View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What disturbing scene does Oscar Wilde witness before leaving Reading jail?

2. Where did Oscar Wilde take a rest cure?

3. What play was Oscar Wilde writing in 1894?

4. Who is Lord Alfred Douglas?

5. Who is the central character in Oscar Wilde's play "Salome"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is "The Picture of Dorian Gray" seen as a work about homosexuality?

2. How is "Lady Windermere's Fan" received when it premieres in London?

3. What relationships does Oscar Wilde resume after leaving prison?

4. Where does Oscar Wilde go after he is released from prison?

5. How does Lord Alfred Douglas try to help Oscar Wilde while Wilde is in prison?

6. Why was Oscar Wilde's play "Salome" censored?

7. Describe the conditions under which Oscar Wilde was writing "The Importance of Being Earnest."

8. How did Lord Alfred Douglas' father feel about his son's relationship with Oscar Wilde?

9. What happens to Oscar Wilde's allowance from his mother after he leaves prison?

10. What was the outcome of Oscar Wilde's lawsuit against his lover's father, Lord Queensberry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At Oxford, Oscar Wilde encountered two philosophers, Ruskin and Pater. How did Ruskin's ideas influence Wilde? How did Pater's? How did Wilde reconcile the tension between the two men's philosophies with his career?

Essay Topic 2

From 1887 to 1889, Oscar Wilde edited magazines. How did his editorial work change his literary style? Did it affect his plays? His poems? His aesthetic theories? His public personality? Did his work as a magazine editor help or hurt his development as a literary writer and critic?

Essay Topic 3

After Oscar Wilde was convicted of homosexuality, his friends urged him to flee to Paris. Why did he not flee? What did he gain by remaining in England and being imprisoned? What did he lose?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 655 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample