Identification of British Plays 1660–1925 - AP English Literature and Composition

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“How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."

"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them."

"I say it’s perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.”

Identify the title and author of the passage.

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Answer

These lines, exchanged between Jack and Algernon, are from Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. The play, whose full title is The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, was first performed in 1895. It is a satirical look at Victorian social rules and obligations. The word "bunburying" is famously used in its plot to mean to assume an alter ego in a different locale so as to get out of social obligations. Much of the play's plot and repartee centers around identity, and in particular, confusion surrounding the name "Ernest."

Passage adapted from Act II of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

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