Question

excerpt from the importance of being earnest
oscar wilde
the importance of being earnest is a comedy of mistaken identities. the main character, jack, appears to all of his acquaintances to be a professional and serious man. however, he pretends to have a younger brother, ernest, whose misdemeanors require jack to frequently travel to london to intervene. this fictional brother is jack’s excuse to escape from the burdensome obligations of his life in order to be free and irresponsible.
in this scene, jack’s niece, cecily, and her governess, miss prism, are discussing jack and his “brother” in the garden of jack’s country house.
scene
garden at the manor house. a flight of grey stone steps leads up to the house. the garden, an old-fashioned one, full of roses. time of year, july. basket chairs, and a table covered with books, are set under a large pine-tree.
miss prism discovered seated at the table. cecily is at the back watering flowers.
1 miss prism. calling cecily, cecily. surely such a utilitarian occupation as the watering of flowers is rather moulton’s duty? has your’s? especially at a moment when intellectual pleasures await you. your german grammar is on the table. pray open it at page fifteen. we will repeat yesterday’s lesson.
2 cecily. coming over very slowly but i don’t like german. it isn’t at all a becoming language. i know perfectly well that i look quite plain after my german lesson.
3 miss prism. child, you know how anxious your guardian is that you should improve yourself in every way. he has particular stress on your german, as he was leaving for town yesterday, incident, he always lays stress on your german when he is leaving for town.
4 cecily. dear uncle jack is so very serious! sometimes he is so serious that i think he cannot be quite well.
how does the discussion of cecily’s diary writing help to develop ideas about prism’s character?
a. it suggests that miss prism feels embarrassment about the past.
b. it shows that miss prism’s good deeds in life have been unnoted.
c. it leads to the insinuation that miss prism once wrote a fanciful novel.
d. it forces miss prism to confess that she also keeps a diary

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: The discussion of Cecily’s diary (and related interactions) can imply Miss Prism’s uneasiness about the past (e.g., potential secrets or past events tied to diary - like themes in the play’s context).
• Option B: There’s no indication the discussion shows her good deeds are suspected.
• Option C: The discussion doesn’t lead to Miss Prism writing a fanciful novel.
• Option D: The discussion doesn’t force Miss Prism to confess she keeps a diary.

So, Option A is the most logical as the diary - related talk connects to Miss Prism’s possible discomfort with past matters (consistent with the play’s themes of secrets and past events).

Answer:

A. It suggests that Miss Prism feels uncomfortable about the past