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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Robert Harborough Sherard do for Oscar Wilde?
(a) He published Wilde's first book.
(b) He wrote Wilde's biography.
(c) He produced "The Duchess of Padua."
(d) He produced Wilde's first play.

2. What is the theme of Oscar Wilde's first play?
(a) Marriage and manners.
(b) Homosexuality and art.
(c) Socialism and nihilism.
(d) Modernity and war.

3. What does Oscar Wilde's mother change her name to?
(a) Lisbeth Horten.
(b) Speranza Francesca.
(c) Jessica Linde.
(d) Roberta Montagna.

4. Who is Robert Ross?
(a) Oscar Wilde's homosexual lover.
(b) The director of "Vera."
(c) Oscar Wilde's mother's lawyer.
(d) Oscar Wilde's son.

5. What kind of run does "Vera" have in America?
(a) Unspectacular, but moderately successful.
(b) Short and disappointing.
(c) Long and successful.
(d) Short but meteoric.

6. What magazine does Oscar Wilde publish in from 1887 to 1888?
(a) Pall Mall Gazette.
(b) The London Times.
(c) Women's World.
(d) Harper's Bazaar.

7. When does Oscar Wilde finish "The Duchess of Padua"?
(a) Well in advance of his publisher's deadline.
(b) Too late for his publisher to print it.
(c) Just in time to meet his publisher's deadline.
(d) A little bit late for his publisher's deadline.

8. What were the gate receipts for Oscar Wilde's first lecture in America?
(a) $1,211.
(b) $81.
(c) $452.
(d) $2,571.

9. Why is Oscar Wilde's first play not produced?
(a) Because it dramatized an assassination attempt.
(b) Because Oscar Wilde's enemies poisoned the backers against him.
(c) Because Oscar Wilde withdrew it under political pressure.
(d) Because the producers ran out of money.

10. Oscar Wilde's debates with James McNeill Whistler are included in which of Wilde's works?
(a) "The Duchess of Padua."
(b) "Personal Impressions of America."
(c) "The Importance of Being Earnest."
(d) "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

11. What was Oscar Wilde's primary challenge in his fourth year at Oxford?
(a) To pass the Honour Moderations.
(b) To pass the School's Examinations.
(c) To join Phi Beta Kappa.
(d) To join the Freemasons.

12. Which intellectual appeals to conscience over imagination?
(a) Arnold.
(b) Ruskin.
(c) Pater.
(d) Mill.

13. How does Oscar Wilde resolve the opposition between Ruskin and Pater?
(a) He sided with Pater.
(b) He resolved to remain neutral.
(c) He synthesized a new aesthetic ethics.
(d) He sided with Ruskin.

14. What profession does Oscar Wilde take up in order to supplement his wife's income?
(a) Lecturing.
(b) Publishing.
(c) Poetry.
(d) Journalism.

15. Why did Oscar Wilde need a special dispensation to join the group he joined in 1875?
(a) He was under twenty-one.
(b) He was Irish.
(c) He was Catholic.
(d) He was Protestant.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Oscar Wilde handle the disruption of his Harvard lecture?

2. Who replaced Oscar Wilde as James McNeill Whistler's favorite in Wilde's absence?

3. Which intellectual does Oscar Wilde turn to for spiritual guidance?

4. What is the name of the friend who converted to Catholicism and influenced Oscar Wilde to consider converting?

5. With which American writer does Oscar Wilde meet in Philadelphia while he is making his first set of American lectures?

(see the answer keys)

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