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ELIZABETHAN & JACOBEAN DRAMA
1. Who among the following is associated with the introduction of the “mighty line” in English drama?
(A) Shakespeare
(B) Marlowe
(C) Kyd
(D) Jonson
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Marlowe’s powerful blank verse is famously called “Marlowe’s mighty line.”
2. In Hamlet, who speaks the line “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King”?
(A) Polonius
(B) Horatio
(C) Hamlet
(D) Claudius
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Hamlet uses a play-within-the-play to expose Claudius’s guilt.
3. The Spanish Tragedy is important primarily because it:
(A) Introduces romantic comedy
(B) Establishes the revenge tragedy tradition
(C) Is the first history play
(D) Is the earliest tragicomedy
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Kyd’s play sets the conventions later seen in Hamlet and Jacobean tragedy.
4. In Doctor Faustus, what does Faustus exchange his soul for?
(A) Kingdom
(B) Love
(C) Wealth
(D) Knowledge and magical powers
Answer: (D)
Explanation: Faustus sells his soul to gain knowledge and necromantic power.
5. Which Shakespearean tragedy heavily relies on the theme of jealousy?
(A) King Lear
(B) Othello
(C) Macbeth
(D) Julius Caesar
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Jealousy is the central destructive force driving Othello’s downfall.
6. The character Volpone appears in a play written by:
(A) Webster
(B) Jonson
(C) Marlowe
(D) Dekker
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Volpone is Jonson’s satire on greed.
7. “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t” occurs in:
(A) Macbeth
(B) Hamlet
(C) Othello
(D) Richard III
Answer: (A)
Explanation: Lady Macbeth advises Macbeth to hide his murderous intention.
8. The Duchess in The Duchess of Malfi is murdered by:
(A) Antonio
(B) Ferdinand’s hired men
(C) Delio
(D) Bosola acting independently
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Ferdinand orders her execution; Bosola carries it out.
9. Which play ends with the famous line “The rest is silence”?
(A) Hamlet
(B) King Lear
(C) Macbeth
(D) Antony and Cleopatra
Answer: (A)
Explanation: Hamlet’s final words before dying.
10. The Knight of the Burning Pestle is known for being:
(A) A classical tragedy
(B) An early parody of chivalric romance
(C) A political satire
(D) An early restoration comedy
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Beaumont and Fletcher mock romantic conventions through Ralph.
RESTORATION & 18TH CENTURY DRAMA
11. Which playwright is considered the first professional woman dramatist of England?
(A) Mary Wroth
(B) Aphra Behn
(C) Anne Finch
(D) Charlotte Smith
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Aphra Behn wrote commercially for the stage after the Restoration.
12. The Way of the World is a masterpiece of:
(A) Comedy of Humours
(B) Comedy of Intrigue
(C) Comedy of Manners
(D) Sentimental Comedy
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Congreve’s play epitomizes Restoration wit and social satire.
13. Mrs. Malaprop, known for verbal blunders, appears in:
(A) The Man of Mode
(B) She Stoops to Conquer
(C) The Rivals
(D) The School for Scandal
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Sheridan created this iconic comic figure.
14. Oliver Goldsmith is associated with which dramatic movement?
(A) New Comedy
(B) Anti-Sentimental Comedy
(C) Comedy of Manners
(D) Romantic Comedy
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Goldsmith revived real humour against excessive sentimentality.
15. Which play revolves around gossip as the central destructive force?
(A) Arden of Faversham
(B) Every Man in His Humour
(C) The Country Wife
(D) The School for Scandal
Answer: (D)
Explanation: Sheridan satirizes social gossip circles.
16. Mirabell and Millamant appear in:
(A) The Way of the World
(B) The Rover
(C) The Old Bachelor
(D) The Country Wife
Answer: (A)
Explanation: Their “proviso scene” is central to Restoration comedy.
17. Which of the following best describes Restoration Comedy?
(A) Rural humour and simple morality
(B) Intellectual drama and philosophy
(C) Urban wit, sexual humour, aristocratic manners
(D) Religious allegory
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Restoration plays reflect elite urban culture after 1660.
18. The Rover deals mainly with:
(A) Political corruption
(B) Puritan values
(C) Love, liberty, and sexual intrigue
(D) Greek mythology
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Aphra Behn’s play is marked by spirited female agency.
19TH CENTURY DRAMA → PATH TO MODERNITY
19. The line “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing” occurs in which play?
(A) Pygmalion
(B) The Importance of Being Earnest
(C) Lady Windermere’s Fan
(D) Arms and the Man
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Wilde’s epigrammatic style defines the play.
20. Shaw’s plays are commonly described as:
(A) Theatre of the Absurd
(B) Romantic Melodramas
(C) Drama of Ideas
(D) Irish Revivalist Drama
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Shaw uses characters to debate social and moral issues.
21. Which play is considered a pioneering work of modern realism?
(A) As You Like It
(B) The Importance of Being Earnest
(C) A Doll’s House
(D) Volpone
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Ibsen’s play marks the shift to domestic realism.
22. In Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle primarily represents:
(A) Aristocratic women
(B) Class mobility through language
(C) Victorian religious values
(D) Female submission
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Language training exposes class prejudice.
23. Which dramatist famously rejected melodrama and insisted on social reform through drama?
(A) Wilde
(B) Shaw
(C) Yeats
(D) Webster
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Shaw used theatre as social criticism.
20TH CENTURY & MODERN DRAMA
24. Waiting for Godot is classified as:
(A) Comedy of Manners
(B) Kitchen Sink Drama
(C) Theatre of the Absurd
(D) Expressionist Tragedy
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Beckett’s play embodies existential absurdity.
25. Which character never appears on stage in Waiting for Godot?
(A) Vladimir
(B) Estragon
(C) Lucky
(D) Godot
Answer: (D)
Explanation: Godot is the unseen figure that symbolizes meaning deferred.
26. Harold Pinter is known for:
(A) Epic Theatre
(B) Theatrical Naturalism
(C) Pinteresque pauses and menace
(D) Symbolist Drama
Answer: (C)
Explanation: His plays use silence and ambiguity to create tension.
27. The term “Angry Young Men” is associated with:
(A) Arthur Miller
(B) John Osborne
(C) G. B. Shaw
(D) T. S. Eliot
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Look Back in Anger launched the movement.
28. The Dumb Waiter focuses on:
(A) Marital conflict
(B) Supernatural revenge
(C) Two hitmen waiting in a basement
(D) Political revolution
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Pinter’s minimalist play explores communication and threat.
29. Eugene O’Neill’s plays often explore:
(A) Greek myth
(B) Family trauma and psychological conflict
(C) Farce
(D) Absurd humour
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Long Day’s Journey Into Night shows autobiographical pain.
30. The Glass Menagerie is an example of:
(A) Expressionist farce
(B) Poetic realism
(C) Restoration comedy
(D) Greek tragedy
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Tennessee Williams uses lyrical monologues and memory structure.
31. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible uses the Salem witch trials to comment on:
(A) Puritan geography
(B) Romantic imagination
(C) McCarthyism
(D) Shakespearean tragedy
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Miller critiques political hysteria of 1950s America.
32. The “memory play” technique is characteristic of:
(A) Shaw
(B) Wilde
(C) Tennessee Williams
(D) Eliot
Answer: (C)
Explanation: The Glass Menagerie narrates events through memory.
33. Which of the following dramatists is NOT American?
(A) Arthur Miller
(B) Eugene O’Neill
(C) Tennessee Williams
(D) J. M. Synge
Answer: (D)
Explanation: Synge is Irish (Irish Literary Revival).
34. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” deals most deeply with:
(A) Social gossip
(B) Ritual sacrifice
(C) Marital psychological warfare
(D) Colonial conflict
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Albee’s play shows emotional cruelty and illusion-vs-reality.
35. In the Theatre of the Absurd, language is used to:
(A) Perfect logical argument
(B) Reflect stable meaning
(C) Reveal the breakdown of communication
(D) Praise heroic action
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Absurdist drama exposes linguistic failure.
DRAMA FORMS, GENRES & CONCEPTS
36. A “problem play” is one that:
(A) Contains riddles
(B) Presents unresolved moral/social issues
(C) Uses only monologues
(D) Is based on farce
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Popularized by Ibsen and Shaw.
37. Which play best fits the category of “kitchen sink realism”?
(A) Look Back in Anger
(B) Major Barbara
(C) Endgame
(D) The Rivals
Answer: (A)
Explanation: Osborne focuses on working-class domestic frustration.
38. Expressionist drama typically features:
(A) Objective realism
(B) Personal, distorted emotional landscapes
(C) Classical unities
(D) Restoration morality
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Expressionism visualizes inner emotion externally.
39. The Comedy of Manners typically mocks:
(A) Peasant culture
(B) Religious morality
(C) Urban aristocratic pretensions
(D) Historical legends
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Seen in Congreve, Wycherley.
40. A play-within-the-play is used significantly in:
(A) She Stoops to Conquer
(B) The Importance of Being Earnest
(C) The Spanish Tragedy
(D) Waiting for Godot
Answer: (C)
Explanation: Kyd’s innovation influenced Hamlet.
41. Which of the following defines “Epic Theatre”?
(A) Emotional identification
(B) Alienation effect and critical detachment
(C) Physical comedy
(D) Rhyme-heavy dialogue
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Associated with Brecht; contrasts with naturalistic drama.
42. Verse drama was revived in the 20th century by:
(A) Beckett
(B) Eliot
(C) O’Neill
(D) Albee
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Eliot revived modern poetic drama.
43. A tragicomedy typically:
(A) Alternates comedy and tragedy in separate acts
(B) Mixes tragic situations with comic elements
(C) Is strictly classical
(D) Has no emotional impact
Answer: (B)
Explanation: A blend of tones, common in Shakespeare’s late plays.
AUTHOR–WORK MATCHING
44. Match the dramatist with the movement:
-
Beckett
-
Ibsen
-
Congreve
-
Goldsmith
A. Anti-sentimental comedy
B. Theatre of the Absurd
C. Modern realism
D. Comedy of Manners
Answer: 1-B, 2-C, 3-D, 4-A
Explanation: Each aligns with major movements.
45. Which character belongs to Othello?
(A) Tesman
(B) Lago
(C) Solanio
(D) Gloucester
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Iago is Othello’s antagonist.
46. Identify the play featuring Pozzo and Lucky:
(A) Endgame
(B) The Birthday Party
(C) Waiting for Godot
(D) Look Back in Anger
Answer: (C)
47. Stanley Webber appears in:
(A) The Homecoming
(B) The Birthday Party
(C) The Dumb Waiter
(D) Jumpers
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Stanley is the victim-figure in Pinter’s The Birthday Party.
48. Blanche DuBois appears in:
(A) The Crucible
(B) A Streetcar Named Desire
(C) Long Day’s Journey Into Night
(D) Major Barbara
Answer: (B)
Explanation: Williams’ fragile protagonist.
49. Charlie and Willy Loman are characters in:
(A) Pygmalion
(B) Death of a Salesman
(C) The Zoo Story
(D) Juno and the Paycock
Answer: (B)
50. Match the dramatist with his national tradition:
-
O’Neill –
-
Synge –
-
Miller –
-
Williams –
A. American
B. Irish
Answer: 1-A, 2-B, 3-A, 4-A
Explanation: Synge belongs to Irish revival; the others are American modernists.