.
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