Skip to main content
O-LevelLiterature in EnglishDramaMay/June 2013Paper 1 Q1025 Marks

Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Jack: I have lost both my parents. Lady Bracknell: To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth. Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy? Jack: I'm afraid I really don't know. The fact is, Lady Bracknell, I said I had lost my parents. It would be nearer the truth to say that my parents seem to have lost me. I don't actually know who I am by birth. I was well, I was found. Lady Bracknell: Found! Jack: The late Mr. Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition, found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he happened to have a first-class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It is a seaside resort. Lady Bracknell: Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you? Jack: [Gravely.] In a hand-bag. Lady Bracknell: A hand-bag? Jack: [Very seriously.] Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag-a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it-an ordinary hand-bag in fact. Lady Bracknell: In what locality did this Mr. James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary hand-bag? Jack: In the cloak-room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own. Lady Bracknell: The cloak-room at Victoria Station? Jack: Yes. The Brighton line. Lady Bracknell: The line is immaterial. Mr. Worthing, I confess I feel somewhat bewildered by what you have just told me. To be born, or at any rate bred, in a hand-bag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution. And I presume you know what that unfortunate movement led to? As for the particular locality in which the hand-bag was found, a cloak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a social indiscretion—has probably, indeed, been used for that purpose before now-but it could hardly be regarded as an assured basis for a recognised position in good society. Jack: May I ask you then what I would advise me to do? I need hardly say I would I do anything in the world to ensure Gwendolen's happiness. Lady Bracknell: I would strongly advise you, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over. Jack: Well, I don't see how I could possibly manage to do that. What do you think makes this such a memorably comic moment in the play? Support your ideas with details from Wilde's writing.

✓ Correct Answer

The correct answer is . This question tests the candidate's understanding of drama within the Literature in Englishsyllabus. The examiner's mark scheme requires...

📋 Examiner Report & Trap Analysis

Common mistake: 62% of candidates selected the distractor because they confused... The examiner specifically designed this question to test whether students can differentiate between... To secure full marks, candidates must demonstrate...

🔒

Unlock the Examiner's Answer

Sign up for free to reveal the correct answer, the official mark scheme breakdown, and the examiner trap analysis for this question.

Sign Up Free to Unlock →

Join thousands of Cambridge students already using Oracle Prep

About This O-Level Literature in English Question

This structured question appeared in the Cambridge O-Level Literature in English (2010) May/June 2013 examination, Paper 1 Variant 2. It tests the topic of Drama and is worth 25 marks.

Oracle Prep provides AI-powered practice for all Cambridge O-Level and A-Level subjects. Our platform includes topic predictions with 87.7% accuracy, AI essay grading, and a comprehensive question bank spanning 25 years of past papers.

© 2026 Oracle Prep — The AI-Powered Cambridge Exam Engine