A Guide to Four Oscar Wilde Short Stories
The Sphinx Without a Secret
Questions and Answers
- What was the relationship between Lord Murchison and the narrator?
They had been friends at Oxford 10 years before.
What was the relationship between Lord Murchison and Lady Alroy?They had secret meetings. He sent her letters and was in love with her.
Did Lord Murchison leave her?Yes, he did. He went to Norway.
What happened to her?She died of pneumonia.
Why did she rent the room according to the narrator?For the pleasure of going there secretly. She imagined she was the heroine in a story, but she really was a sphinx without a secret.
The Model Millionaire
Questions and Answers
- Laura and Hughie were a nice couple, but Laura’s father didn’t want them to marry. Why?
Because Hughie had no money. He told him to come back when he had £10,000.
Who was Alan Trevor?He was a friend of Hughie’s. An artist (a bit rare).
What was Alan doing when Hughie came in?He was finishing a life-size picture of a beggar.
Why did Hughie give the beggar the only coin he had?Because he looked poor and unhappy, and Hughie thought he needed the money more than himself.
Why did Trevor tell the beggar all about him?Because Hughie made a good impression on the beggar, who wanted to know all about him.
That evening Hughie went to his club, and his friend Alan Trevor was there. They started talking, and Hughie felt very embarrassed. He thought he had made a fool of himself. Why?Because the beggar was a millionaire, the richest man in Europe.
What did Baron Hausberg send Hughie?He sent him a cheque for £10,000 as a wedding present.
Did Hughie and Laura get married?Yes, they did.
Were Trevor and the Baron at their wedding?Yes.
Who is the best man at a wedding?The groom’s best friend, who supports him at his wedding.
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
Questions and Answers
- Where did the story start?
At Lady Windermere’s party, before Easter.
Who was invited?Politicians, beautiful women, princes, princesses, and a variety of people.
How would you define a chiromanist?Someone who believes that a person’s future is written on the palm of their hand.
What about a chiropodist?Someone who treats problems of the feet.
What did Mr. Podgers do when he saw Lord Arthur’s hand?He went pale and said nothing.
What did Arthur offer Mr. Podgers if he told him the truth?He offered him money.
What had Mr. Podgers seen on Lord Arthur’s hand?Murder; he was going to kill someone.
What did Lord Arthur do when he left Lady Windermere’s house?He wandered through the streets of London.
What was Covent Garden at that time?The city’s fruit and vegetable market.
Why was he surprised that he had suffered so much?Because he had suffered from something that was inevitable.
Who did he decide to kill?A distant relative, Lady Clementina Beauchamp.
How did he decide to kill her?He decided that poison was the best solution.
What did he tell his aunt?He told her that he had brought a cure for her indigestion.
What did he tell Sybil?That he couldn’t marry her.
Where did he go?He went to Venice.
Who did Lord Arthur meet in Venice?He met his brother, Lord Surbiton.
Why did he buy The Times every day?Because he wanted to see Lady Clementina’s name in the obituaries.
Why did he return to London?Because his aunt had died.
Who inherited Lady Clementina’s house?Lord Arthur.
How did Lord Arthur find out he hadn’t killed her?Because one day he and Sybil were tidying Lady Clementina’s house, and Sybil found a little silver box with a “sweet” inside.
Did it have the pill inside?Yes, it did.
What did Lord Arthur do with the pill?He threw it into the fire.
Did he marry Sibyl?No, he postponed the wedding a second time.
How do you think Sybil must have felt?She felt shocked and sad.
How did Sybil’s parents feel?Very unhappy; they didn’t want her to see him again.
Who did he decide to kill?His uncle, the Dean of Chichester.
How did he decide to kill him?With dynamite.
What do you know about Count Rouvaloff?He was a Russian friend of Arthur’s. He was in England to study, but he had strong revolutionary ideas. People thought he was a secret agent. They had met at one of Lady Windermere’s parties.
What did Lord Arthur tell him?He told him that he needed some explosives.
Why did Lord Arthur want an explosive clock?Because the Dean had an important collection of clocks.
Did he get it?Yes, he did.
When was it going to explode?Friday at noon, because the Dean was always at home at noon.
Was Lord Arthur’s plan successful?No, it wasn’t. The Dean didn’t die.
How did Lord Arthur learn that the clock made little explosions?Because the Dean’s daughter sent him a letter.
When did Lord Arthur decide to kill Mr. Podgers?When he saw him looking into the river.
How did he kill him?He threw him into the River Thames.
What did he do when he knew Mr. Podgers was dead?He went to Sybil’s house and suggested getting married.
When did the wedding take place?Three weeks later.
Were they happy ever after?Yes, they were. They became a happy couple with two children.