Question

Read the excerpt from Act III of The Importance of Being Earnest. Jack. [In a pathetic voice.] Miss Prism, more is restored to you than this hand-bag. I was the baby you placed in it. Miss Prism. [Amazed.] You? Jack. [Embracing her.] Yes . . . mother! Miss Prism. [Recoiling in indignant astonishment.] Mr. Worthing! I am unmarried! Jack. Unmarried! I do not deny that is a serious blow. But after all, who has the right to cast a stone against one who has suffered? Cannot repentance wipe out an act of folly? Why should there be one law for men, and another for women? Mother, I forgive you. [Tries to embrace her again.] What is the best conclusion that can be drawn about Jack, based on his words and actions in this excerpt? He has a tendency to be rude. He is inclined to show his emotions. He has a tendency to be gullible. He is inclined to be unresponsive.

Answer 1

The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, is a play that has been described as a trivial comedy for serious people in which its characters create alternate and fictional personas to be able to deal with the burdens put on them by Victorian society. First acted in 1895 in the St. James Theater in London, this play deals with such serious matters as marriage and the customs and beliefs of Victorian society in a trivial way and satirize Victorian conventions.

In this particular excerpt of the III Act of the play what Jack, one of the main characters of the play, is showing is a tendency to show his emotions as he consistently and insistently tries in some form express his emotions and feelings through a constant attempt at hugging and touching Miss Prism.

Answer 2

He is inclined to show his emotions. This is the right option.

Although Miss Prism tells Jack that she is not his mother, Jack attempts to hug her more than once and he also sounds sympathetic. The underlined phrases from the quotations reflect Jack's emotional state. Jack. [Embracing her.] Yes . . . mother! // ....Why should there be one law for men, and another for women? Mother, I forgive you. [Tries to embrace her again.]

These options are wrong:

- He has a tendency to be rude. On the contrary, Jack sounds sympathetic.

-He has a tendency to be gullible. Jack is not given any false information by Miss Prism.

-He is inclined to be unresponsive. He is responsive since he is not indifferent towards Miss Prism 's words.