AO3

Question 1

strict rules of social conduct behaved in front of certain groups of company

Answer 1

pas devant

Question 2

artificial politeness of the upper classes is merely a transparent mask they wear to cover wild behaviours

Answer 2

cynicism of upper class identified in genre of a comedy of manners, deals with satirising pretence and artificiality of social hierachy

Question 3

epitomises essence of comedy and satire (itself is a comedy of manners)

Answer 3

expressed through exaggeration of language features such as epigrams, puns and satirical expressions, also with association with melodramatic elements

Question 4

despite absurdity of play, it is an aphorism of the Victorian society

Answer 4

Wilde expresses his criticism through the light-hearted and farcical nature of the play, drawing hypocrisy against the valued

Question 5

we should treat all trivial things very seriously, and all serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality

Answer 5

a little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal

Question 6

being trivial and being earnest are complete opposites, undermines idea of triviality as the tile is “IOBEarnest”

Answer 6

whilst Wilde preaches Aestheticism
(play itself rather unrealistic and paradoxical, good literature does not have to contain a moral message)

Question 7

linking sincerity and triviality

Answer 7

sincerity is something that is looked up to in Victorian society but is presented as an act in the play

Question 8

reactions from the modern audience

Answer 8

performance of being polite, notions of virtues might seem trivial to us in a modern society

Question 9

jokes and comedic elements of characters to hide and mask their thoughts

Answer 9

rips apart class difference shows misogyny and how the upper class are not as morally superior as they were claimed to be