King Lear Quizzes

King Lear Quiz 1

By Cameron Peterson · Last reviewed July 01, 2000

1 King Lear banishes which of the following people from his kingdom?

Regan

Kent

Gloucester

the Fool
2 Lear is the king of which country?

Britain

Denmark

Ireland

France
3 Which suitor of Cordelia refuses to marry her after she is disinherited?

Kent

Edmund

France

Burgundy
4 Why does Cordelia refuse to flatter Lear as her sisters have done?

She is scared of her sisters as they have threatened to harm Lear if she competes for his affections.

She cannot think of a good answer to give them so is silent instead.

She finds them insincere and does not want to stoop to their level of hypocrisy.

She has promised France that she would not accept her division of the kingdom.
5 Who parallels Lear in the subplot storyline?

Gloucester

Edmund

Edgar

Kent
6 How does Edmund first deceive Gloucester into believing that Edgar is plotting against him?

He tells Gloucester of several very suspicious purchases Edgar has made.

He has several servants and attendants tell Gloucester of rumors about Edgar's loyalty.

He stages a suspicious conversation with Edgar while Gloucester overhears.

He pretends to hide a letter which he had fabricated, incriminating Edgar.
7 Which of these characters could NOT be considered evil?

Edmund

Goneril

Regan

Albany
8 Which character spoke these lines, "I love your Majesty / According to my bond, no more nor less" (1.1)?

Cordelia

Gloucester

Albany

Lear
9 Which act solidifies Lear's trust for his new servant, Caius (Kent disguised)?

Caius trips Oswald after Lear has struck him because he is being impolite

Caius finds Lear a place of shelter in the storm at a neighbor's residence

The Fool immediately ridicules Caius as he would ridicule Lear

Caius insults Goneril, defending Lear's claim that his knights are not rowdy
10 Why is Kent put in the stocks at Gloucester's castle?

Regan thinks the act may drive her father over the edge and out of her hands

Caius refuses to act coldly toward Lear as Regan has instructed him

Cornwall tries to show Regan how he is not afraid to use his authority

Caius insults and then strikes Oswald, the servant, who cries out
11 How many servants/knights do Regan and Goneril finally agree upon as the number they will allow Lear to keep in his train if he wishes to live with either of them?

50

5

0

25
12 What literary device best describes this statement: "For you, Edmund, / Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant / So much commend itself, you shall be ours. / Natures of such deep trust we shall much need; / You we first seize on" (2.1)?

irony

personification

metaphor

hyperbole
13 What natural event becomes personified with Lear's feelings when he leaves Gloucester's castle and is shut out by his daughters?

storm

tornado

strong wind

sunshine
14 What demon does Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom, frequently complain of?

the devil

Modo

foul fiend

Jabberwocky
15 What best describes the state Lear is trying to reach when he empathizes with poor Tom and wishes to strip himself of all of his clothes?

unaccommodated man

regressed child

primitive being

Tom's acold
16 Poor Tom says that his old occupation was as a _____?

servingman

mason

engineer

day laborer
17 Gloucester prepares a transport to Dover because he overheard what news?

Cordelia has taken ill and is resting in Dover

Edmund had lied about Edgar but has now gained too much power to be stopped

There is a plot against Lear's life

Poor Tom is crazy and dangerous
18 Who kills Cornwall?

Edmund's captain

Gloucester

Regan unintentionally

A servant defending Gloucester
19 What is Gloucester's punishment for treason?

the rack

amputation

blinding

hanging
20 Which of these events is proof of Lear's madness and delirium?

he speaks to Cordelia all day long even though she is not there

he no longer trusts Caius but gives all of his loyalty to his Fool

the trial he holds for Goneril and Regan with the Fool and poor Tom as judges

he will not get in Gloucester's livery for Dover because he thinks it is a plot against him
21 Which quotation best describes why Goneril's feelings are divided after Cornwall's death?

"O, the differences of man and man:/ To thee a woman's services are due"

"Not so hot!/ In his own grace he doth exalt himself/ More than in your addition."

"Milk-livered man,/ That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;/ Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning/ Thine honor from thy suffering"

"But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,/ May all the building in my fancy pluck/ Upon my hateful life."
22 How does Albany find out about Goneril's plan to have Edmund kill him so that they can marry?

Edmund cannot take the deceit any longer and, hoping to do some good, tells Albany of the plot.

Gloucester, Edmund's confidant, sends an anonymous letter to Albany.

Edgar, disguised, brings him the letter he had intercepted from Oswald.

He overhears her speaking to him before they have reached the house and met Oswald.
23 What is Edmund's main concern when he contemplates which of the two sisters, Goneril or Regan, he should marry?

jealousy: Goneril makes him jealous when she is with Albany but Regan would be the safer one to marry.

love: He finds both women beautiful, smart, and kind.

ambition: He wishes to be the ruler of a united kingdom.

revenge: He desires to make Gloucester pay for treating him as a bastard.
24 Why does Lear run away when one of Cordelia's attendants approaches him kindly?

He recognizes the man as a soldier of the French army

He thinks the men were sent by Goneril and Regan and are trying to capture him.

He thinks an entire army is surrounding him

He is afraid they are going to find the important letter he has been hiding
25 What does the doctor prescribe to Cordelia as a remedy for Lear's madness?

sleep

a series of injections

a potion of herbs and newts

intense heat

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