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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When did Oscar Wilde publish "Salome"?
(a) 1893.
(b) 1894.
(c) 1892.
(d) 1895.

2. How did Oscar Wilde describe homosexuality in court?
(a) As the perfection of love.
(b) As the ideal art.
(c) As the love that dare not speak its name.
(d) As a crime against nature.

3. What was the subject of much of Oscar Wilde's correspondence in the period when he was writing the Ballad of Reading Gaol?
(a) The fate of his illegitimate children.
(b) His finances.
(c) Executing his wife's parents' estate.
(d) His reunion with his lover.

4. What was Oscar Wilde's clothing like in prison?
(a) Dapper.
(b) Coarse.
(c) Drab.
(d) Flamboyant.

5. How was Oscar Wilde released from prison for the first time?
(a) He proved his innocence at trial.
(b) He escaped with two other prisoners.
(c) He arranged for the charges to be dismissed.
(d) He raised money for bail among his friends.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Oscar Wilde alienate people?

2. What is Oscar Wilde's relationship with Major Nelson?

3. How did Oscar Wilde escape from being prosecuted for homosexuality?

4. What caused Oscar Wilde to stop writing?

5. What magazine published "The Picture of Dorian Gray"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What happens to Oscar Wilde when he goes to prison?

3. How do the people of Paris receive Oscar Wilde in 1891?

4. How do conditions change for Oscar Wilde when Major Nelson takes over at Reading jail?

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

6. What is the plot of Oscar Wilde's novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"?

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

8. How do Oscar Wilde's aesthetics develop during his time in Paris in 1891?

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

10. What disturbing incidents does Oscar Wilde witness before leaving prison?

(see the answer keys)

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