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

Short Answer Questions

1. What play was Oscar Wilde writing in 1894?

2. Who is Colonel Isaacson?

3. Why was Oscar Wilde arrested?

4. To whom did the Marquis of Queensberry leave a large inheritance?

5. Who was Lord Alfred Douglas' father?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened when Oscar Wilde sued his lover's father, Lord Queensberry, for libel?

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

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

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

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

6. Why does Oscar Wilde refuse to flee from England to Paris?

7. Why did Lord Alfred Douglas' parents refuse to press charges against Oscar Wilde?

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

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

10. Why does it become impossible for Oscar Wilde to write after he writes "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Oscar Wilde's career as a playwright. What kind of plays did he write? What are his plays' themes? Choose three of his plays and describe what they tell us about Wilde's development as a playwright. How do his style and themes change over time?

Essay Topic 2

Oscar Wilde stated that the work of art requires the destruction of previous works of art. How did he practice this theory in his own art? Can his public persona be considered the work of art that destroyed his plays and poems and his novel?

Essay Topic 3

Oscar Wilde came into prominence as a friend and opponent of James McNeill Whistler. Describe how Oscar Wilde used controversy and debate and personal invective to his own purposes. What does Wilde gain from his contests, with Whistler and other critics, and then with the Marquis of Queensberry--as a person? What does he gain as a public personality?

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This section contains 690 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample