Chapter 1 of A Woman of No Importance is here in full — 319 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Woman of No Importance is here in full — 319 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LADY CAROLINE. [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is! The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place. MRS. ALLONBY.
Chapter 1 of A Woman of No Importance is here in full — 319 sentences across 64 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/63 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
of or relating to the life and times of kings Charles I or Charles II of England
From this reading “LADY CAROLINE.”
a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading “[_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!”
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading “The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.”
a message that seems to convey no meaning
From this reading “[_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!”
marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness
From this reading “The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.”
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading “[_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!”
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ALLONBY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
of or relating to the life and times of kings Charles I or Charles II of England
From this reading LADY CAROLINE.
a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading LADY CAROLINE.
the force of workers available
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading MRS.
a message that seems to convey no meaning
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
a special situation
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is!
Chapter 1 of A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde holds 319 sentences, grouped into 64 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 319 sentences of A Woman of No Importance, unabridged, divided into 64 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 319 sentences, grouped into 64 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 64 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 64 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1566 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #854 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #854, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 130 minutes of reading across 314 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Woman of No Importance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of A Woman of No Importance to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Woman of No Importance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
