Question

What did Miss Prism confuse the baby with, causing her to place the baby in a handbag?

• A. A small dog
• B. A potted plant
• C. A novel manuscript
• D. A short log

Answer 1

Answer:

C. A novel manuscript

• Miss Prism confused the baby with a manuscript, which caused her to place the baby in a handbag instead of the pram.

• She explains that twenty-eight years ago, while working as a governess, she had been carrying both a baby (Jack) and a three-volume novel she had written. In a moment of absentmindedness, she placed the manuscript in the pram and the baby in a black leather handbag, which she then accidentally left at the cloakroom of Victoria Station.

• This hilarious mix-up is the key to Jack’s true identity, ultimately revealing that he is Lady Bracknell’s nephew, Algernon’s older brother, and of respectable birth—allowing him to finally marry Gwendolen.