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Oscar Wilde: 100+ MCQs on a Literary Genius
OSCAR WILDE MCQS: Welcome, literature lovers! Dive deep into the brilliant, witty, and ultimately tragic world of Oscar Wilde. A leading figure in the Aesthetic and Decadent movements, Wilde’s life was as dramatic as his plays, and his wit is as sharp today as it was in the Victorian era. This comprehensive post provides over 100 Oscar Wilde MCQs with answers, covering his life, major works, philosophical ideas, and enduring legacy. Whether you’re a student preparing for an exam or a connoisseur of classic literature, this quiz will challenge and delight you. Let the intellectual journey begin!
Part 1: Biography & Personal Life
1.In which city was Oscar Wilde born on October 16, 1854?
- A) London
- B) Paris
- C) Dublin
- D) Edinburgh
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Dublin
Explanation: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom.
2.What were the professions of Oscar Wilde’s parents, Sir William Wilde and Jane Wilde?
- A) A lawyer and a novelist
- B) A surgeon and a poet
- C) A politician and a painter
- D) A merchant and a musician
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A surgeon and a poet
Explanation: His father, Sir William Wilde, was Ireland’s leading ear and eye surgeon. His mother, Jane Wilde, was a successful poet and Irish nationalist who wrote under the pen name “Speranza.”
3.Oscar Wilde was a brilliant student at which two famous universities?
- A) Cambridge and Yale
- B) Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford
- C) University of Edinburgh and Sorbonne
- D) Harvard and King’s College, London
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford
Explanation: He excelled in classics first at Trinity College, Dublin, and then won a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he truly developed his aesthetic philosophy.
4.What was the pen name used by Oscar Wilde’s mother, Jane Wilde?
- A) Corinne
- B) George Eliot
- C) Speranza
- D) Belladonna
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Speranza
Explanation: Meaning “hope” in Italian, Jane Wilde adopted the pen name Speranza for her pro-Irish nationalist poetry.
5.Whom did Oscar Wilde marry in 1884?
- A) Lillie Langtry
- B) Ada Leverson
- C) Maud Gonne
- D) Constance Lloyd
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Constance Lloyd
Explanation: Wilde married Constance Lloyd, the daughter of a wealthy Queen’s Counsel. They had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan.
Part 2: The Novel – The Picture of Dorian Gray
6.What is the central concept of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, *The Picture of Dorian Gray*?
- A) A man who sells his soul for knowledge
- B) A man who remains young while his portrait ages
- C) A man who can travel through time
- D) A scientist who creates a monster
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A man who remains young while his portrait ages
Explanation: Dorian Gray expresses a wish that his portrait would age and bear the marks of his sins while he remains eternally youthful. His wish is granted.
7.Who is the artist that paints the fateful portrait of Dorian Gray?
- A) Lord Henry Wotton
- B) Alan Campbell
- C) Basil Hallward
- D) James Vane
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Basil Hallward
Explanation: Basil Hallward is the talented, good-hearted artist who becomes obsessed with Dorian’s beauty and captures it in the portrait, which he considers his masterpiece.
8.Which character acts as a corrupting influence on Dorian, promoting a life of hedonism and new sensations?
- A) Sibyl Vane
- B) Lord Henry “Harry” Wotton
- C) Basil Hallward
- D) Victor, the valet
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Lord Henry “Harry” Wotton
Explanation: Lord Henry is a witty, cynical aristocrat whose epigrammatic philosophy of pursuing pleasure above all else profoundly influences the impressionable Dorian Gray.
9.What is the profession of Sibyl Vane, the young woman Dorian Gray falls in love with?
- A) A governess
- B) An actress
- C) A singer
- D) A shopgirl
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) An actress
Explanation: Sibyl Vane is a talented young actress performing in a rundown London theatre. Dorian is initially captivated by her art before his cruel rejection leads to her tragic end.
10.What ultimately happens to Dorian Gray at the end of the novel?
- A) He escapes to Paris and lives a long life
- B) He is killed by James Vane
- C) He stabs the portrait, which kills him and restores the painting
- D) He destroys the portrait and is freed from its curse
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He stabs the portrait, which kills him and restores the painting
Explanation: In a fit of desperation, Dorian tries to destroy the hideous portrait with the same knife he used to murder Basil Hallward. The act reverses the curse, killing him and transforming him into a withered, aged man, while the portrait reverts to its original beautiful state.
11.Upon its publication in *Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine* in 1890, how was *The Picture of Dorian Gray* initially received by critics?
- A) It was praised as a moral masterpiece.
- B) It was largely ignored.
- C) It was condemned as decadent and immoral.
- D) It won a major literary award.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) It was condemned as decadent and immoral.
Explanation: Many Victorian critics were scandalized by the novel’s hedonistic themes and perceived homoerotic undertones, attacking it on moral grounds.
Part 3: The Plays – Comedies & Tragedies
12.Which Oscar Wilde play is subtitled “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”?
- A) Lady Windermere’s Fan
- B) An Ideal Husband
- C) A Woman of No Importance
- D) The Importance of Being Earnest
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) The Importance of Being Earnest
Explanation: This subtitle perfectly captures the play’s satirical tone, poking fun at the solemnity of the Victorian upper class through farcical situations.
13.In *The Importance of Being Earnest*, what name does Jack Worthing use when he is in the city?
- A) Algernon
- B) Ernest
- C) Chasuble
- D) Bunbury
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Ernest
Explanation: Jack invents a fictitious brother named “Ernest” whose escapades give him a pretext for visiting London. He adopts this name himself when in town.
14.Who is “Bunbury” in *The Importance of Being Earnest*?
- A) Jack’s fictitious brother
- B) Algernon’s fictitious invalid friend
- C) Cecily’s guardian
- D) Lady Bracknell’s husband
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Algernon’s fictitious invalid friend
Explanation: Algernon Moncrieff invents a perpetually ill friend named Bunbury so he has an excuse to avoid tedious social obligations. This is known as “Bunburying.”
15.What object is Jack Worthing found in as a baby, leading to his unknown parentage?
- A) A suitcase
- B) A basket
- C) A handbag
- D) A wooden crate
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A handbag
Explanation: Lady Bracknell is famously horrified to learn that Jack’s origins trace back to being discovered in a handbag in the cloakroom of Victoria Station.
16.The formidable matriarch who interrogates Jack in *The Importance of Being Earnest* is named:
- A) Lady Cardew
- B) Lady Bracknell
- C) Lady Fairfax
- D) Lady Lancing
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Lady Bracknell
Explanation: Lady Bracknell is one of literature’s most memorable characters, embodying Victorian snobbery and social authority.
17.In which language was Wilde’s tragic play *Salomé* originally written?
- A) English
- B) Irish Gaelic
- C) Latin
- D) French
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) French
Explanation: Wilde wrote *Salomé* in French in 1891 while in Paris. It was translated into English by his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.
18.What does the title character Salomé demand as a reward for her dance?
- A) A chest of gold
- B) The head of John the Baptist on a silver platter
- C) The hand of King Herod in marriage
- D) Half of the kingdom
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The head of John the Baptist on a silver platter
Explanation: Infatuated with and rejected by Jokanaan (John the Baptist), the vengeful Salomé uses King Herod’s oath to demand his execution.
19.In *Lady Windermere’s Fan*, who is Mrs. Erlynne revealed to be?
- A) Lord Windermere’s secret lover
- B) A notorious jewel thief
- C) Lady Windermere’s supposedly deceased mother
- D) An American heiress
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Lady Windermere’s supposedly deceased mother
Explanation: The central twist of the play is that Mrs. Erlynne, a woman of ill repute, is in fact Lady Windermere’s mother, who sacrifices her own reputation to save her daughter’s.
20.What famous line is often quoted from *Lady Windermere’s Fan*?
- A) “To be born in a handbag seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life.”
- B) “I can resist everything except temptation.”
- C) “All art is quite useless.”
- D) “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Explanation: This famous aphorism is spoken by Lord Darlington, embodying a sense of hope and idealism amidst cynicism.
Part 4: Poetry, Essays & Short Stories
21.Which poem, written after his imprisonment, describes the harsh realities of prison life?
- A) Ravenna
- B) The Sphinx
- C) The Ballad of Reading Gaol
- D) Hélas!
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Explanation: This long narrative poem was his last major work. It focuses on the execution of a fellow inmate and is a powerful critique of the penal system.
22.For which poem did Oscar Wilde win the prestigious Newdigate Prize at Oxford in 1878?
- A) Charmides
- B) Ravenna
- C) The Garden of Eros
- D) Requiescat
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Ravenna
Explanation: This prize for his poem about the historic Italian city was his first major literary achievement and helped launch his public career.
23.Which of the following is a famous collection of fairy tales for children written by Oscar Wilde?
- A) The Jungle Book
- B) A Child’s Garden of Verses
- C) The Happy Prince and Other Tales
- D) Just So Stories
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Happy Prince and Other Tales
Explanation: This 1888 collection includes beloved stories like “The Happy Prince,” “The Nightingale and the Rose,” and “The Selfish Giant.”
24.In the story “The Happy Prince,” what does the statue of the prince ask the swallow to do?
- A) Sing to him every day
- B) Build him a nest
- C) Pluck out his ruby and sapphires to give to the poor
- D) Fly him to Egypt
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Pluck out his ruby and sapphires to give to the poor
Explanation: Seeing the suffering of his city, the statue sacrifices its own beauty, with the help of the loyal swallow, to help those in need.
25.The critical essay “The Decay of Lying” promotes which idea?
- A) That life imitates art more than art imitates life
- B) That realism is the highest form of literature
- C) That lying is always morally wrong
- D) That nature is superior to art
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) That life imitates art more than art imitates life
Explanation: In this famous essay, Wilde argues that art does not copy reality but rather shapes our perception of it, making life follow the paths that art creates.
26.The long letter Wilde wrote from prison to Lord Alfred Douglas is known by what title?
- A) Epistola: In Carcere et Vinculis
- B) De Profundis
- C) The Soul of Man Under Socialism
- D) Both A and B
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Both A and B
Explanation: It was published posthumously in a censored version as *De Profundis* (“From the Depths”). Its full title is *Epistola: In Carcere et Vinculis* (“Letter: In Prison and in Chains”).
27.Which story by Wilde features a ghost who is terrorized by a modern American family?
- A) “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”
- B) “The Model Millionaire”
- C) “The Canterville Ghost”
- D) “The Sphinx Without a Secret”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “The Canterville Ghost”
Explanation: This humorous story satirizes both British aristocracy and American materialism as the Otis family moves into a haunted English manor.
28.The line “Yet each man kills the thing he loves” appears in which work?
- A) De Profundis
- B) The Picture of Dorian Gray
- C) Salomé
- D) The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Explanation: This is one of the most famous and poignant lines from the poem, reflecting on human nature, betrayal, and consequence.
29.The phrase “the love that dare not speak its name” was famously used during Wilde’s trials. From whose poem did this line originate?
- A) Oscar Wilde
- B) Lord Alfred Douglas
- C) Walt Whitman
- D) John Keats
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Lord Alfred Douglas
Explanation: The line is from a poem by Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas titled “Two Loves.” Wilde eloquently defended the phrase in court, describing it as a pure, platonic “great affection of an elder for a younger man.”
30.What was Oscar Wilde’s first published book?
- A) The Happy Prince and Other Tales
- B) The Picture of Dorian Gray
- C) Poems (1881)
- D) Ravenna
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Poems (1881)
Explanation: While *Ravenna* was an early success, his first published standalone book was a self-financed collection simply titled *Poems* in 1881.
Part 5: Philosophy, Wit & Aesthetics
31.Oscar Wilde was a leading proponent of which late 19th-century artistic movement?
- A) Realism
- B) Naturalism
- C) Aestheticism
- D) Romanticism
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Aestheticism
Explanation: The Aesthetic Movement championed beauty and art as the most important pursuits, summed up in the motto “art for art’s sake.”
32.What does the phrase “art for art’s sake” (l’art pour l’art) signify?
- A) Art should have a clear moral or educational purpose.
- B) The intrinsic value of art is separate from any didactic, moral, or utilitarian function.
- C) Art is only valuable if it sells for a high price.
- D) Art should primarily serve political change.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The intrinsic value of art is separate from any didactic, moral, or utilitarian function.
Explanation: This was the central creed of Aestheticism. Wilde believed art should be judged on its beauty and form alone, not on its ability to teach a lesson.
33.Which of these is a famous epigram from Oscar Wilde?
- A) “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
- B) “I have nothing to declare except my genius.”
- C) “Call me Ishmael.”
- D) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) “I have nothing to declare except my genius.”
Explanation: This is a legendary, though possibly apocryphal, quote attributed to Wilde upon his arrival at customs in America.
34.The preface to *The Picture of Dorian Gray* consists of a series of what?
- A) Dedications
- B) Aphorisms
- C) Plot summaries
- D) Character descriptions
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Aphorisms
Explanation: The preface is a list of striking aphorisms about art, beauty, and criticism, such as “All art is quite useless.”
35.In “The Critic as Artist,” Wilde argues that criticism is:
- A) Inferior to artistic creation.
- B) Itself a creative and superior art form.
- C) A destructive and pointless exercise.
- D) Only useful for selling books.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Itself a creative and superior art form.
Explanation: Wilde controversially suggests that the highest form of criticism is more creative than creation itself because it contains multiple points of view.
36.Oscar Wilde’s signature attire often included a green __________ in his buttonhole.
- A) Rose
- B) Carnation
- C) Tulip
- D) Orchid
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Carnation
Explanation: An artificially-dyed green carnation became a symbol of Wilde and his circle, hinting at an “unnatural” and artistic nature.
37.Wilde’s political essay, *The Soul of Man Under Socialism*, advocates for what?
- A) A totalitarian state
- B) The abolition of private property to allow for true individualism
- C) A capitalist democracy
- D) A return to feudalism
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The abolition of private property to allow for true individualism
Explanation: Wilde argues that in a capitalist society, people are forced to focus on accumulating things. Socialism, he believed, would free humanity to focus on artistic and personal development.
38.What is the “Dandy” in Wilde’s philosophy?
- A) A simple-minded country person
- B) A man who places particular importance on physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies
- C) A political revolutionary
- D) A strict moralist
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A man who places particular importance on physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies
Explanation: Wilde was the ultimate dandy. The dandy treats himself as a work of art, a philosophy embodied by characters like Lord Henry and Algernon.
39.Finish the famous Wilde quote: “Consistency is the last refuge of the…”
- A) imaginative
- B) virtuous
- C) unimaginative
- D) wealthy
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) unimaginative
Explanation: This aphorism, from the essay “The Relation of Dress to Art,” celebrates change, spontaneity, and creativity over rigid consistency.
40.According to Lord Henry in *Dorian Gray*, what is the only way to get rid of a temptation?
- A) To pray for strength
- B) To ignore it
- C) To yield to it
- D) To discuss it with a friend
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) To yield to it
Explanation: Lord Henry’s full hedonistic quote is, “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.”
Part 6: Trials, Later Life & Legacy
41.Oscar Wilde’s downfall began when he sued which person for libel?
- A) The Prince of Wales
- B) The Marquess of Queensberry
- C) Lord Alfred Douglas
- D) The editor of Punch magazine
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The Marquess of Queensberry
Explanation: The Marquess, father of Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas, left a calling card at Wilde’s club accusing him of “posing as a somdomite” [sic]. Wilde, urged on by Douglas, sued for libel, a catastrophic decision.
42.Wilde was tried and convicted for what crime?
- A) Treason
- B) Blasphemy
- C) Gross Indecency
- D) Fraud
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Gross Indecency
Explanation: After his failed libel case, evidence of Wilde’s relationships with other men was used to prosecute him under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885.
43.What was the duration of Oscar Wilde’s prison sentence?
- A) Six months
- B) One year
- C) Two years with hard labour
- D) Life imprisonment
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Two years with hard labour
Explanation: He was given the maximum sentence possible for the crime, which he served in several prisons, most famously Reading Gaol.
44.What name did Oscar Wilde adopt after his release from prison while living in exile?
- A) Arthur Savile
- B) Charles Melmoth
- C) Sebastian Melmoth
- D) Henry Wotton
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Sebastian Melmoth
Explanation: He chose “Sebastian” after the Christian martyr and “Melmoth” from *Melmoth the Wanderer*, a Gothic novel written by his great-uncle, Charles Maturin.
45.In which city did Oscar Wilde die in 1900?
- A) London
- B) Rome
- C) Dublin
- D) Paris
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Paris
Explanation: He died in poverty and exile at the Hôtel d’Alsace in Paris at the age of 46 from cerebral meningitis.
46.Who was Wilde’s loyal friend and literary executor, responsible for publishing an unexpurgated *De Profundis*?
- A) Lord Alfred Douglas
- B) Frank Harris
- C) Robert Ross
- D) Max Beerbohm
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Robert Ross
Explanation: Robert “Robbie” Ross was a steadfast friend who managed Wilde’s estate after his death and worked to restore his reputation, eventually publishing the full letter in 1949.
47.Wilde’s final resting place is in which famous Parisian cemetery?
- A) Montmartre Cemetery
- B) Panthéon
- C) Père Lachaise Cemetery
- D) Montparnasse Cemetery
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Père Lachaise Cemetery
Explanation: His tomb, designed by sculptor Jacob Epstein featuring a winged sphinx, is a famous pilgrimage site for admirers.
48.Which law, informally known as the “Alan Turing Law,” led to Oscar Wilde being posthumously pardoned in 2017?
- A) The Sexual Offences Act 1967
- B) The Criminal Justice Act 2003
- C) The Policing and Crime Act 2017
- D) The Equality Act 2010
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Policing and Crime Act 2017
Explanation: This act granted posthumous pardons to thousands of men convicted for homosexual acts that are no longer considered offenses.
49.The name of the hotel where Wilde died has what literary connection to another famous author?
- A) It was the birthplace of Victor Hugo.
- B) Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story about it.
- C) Marcel Proust lived nearby.
- D) It shared a name with a famous ship from a Conrad novel.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story about it.
Explanation: The destitute Wilde died at the Hôtel d’Alsace. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges later memorialized this in his story “Abenjacán el Bojarí, dead in his labyrinth.”
50.After her husband’s public disgrace, what did Constance Wilde change her and her sons’ surname to?
- A) Lloyd
- B) Speranza
- C) Holland
- D) Douglas
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Holland
Explanation: To distance themselves from the scandal, Constance and her sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, adopted the surname Holland.
Part 7: Characters, Themes & Deeper Dives
51.In *An Ideal Husband*, Mrs. Cheveley attempts to blackmail Sir Robert Chiltern over what past action?
- A) Plagiarizing a speech
- B) Having a secret child
- C) Selling a cabinet secret for financial gain
- D) Cheating at cards
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Selling a cabinet secret for financial gain
Explanation: Mrs. Cheveley has a letter proving that early in his career, Sir Robert sold a government secret about the Suez Canal, which was the foundation of his fortune.
52.What is the central moral of the short story “The Model Millionaire”?
- A) Artists should never be given money.
- B) Charity and kindness are rewarded in unexpected ways.
- C) Love cannot be bought with money.
- D) The rich are fundamentally selfish.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Charity and kindness are rewarded in unexpected ways.
Explanation: The protagonist, Hughie Erskine, gives his last coin to a beggar-model, who turns out to be an eccentric billionaire in disguise and rewards him generously.
53.In *A Woman of No Importance*, who is Lord Illingworth revealed to be?
- A) The secret brother of Mrs. Arbuthnot
- B) An American impostor
- C) The estranged father of Gerald Arbuthnot
- D) A government spy
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The estranged father of Gerald Arbuthnot
Explanation: The play’s dramatic core is the revelation that the cynical Lord Illingworth seduced and abandoned Mrs. Arbuthnot years ago, making him the unacknowledged father of her son, Gerald.
54.The provocative, black-and-white illustrations for the English edition of *Salomé* were created by which key artist of the Decadent movement?
- A) Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- B) William Morris
- C) Walter Crane
- D) Aubrey Beardsley
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Aubrey Beardsley
Explanation: Beardsley’s highly stylized, erotic, and often grotesque illustrations became as famous as the play itself, perfectly capturing its decadent spirit.
55.In “The Nightingale and the Rose,” what must the nightingale do to create a red rose for the lovesick student?
- A) Find a magic spell
- B) Sacrifice its own life by pressing its heart against a thorn while singing
- C) Steal it from the queen’s garden
- D) Water it with its tears for seven nights
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Sacrifice its own life by pressing its heart against a thorn while singing
Explanation: In this tragic allegory of artistic sacrifice, the nightingale gives its lifeblood to create the perfect red rose, which the student’s beloved then casually rejects.
56.Which of Wilde’s children became an author and translator, writing a memoir about his father?
- A) Cyril
- B) Constance Jr.
- C) Vyvyan
- D) Neither, they both shunned literature.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Vyvyan
Explanation: Vyvyan Holland (the adopted name) became a respected author and translator. His 1954 memoir, *Son of Oscar Wilde*, is an important source on Wilde’s family life.
57.Finish this line from Lady Bracknell: “To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like…”
- A) tragedy
- B) carelessness
- C) impossibility
- D) design
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) carelessness
Explanation: This is one of the most famous examples of Lady Bracknell’s absurd and cold-hearted logic in *The Importance of Being Earnest*.
58.Why was the public performance of Wilde’s play *Salomé* banned in London?
- A) It was considered too violent.
- B) It featured the depiction of biblical characters on stage, which was illegal.
- C) It was written in French.
- D) The lead actress refused to perform the dance.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) It featured the depiction of biblical characters on stage, which was illegal.
Explanation: A law from the Reformation, enforced by the Lord Chamberlain, prohibited the portrayal of biblical figures in plays. This censorship deeply angered Wilde.
59.In the fairy tale “The Remarkable Rocket,” the title character is a firework who is undone by what flaw?
- A) His fear of heights
- B) His extreme vanity and belief in his own importance
- C) His inability to light
- D) His love for a humble Catherine Wheel
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) His extreme vanity and belief in his own importance
Explanation: The rocket is so moved by its own sensitivity and grandeur that it starts to weep, making its gunpowder wet and rendering it useless. It’s a satire on egotism.
60.Which of these is a known unfinished dramatic work by Wilde?
- A) The Nihilists
- B) A Good Woman
- C) A Florentine Tragedy
- D) The American
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A Florentine Tragedy
Explanation: Both *A Florentine Tragedy* and *La Sainte Courtisane* are fragments of plays Wilde left incomplete at the time of his arrest. The former was later completed by another author.
61.Who is the first character in *The Picture of Dorian Gray* to warn Basil Hallward against meeting Lord Henry?
- A) Lady Agatha
- B) Basil himself
- C) Lord Fermor
- D) Dorian Gray
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Basil himself
Explanation: In the opening dialogue, Basil tells Lord Henry, “Don’t spoil him. Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad.” This foreshadows the entire novel.
62.What food item is Algernon famously and greedily eating in the first act of *The Importance of Being Earnest*?
- A) Muffins
- B) Cucumber sandwiches
- C) Scones
- D) Victoria sponge cake
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Cucumber sandwiches
Explanation: He greedily eats the cucumber sandwiches he specifically had made for his aunt, Lady Bracknell, a trivial act that reveals his gluttonous and selfish nature.
63.What famous American landmark did Wilde reportedly call “a monstrous disappointment” during his lecture tour?
- A) The Grand Canyon
- B) The Golden Gate Bridge
- C) The Statue of Liberty
- D) Niagara Falls
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Niagara Falls
Explanation: According to legend, Wilde wryly remarked that the falls “must be the second greatest disappointment in American life,” after the bride seeing her husband.
64.In *The Ballad of Reading Gaol*, the poem is dedicated to the memory of C. T. W., a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards. What happened to him?
- A) He died of disease in the prison.
- B) He was executed for murdering his wife.
- C) He escaped from the prison.
- D) He was Wilde’s cellmate.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He was executed for murdering his wife.
Explanation: The execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge profoundly affected Wilde and became the central event and inspiration for the poem’s critique of capital punishment.
65.Finish the quote from *The Picture of Dorian Gray*: “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is…”
- A) being poor
- B) being ignored
- C) not being talked about
- D) being forgotten
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) not being talked about
Explanation: This is a classic epigram from Lord Henry Wotton, reflecting a desire for fame and notoriety at any cost.
66.The title of Wilde’s only novel is a reference to a portrait, but what object, a gift from Lord Henry, becomes the ‘bible’ of Dorian’s hedonistic life?
- A) A book of poems by Baudelaire
- B) A yellow book with a decadent French plot
- C) A jewel-encrusted dagger
- D) A blank diary for his conquests
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A yellow book with a decadent French plot
Explanation: The mysterious, poisonous “yellow book,” believed to be Joris-Karl Huysmans’s *À rebours* (Against Nature), captivates Dorian and provides a blueprint for his life of sensual exploration.
67.The phrase “the triumph of hope over experience” was Wilde’s witty definition of what?
- A) A first marriage
- B) A second marriage
- C) Writing a novel
- D) An artist’s career
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A second marriage
Explanation: Spoken by Algernon in *The Importance of Being Earnest* (though the line appears in other forms), this highlights the cynicism and wit applied to social conventions.
68.Before his trials, which artist and former friend did Wilde have a very public feud with, involving pamphlets titled “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies”?
- A) John Singer Sargent
- B) James McNeill Whistler
- C) Aubrey Beardsley
- D) Paul Cézanne
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) James McNeill Whistler
Explanation: Whistler and Wilde, two of the era’s greatest wits, engaged in a famous public argument over the nature of art and criticism, which Whistler chronicled in this book.
69.In “The Selfish Giant,” how does the giant finally die?
- A) He is slain by the children’s parents.
- B) He melts away with the winter snow.
- C) He dies of old age, covered in white blossoms, beneath the tree where he helped the little child.
- D) He turns into a statue.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He dies of old age, covered in white blossoms, beneath the tree where he helped the little child.
Explanation: Having found redemption through kindness, the giant is welcomed into paradise by the Christ-child, signified by his peaceful death in his now-beautiful garden.
70.In which Wilde play does the line “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing” appear?
- A) The Importance of Being Earnest
- B) An Ideal Husband
- C) A Woman of No Importance
- D) Lady Windermere’s Fan
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Lady Windermere’s Fan
Explanation: This famous definition is spoken by the character Lord Darlington as he attempts to define himself for the titular heroine.
Part 8: Further Trivia and Obscurities
71.Wilde’s great-uncle was a famous writer in his own right. Who was he and what gothic novel did he write?
- A) William Wilde, *The Vampyre*
- B) Lord Dunsany, *The King of Elfland’s Daughter*
- C) Charles Maturin, *Melmoth the Wanderer*
- D) Bram Stoker, *Dracula*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Charles Maturin, *Melmoth the Wanderer*
Explanation: Wilde’s great-uncle was a significant figure in gothic fiction. Wilde paid tribute to him by adopting the name “Melmoth” in exile.
72.In *Dorian Gray*, who is James Vane?
- A) Dorian’s loyal butler
- B) Sibyl Vane’s vengeful sailor brother
- C) The scientist who helps Dorian dispose of a body
- D) The owner of the opium den
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Sibyl Vane’s vengeful sailor brother
Explanation: After Sibyl’s suicide, James Vane swears revenge on the man she called “Prince Charming” and stalks Dorian for years.
73.Wilde edited a women’s magazine from 1887 to 1889, upgrading its intellectual content. What did he rename it?
- A) The Lady’s World
- B) The Woman’s World
- C) The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine
- D) Queen Magazine
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The Woman’s World
Explanation: He took over *The Lady’s World* and renamed it, aiming to make it more intellectual and artistic, covering “what women are thinking and doing.”
74.What academic subject was Wilde’s specialty at both Trinity and Oxford?
- A) Modern Languages
- B) History
- C) English Literature
- D) Classics (Greek and Latin)
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Classics (Greek and Latin)
Explanation: Wilde was a brilliant classical scholar, winning top honors including the Berkeley Gold Medal for Greek at Trinity and a “double first” in his exams at Oxford.
75.The name of the character “Bunbury” has entered the English language. What does it mean to “go Bunburying”?
- A) To attend a boring party
- B) To invent a fake person or excuse to avoid social duties
- C) To pursue a wealthy spouse
- D) To engage in trivial gossip
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) To invent a fake person or excuse to avoid social duties
Explanation: “Bunburying,” as practiced by Algernon in *The Importance of Being Earnest*, refers to the practice of creating a fictitious obligation to maintain a double life.
76.Which character in *Dorian Gray* eventually disposes of Basil Hallward’s body?
- A) Victor, the valet
- B) Lord Henry Wotton
- C) Alan Campbell, a chemist and former friend
- D) James Vane
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Alan Campbell, a chemist and former friend
Explanation: Dorian blackmails Alan Campbell, an accomplished chemist, into using his scientific knowledge to destroy Basil’s body with nitric acid, an act which leads to Campbell’s own suicide.
77.Wilde was associated with the Aesthetic slogan “ars gratia artis”. What is the common English translation?
- A) “Art is long, life is short”
- B) “Art for art’s sake”
- C) “Art from chaos”
- D) “Art is truth”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) “Art for art’s sake”
Explanation: This is the most famous motto of the Aesthetic Movement, emphasizing that art’s value is intrinsic and independent of any moral or didactic purpose.
78.The play *Vera; or, The Nihilists* was one of Wilde’s earliest dramatic works. What was its political theme?
- A) French revolutionary politics
- B) American democracy
- C) Russian revolutionary politics
- D) Irish nationalism
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Russian revolutionary politics
Explanation: The melodrama, set in Russia, concerns a group of nihilist assassins. It was not a critical or commercial success.
79.In which famous London hotel did Oscar Wilde live for a time before his trials, and from where he was arrested?
- A) The Ritz
- B) The Savoy
- C) The Cadogan Hotel
- D) Claridge’s
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Cadogan Hotel
Explanation: Wilde was staying at the Cadogan in Chelsea when the warrant for his arrest for “gross indecency” was issued and executed in 1895.
80.“Work is the curse of the drinking classes” is a famous quip attributed to Wilde. In which social setting is it most likely to have been said?
- A) A prison yard
- B) A university lecture
- C) An American lecture tour
- D) A London society party
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) A London society party
Explanation: This epigram perfectly encapsulates Wilde’s persona as an idle dandy, inverting the Victorian work ethic for comic and philosophical effect in a high-society context.
Part 9: Connecting the Works
81.The theme of a “secret past” being used as blackmail is a central plot device in *The Picture of Dorian Gray* and which other major Wilde play?
- A) Salomé
- B) Lady Windermere’s Fan
- C) The Importance of Being Earnest
- D) An Ideal Husband
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) An Ideal Husband
Explanation: Just as Dorian is haunted by his secret sins manifested in the portrait, Sir Robert Chiltern is blackmailed by Mrs. Cheveley over a secret from his past.
82.Both Cecily Cardew in *The Importance of Being Earnest* and Sibyl Vane in *Dorian Gray* are initially portrayed as being what?
- A) Cunning and manipulative
- B) Wealthy heiresses
- C) Obsessed with high society
- D) Naive, romantic, and living in a fantasy world
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Naive, romantic, and living in a fantasy world
Explanation: Cecily invents an entire romance in her diary before ever meeting Algernon, while Sibyl lives more in her Shakespearean roles than in reality, making both susceptible to grand romantic ideas.
83.A critique of the hypocrisy of the English upper class is a dominant theme in all of the following works EXCEPT:
- A) An Ideal Husband
- B) A Woman of No Importance
- C) The Happy Prince and Other Tales
- D) Lady Windermere’s Fan
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Happy Prince and Other Tales
Explanation: While the tales criticize social inequality and superficiality, their primary focus is on broader allegorical themes of love, sacrifice, and compassion, rather than the specific hypocrisies of the aristocracy.
84.The aesthetic philosophy of Lord Henry Wotton in *Dorian Gray* most closely resembles the arguments made in which of Wilde’s essays?
- A) The Soul of Man Under Socialism
- B) The Truth of Masks
- C) The Decay of Lying
- D) De Profundis
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Decay of Lying
Explanation: Lord Henry’s championing of a life lived as art, prioritizing new sensations and subjective experience over mundane reality, directly mirrors the ideas presented in *The Decay of Lying*.
85.The idea that “it is better to be beautiful than to be good” is a sentiment expressed in which two works?
- A) *The Happy Prince* and *De Profundis*
- B) *The Picture of Dorian Gray* and *The Model Millionaire*
- C) *An Ideal Husband* and *The Canterville Ghost*
- D) *Lady Windermere’s Fan* and *Salomé*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *The Picture of Dorian Gray* and *The Model Millionaire*
Explanation: Lord Henry muses on this in *Dorian Gray*. The narrator in “The Model Millionaire” also states it as a truth of modern life: “Unless one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow… It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.”
86.In both *Lady Windermere’s Fan* and *A Woman of No Importance*, a key plot point involves:
- A) A mistaken identity involving twins.
- B) A mother with a scandalous past sacrificing her reputation for her child.
- C) A duel between two aristocrats over a woman’s honor.
- D) An American heiress disrupting English society.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A mother with a scandalous past sacrificing her reputation for her child.
Explanation: Mrs. Erlynne saves Lady Windermere from scandal at great personal cost, while Mrs. Arbuthnot protects her son Gerald from the influence of his cynical father, Lord Illingworth.
87.The symbol of a flower plays a crucial, though tragic, role in which two works?
- A) *The Canterville Ghost* and *An Ideal Husband*
- B) *The Nightingale and the Rose* and *Lady Windermere’s Fan*
- C) *De Profundis* and *The Ballad of Reading Gaol*
- D) The use of a flower as a symbol is not a recurring motif.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *The Nightingale and the Rose* and *Lady Windermere’s Fan*
Explanation: The red rose created by sacrifice is rejected in the fairy tale, and the green carnation worn by Wilde and his circle became a coded symbol associated with his plays like *Lady Windermere’s Fan*.
88.Wilde’s two major prison writings, *De Profundis* and *The Ballad of Reading Gaol*, both demonstrate a shift in his philosophy from Aesthetics towards:
- A) Political revolution
- B) An exploration of Christian forgiveness and human suffering
- C) A desire for revenge on the Marquess of Queensberry
- D) A rejection of all art forms
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) An exploration of Christian forgiveness and human suffering
Explanation: Imprisonment forced a profound change in Wilde. Both works grapple with Christ as a figure of empathy, the meaning of sorrow, and a newfound sympathy for the downtrodden, a stark contrast to his earlier Dandyism.
89.Characters who exist primarily to deliver witty and cynical epigrams, like Lord Henry in *Dorian Gray*, are similar to Lord Darlington in *Lady Windermere’s Fan* and which character in *The Importance of Being Earnest*?
- A) Jack Worthing
- B) Algernon Moncrieff
- C) Rev. Canon Chasuble
- D) Lady Bracknell
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Algernon Moncrieff
Explanation: Algernon serves as the primary “Wildean wit” in the play, constantly speaking in clever aphorisms about life, society, and relationships, much like Lord Henry and Lord Darlington.
90.The setting of an elegant upper-class drawing room as a “battlefield” for wit and social maneuvering is central to *The Importance of Being Earnest*, *Lady Windermere’s Fan*, and ___________.
- A) Salomé
- B) The Ballad of Reading Gaol
- C) An Ideal Husband
- D) The Canterville Ghost
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) An Ideal Husband
Explanation: Like his other society comedies, *An Ideal Husband* uses the opulent drawing-room setting as the stage for its dramatic confrontations, witty dialogue, and exposure of social secrets.
Part 10: Final Challenge
91.In which order were Wilde’s four famous society comedies first performed?
- A) *Earnest*, *Ideal Husband*, *Woman of No Importance*, *Lady Windermere’s Fan*
- B) *Lady Windermere’s Fan*, *A Woman of No Importance*, *An Ideal Husband*, *The Importance of Being Earnest*
- C) *Lady Windermere’s Fan*, *An Ideal Husband*, *A Woman of No Importance*, *The Importance of Being Earnest*
- D) *An Ideal Husband*, *Lady Windermere’s Fan*, *The Importance of Being Earnest*, *A Woman of No Importance*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *Lady Windermere’s Fan* (1892), *A Woman of No Importance* (1893), *An Ideal Husband* (1895), *The Importance of Being Earnest* (1895)
Explanation: This rapid succession of hits in the early 1890s established Wilde as the most successful playwright in London before his fall.
92.The line “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes” is a witty remark from which character in *Lady Windermere’s Fan*?
- A) Lady Windermere
- B) The Duchess of Berwick
- C) Lord Darlington
- D) Cecil Graham
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Lord Darlington
Explanation: This is another of Lord Darlington’s cynical and memorable definitions, highlighting the theme of regret and rationalization.
93.After his release from prison, who was one of the few friends who refused to shun Wilde and welcomed him?
- A) Lord Alfred Douglas
- B) The Marquess of Queensberry
- C) Ada Leverson, whom he called “The Sphinx”
- D) His wife, Constance
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Ada Leverson, whom he called “The Sphinx”
Explanation: The novelist Ada Leverson and her husband were among the very few members of London society who remained loyal, offering him shelter between his trials and corresponding with him in exile.
94.Which of these is NOT a story in *The Happy Prince and Other Tales*?
- A) “The Selfish Giant”
- B) “The Devoted Friend”
- C) “The Nightingale and the Rose”
- D) “The Young King”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) “The Young King”
Explanation: “The Young King” is the titular story from Wilde’s second collection of fairy tales, *A House of Pomegranates* (1891).
95.The tomb of Oscar Wilde features a modernist, Assyrian-inspired angel. Who was the sculptor?
- A) Auguste Rodin
- B) Jacob Epstein
- C) Constantin Brancusi
- D) Henry Moore
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Jacob Epstein
Explanation: The controversial monument was commissioned by Robert Ross and carved by the American-born British sculptor Jacob Epstein. It was considered so scandalous upon completion that it was covered with a tarp.
96.In the play-within-a-play in *The Picture of Dorian Gray*, Sibyl Vane gives a terrible performance as which Shakespearean heroine, destroying Dorian’s love for her?
- A) Ophelia
- B) Juliet
- C) Rosalind
- D) Lady Macbeth
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Juliet
Explanation: Dorian fell in love with her acting, not her. The night she falls in love with him, her acting becomes realistic and thus, in Dorian’s aesthetic view, terrible. He cruelly tells her, “You have killed my love.”
97.What famous quote about his life and art did Wilde give to the French writer André Gide?
- A) “I shall be remembered for my plays, not my life.”
- B) “My art is but a reflection of my inner turmoil.”
- C) “I have put my genius into my life; I have put only my talent into my works.”
- D) “Life and art are one and the same.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “I have put my genius into my life; I have put only my talent into my works.”
Explanation: This famous, poignant quote suggests Wilde believed his greatest creation was his own public and private persona, a performance of “genius.”
98.Which character is Gwendolen Fairfax’s mother?
- A) Lady Windermere
- B) The Duchess of Berwick
- C) Lady Bracknell
- D) Mrs. Arbuthnot
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Lady Bracknell
Explanation: The terrifying Lady Bracknell is the mother of Gwendolen Fairfax, the object of Jack Worthing’s affections in *The Importance of Being Earnest*.
99.Wilde’s full, rather extravagant name was Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. From where did the name “Fingal” come?
- A) A Roman general
- B) A character from Irish mythology and the Ossian poems
- C) A family friend
- D) His father’s middle name
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A character from Irish mythology and the Ossian poems
Explanation: The names Fingal O’Flahertie reflect his parents’ deep interest in Irish heritage and myth, with Fingal being a legendary hero.
100.What is the very last line of *The Importance of Being Earnest*?
- A) “To be born, or at any rate bred, in a handbag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life.”
- B) “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”
- C) “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.”
- D) “It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realised for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”
Explanation: Jack speaks this final line, delivering the play’s ultimate pun. He has discovered that his real name is indeed Earnest, and he understands the “importance” of being both truthful (“earnest”) and named “Ernest” to win Gwendolen’s hand.
Conclusion: The Enduring Importance of Being Wilde
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” – Oscar Wilde
From the glittering salons of London to the desolate cell of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde’s life was a testament to his own philosophies of beauty, suffering, and art. His works continue to be staged, read, and studied around the world, proving that true genius is timeless. His sharp critiques of Victorian society still resonate today, and his dazzling wit has never been equalled. We hope this extensive collection of 100 Oscar Wilde MCQs has deepened your appreciation for one of the most brilliant and fascinating figures in English literature.
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