Question

Gwendolen. let us preserve a dignified silence. cecily. certainly. it's the only thing to do now. [enter jack followed by algernon. they whistle some dreadful popular air from a british opera.] gwendolen. this dignified silence seems to produce an unpleasant effect. cecily. a most distasteful one. gwendolen. but we will not be the first to speak. cecily. certainly not. gwendolen. mr. worthing, i have something very particular to ask you. much depends on your reply. wilde uses the exchange between gwendolen and cecily to praise the strict social codes of victorian society. show the superiority of women in victorian society. mock the formal courtship rules of victorian society. explain the importance of romance in victorian society.

Answer 1

C is the best answer for the above question

Answer 2

The correct answer is option C. In the excerpt, Wilde uses the exchange between Gwendolen and Cecily to mock the formal courtship rules of Victorian society. The excerpt belongs to "The importance of Being Ernest", a play written by Oscar Wilde and published in 1898. The whole play has the objective to shed a light on how ridiculous the norms of Victorian societies were, and how they affected the lives of the characters. All these rules made the characters hypocrites and liars, because in order to show the pomposity and morality that was demanded by society, they had to hide facts of their lives.