GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of British Plays 1660–1925
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Contexts Of British Plays 1660–1925
CECILY: Uncle Jack would be very much annoyed if he knew you were staying on till next week, at the same hour.
ALGERNON: Oh, I don’t care about Jack. I don’t care for anybody in the whole world but you. I love you, Cecily. You will marry me, won’t you?
CECILY: You silly boy! Of course. Why, we have been engaged for the last three months.
ALGERNON: For the last three months?
CECILY: Yes, it will be exactly three months on Thursday.
ALGERNON: But how did we become engaged?
CECILY: Well, ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism. And of course a man who is much talked about is always very attractive. One feels there must be something in him, after all. I daresay it was foolish of me, but I fell in love with you, Ernest.
Although initially successful, this play closed early due to what scandal?
The playwright’s affair with a married woman
The playwright’s imprisonment in debtor’s gaol
The playwright’s homosexuality
The playwright’s public criticism of the Queen of England
The playwright’s contraction of venereal disease
The playwright’s homosexuality
While it received great critical acclaim, The Importance of Being Earnest also led to Wilde’s personal downfall. After the mother of Lord Alfred Douglas (nicknamed “Bosie” and Wilde’s lover) was denied entry to the play, Wilde’s relationship with Bosie became public and led to his imprisonment. As a result of the scandal, the play closed early.
(Passage adapted from The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde, II.i (1895))
Example Question #32 : Contexts Of British Plays
CECILY: Uncle Jack would be very much annoyed if he knew you were staying on till next week, at the same hour.
ALGERNON: Oh, I don’t care about Jack. I don’t care for anybody in the whole world but you. I love you, Cecily. You will marry me, won’t you?
CECILY: You silly boy! Of course. Why, we have been engaged for the last three months.
ALGERNON: For the last three months?
CECILY: Yes, it will be exactly three months on Thursday.
ALGERNON: But how did we become engaged?
CECILY: Well, ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism. And of course a man who is much talked about is always very attractive. One feels there must be something in him, after all. I daresay it was foolish of me, but I fell in love with you, Ernest.
Which of the following is not a character in this play?
Willy Loman
Lady Augusta Bracknell
Algy Moncrieff
Gwendolyn Fairfax
Jack Worthing
Willy Loman
Willy Loman is a character from Arthur Miller’s 1949 play Death of a Salesman. All the rest appear in Wilde's play.
(Passage adapted from The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde, II.i (1895))
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