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Christopher Marlowe MCQs: SET 2 (100 New Questions)
Welcome back to the world of Kit Marlowe! If you mastered our first set, you’re ready to delve deeper into the life and works of the Elizabethan stage’s most provocative genius. This SET 2 features 100 entirely new MCQs designed to challenge the true Marlowe enthusiast. We will explore minor characters, specific poetic devices, historical context, critical interpretations, and the more obscure corners of his controversial life. Prepare to test your knowledge on a whole new level!
Part 1: Deeper Biography and Context
1.The “Dutch Church Libel” was a threatening text written in blank verse, posted in London, and partly attributed to Marlowe. What did it threaten?
- A) The Queen and her council
- B) Spanish ambassadors
- C) Catholic priests
- D) Protestant refugees (Huguenots)
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Protestant refugees (Huguenots)
Explanation: This inflammatory document threatened foreign Protestant immigrants, stirring up xenophobic sentiment. A warrant was issued for the authors, leading to the arrest of Marlowe’s roommate, Thomas Kyd.
2.The “Baines Note” contained a list of Marlowe’s alleged blasphemies. Which of these claims was NOT in the note?
- A) That Jesus had a homosexual relationship with St. John.
- B) That the Magi were merely travelling kings, not divinely guided.
- C) That he, Marlowe, had written the plays of William Shakespeare.
- D) That “all they that love not tobacco and boys were fools.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) That he, Marlowe, had written the plays of William Shakespeare.
Explanation: The Marlovian theory of Shakespeare authorship is a much later invention. The Baines Note focused entirely on Marlowe’s heretical and scandalous pronouncements on religion and morality.
3.Who was the powerful patron of Ingram Frizer, the man who killed Marlowe?
- A) Sir Walter Raleigh
- B) Thomas Walsingham
- C) The Earl of Essex
- D) Lord Burghley
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Thomas Walsingham
Explanation: Frizer was in the service of Thomas Walsingham, a cousin of the late spymaster Sir Francis. Marlowe had been staying at Walsingham’s estate in the days leading up to his death, adding to the intrigue.
4.What is the “A-text” versus “B-text” debate concerning *Doctor Faustus*?
- A) It refers to two different authors, ‘A’ and ‘B’.
- B) It concerns an Allegorical text versus a Biographical text.
- C) It refers to the two different quarto publications of the play (1604 and 1616), which have significant textual variations.
- D) It refers to the authorized and unauthorized versions of the script.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) It refers to the two different quarto publications of the play (1604 and 1616), which have significant textual variations.
Explanation: The A-text is shorter, while the B-text is longer and includes more comic scenes, leading to scholarly debate over which is more authentic to Marlowe’s original intention.
5.How long after Marlowe’s death was the coroner’s report on his inquest discovered?
- A) About 10 years
- B) About 50 years
- C) About 100 years
- D) About 330 years
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) About 330 years
Explanation: The official account of Marlowe’s death was lost for centuries. It was rediscovered by scholar Leslie Hotson in 1925, sparking a new wave of interest and suspicion about the event.
6.Before becoming a playwright in London, Marlowe received his MA degree from Cambridge in which year?
- A) 1580
- B) 1584
- C) 1587
- D) 1590
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) 1587
Explanation: He was awarded his Master of Arts in 1587 after the intervention of the Queen’s Privy Council, which cleared him of suspicious activities abroad.
7.What famous historical book, known for its accounts of Protestant martyrs, is likely parodied in *The Jew of Malta*?
- A) *The King James Bible*
- B) *The Book of Common Prayer*
- C) Foxe’s *Book of Martyrs*
- D) Augustine’s *City of God*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Foxe’s *Book of Martyrs*
Explanation: The deaths of the two friars in the play, framed by Barabas, can be seen as a dark, comedic parody of the pious martyrdoms celebrated in Foxe’s influential book.
8.Thomas Beard’s *The Theatre of God’s Judgements* cited Marlowe’s death as an example of what?
- A) The death of a great genius
- B) Divine retribution against an atheist
- C) The dangers of London’s underworld
- D) A tragic accident
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Divine retribution against an atheist
Explanation: This Puritan work used Marlowe’s violent death as a cautionary tale, a clear sign of God’s punishment for his blasphemous life and writings.
Part 2: *Doctor Faustus* – Advanced Knowledge
9.Who are Valdes and Cornelius?
- A) Two angels who advise Faustus.
- B) Faustus’s students who admire him.
- C) Two magicians who first teach Faustus the dark arts.
- D) Two devils subordinate to Mephistophilis.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Two magicians who first teach Faustus the dark arts.
Explanation: After deciding to pursue magic, Faustus seeks out his friends Valdes and Cornelius, who are established practitioners and provide him with the books and instructions he needs.
10.Faustus plays a practical joke on the Pope. What is the Pope’s name?
- A) Leo X
- B) Julius II
- C) Adrian VI
- D) Alexander VI
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Adrian VI
Explanation: Faustus, invisible, attends Pope Adrian’s feast, snatching food and drink away from him and boxing his ears, a scene of anti-Catholic satire popular with English Protestant audiences.
11.The Seven Deadly Sins appear as a pageant for Faustus. Which sin describes itself as wanting all books to be burned and every house turned into a tavern?
- A) Sloth
- B) Gluttony
- C) Greed
- D) Wrath
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Gluttony
Explanation: Gluttony fantasizes about a world of pure consumption, representing an undisciplined and purely physical existence.
12.Faustus visits the court of which Holy Roman Emperor?
- A) Frederick Barbarossa
- B) Charlemagne
- C) Charles V
- D) Maximilian I
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Charles V
Explanation: At the Emperor’s court, Faustus conjures the spirits of Alexander the Great and his paramour, impressing the Emperor but angering a knight named Benvolio.
13.What trick does Faustus play on a horse-courser (horse trader)?
- A) He sells him a horse that turns into a politician.
- B) He sells him a horse that can fly.
- C) He sells him a horse that vanishes when ridden into water.
- D) He sells him a horse that recites Latin.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He sells him a horse that vanishes when ridden into water.
Explanation: He sells the man a horse made of bewitched straw, which turns back into a bundle of hay when it gets wet, another example of Faustus’s petty use of his great powers.
14.The conflict between predestination (Calvinism) and free will is central to Faustus’s tragedy. Which line best reflects this?
- A) “I’ll burn my books—ah, Mephistophilis!”
- B) “Che serà, serà: What will be, shall be.”
- C) “The reward of sin is death? That’s hard.”
- D) “My heart’s so hardened, I cannot repent.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) “My heart’s so hardened, I cannot repent.”
Explanation: This line captures the core theological dilemma: is Faustus truly unable to repent (predestined damnation), or does he simply refuse to (an act of free will)?
15.When Faustus demands a wife from Mephistophilis, what is he given instead?
- A) A book of spells to make any woman love him.
- B) Helen of Troy.
- C) A devil dressed as a woman.
- D) The Duchess of Vanholt.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A devil dressed as a woman.
Explanation: Mephistophilis tells him marriage is a holy sacrament and outside his power to grant, offering him a demon bride instead, which Faustus rejects in disgust.
16.Who is the first character to explicitly warn Faustus of the true, eternal torment of being in Hell?
- A) Lucifer
- B) The Good Angel
- C) Wagner
- D) Mephistophilis himself
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Mephistophilis himself
Explanation: In a moment of tragic irony, Mephistophilis tries to explain the pain of separation from God, but Faustus is too arrogant to understand the warning.
17.At one point, Mephistophilis refuses to answer one of Faustus’s questions. What is the question about?
- A) How to overthrow the Pope
- B) The name of his secret master
- C) Who created the world
- D) How to become immortal
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Who created the world
Explanation: When Faustus asks this fundamental question of creation, Mephistophilis cannot answer because the answer is “God,” a name and concept forbidden by the pact.
18.What does the Chorus say is the ‘form’ of Faustus’s fortunes?
- A) Good, then bad
- B) Bad, then good
- C) Consistently good
- D) Consistently bad
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Good, then bad
Explanation: The prologue frames the story in a classic tragic structure: “So soon he profits in divinity, / The fruitful plot of scholarism graced, / That shortly he was graced with doctor’s name… / Till swollen with cunning, of a self-conceit, / His waxen wings did mount above his reach, / And melting heavens conspired his overthrow!”
Part 3: Conquerors and Schemers (*Tamburlaine* & *Jew of Malta*)
19.Before besieging a city, Tamburlaine’s army famously flew flags of different colors. What did the final, black flag signify?
- A) A peaceful negotiation
- B) A request for ransom
- C) An alliance
- D) Utter destruction with no survivors
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Utter destruction with no survivors
Explanation: His flags were white for one day (mercy for surrender), then red (some will die), and finally black (total annihilation). This symbolized his escalating and inexorable wrath.
20.What happens to the Virgins of Damascus who plead with Tamburlaine for mercy?
- A) He pardons their city.
- B) He has them hoisted on the city walls and shot by his soldiers.
- C) He takes them as slaves.
- D) He sends them back with a message of peace.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He has them hoisted on the city walls and shot by his soldiers.
Explanation: This is one of the play’s most shocking acts of cruelty, demonstrating that Tamburlaine’s word (once he flies the black flag) is absolute and no pleas can sway him.
21.Who are Abigail’s two suitors in *The Jew of Malta*, whom Barabas tricks into killing each other in a duel?
- A) Ferneze and Calymath
- B) Jacomo and Bernardine
- C) Lodowick and Don Mathias
- D) Pilia-Borza and Ithamore
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Lodowick and Don Mathias
Explanation: Lodowick (the governor’s son) and his friend Don Mathias both love Abigail. Barabas secretly promises her to both men, inciting the fatal duel.
22.After his daughter Abigail converts to a nun, what is Barabas’s horrific method of revenge on her and the nunnery?
- A) He burns it down.
- B) He sends them a pot of poisoned porridge.
- C) He reports them to the Turkish invaders.
- D) He has them all sold into slavery.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He sends them a pot of poisoned porridge.
Explanation: This act of filicide is the height of Barabas’s villainy, showing no one is safe from his desire for revenge.
23.Who is the loyal follower and general of Tamburlaine who reports on his battles and shares his worldview?
- A) Techelles
- B) Cosroe
- C) Bajazeth
- D) Usumcasane
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Techelles
Explanation: Techelles and Usumcasane are Tamburlaine’s two most loyal generals who follow him from his shepherd days to becoming kings in his empire.
24.The “aspiring mind” is a key concept in Marlowe. Which line from Tamburlaine best expresses this?
- A) “Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend / The wondrous architecture of the world”
- B) “I count it turmoil to be styled a king”
- C) “The thirst of reign and sweetness of a crown”
- D) “And sooner shall the sun fall from his sphere / Than Tamburlaine be slain or overcome”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) “Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend / The wondrous architecture of the world”
Explanation: This famous passage continues “…and measure every wandering planet’s course, / Still climbing after knowledge infinite, / And always moving as the restless spheres, / Wills us to wear ourselves and never rest,” perfectly defining the insatiable Renaissance ambition.
25.What is Calymath’s role in *The Jew of Malta*?
- A) He is a Spanish naval captain.
- B) He is Governor Ferneze’s son.
- C) He is the son of the Ottoman Emperor, sent to collect tribute from Malta.
- D) He is another Jewish merchant and a rival to Barabas.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He is the son of the Ottoman Emperor, sent to collect tribute from Malta.
Explanation: The overdue tribute to Calymath and the Ottoman Empire is the event that sets the play’s entire plot in motion.
26.How does Zabina, the wife of the defeated Emperor Bajazeth, die in *Tamburlaine*?
- A) Tamburlaine kills her.
- B) She is starved to death.
- C) She dies of grief after Bajazeth kills himself.
- D) She is sold into slavery.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) She dies of grief after Bajazeth kills himself.
Explanation: After Bajazeth brains himself against the bars of his cage, Zabina, driven mad with grief, follows suit and dies.
27.The quote “I count religion but a childish toy, / And hold there is no sin but ignorance” is attributed to whom by Machevil’s prologue?
- A) The Duke of Guise (in a different play)
- B) Tamburlaine
- C) Doctor Faustus
- D) Barabas
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Barabas
Explanation: While the Duke of Guise is referenced as a Machiavel, these specific lines are attributed to the spirit of the play’s protagonist, Barabas, establishing his amoral character.
28.What does Tamburlaine do to his own son Calyphas in Part Two?
- A) He crowns him King of Persia.
- B) He banishes him for loving a commoner.
- C) He kills him for cowardice.
- D) He sends him as an ambassador.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He kills him for cowardice.
Explanation: Disgusted by his son’s refusal to fight, Tamburlaine stabs him, declaring him unworthy of his parentage in a shocking display of his martial values.
Part 4: Kingship and Passion (*Edward II* & Minor Plays)
29.After Gaveston is exiled and murdered, who becomes King Edward’s second male “favourite”?
- A) Young Mortimer
- B) Baldock
- C) Spencer Junior
- D) Arundel
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Spencer Junior
Explanation: Edward’s affection quickly transfers to Spencer Junior, demonstrating a pattern of behaviour and further infuriating the disgruntled nobles.
30.In *Dido, Queen of Carthage*, which god descends and reminds Aeneas of his duty to leave Dido and found a new city in Italy?
- A) Zeus
- B) Hermes (Mercury)
- C) Apollo
- D) Ares (Mars)
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Hermes (Mercury)
Explanation: Following Virgil’s epic, the messenger god Hermes appears to Aeneas to chastise him for dallying in Carthage and to remind him of his destiny to establish Rome.
31.The Duke of Guise in *The Massacre at Paris* is a historical figure famous for what?
- A) Translating the Bible
- B) Leading the Catholic League and orchestrating the massacre
- C) Being a Protestant martyr
- D) Sponsoring Marlowe’s education
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Leading the Catholic League and orchestrating the massacre
Explanation: The historical Henry I, Duke of Guise, was the head of the ultra-Catholic faction in France and a key instigator of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.
32.In Marlowe’s portrayal, King Edward II’s tragic flaw is primarily:
- A) Greed for money
- B) Military incompetence
- C) His inability to balance personal affection with political duty
- D) His religious piety
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) His inability to balance personal affection with political duty
Explanation: Edward’s tragedy is that he places his private feelings for his favourites above the responsibilities of kingship, leading to chaos and rebellion in his realm.
33.The end of *Edward II* features a powerful symbolic object. What is it?
- A) Edward’s crown, now worn by Mortimer
- B) The dagger that killed Mortimer
- C) The severed head of Mortimer, which the new King Edward III holds
- D) A letter from the deceased Gaveston
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The severed head of Mortimer, which the new King Edward III holds
Explanation: The final, grim stage image shows the young king asserting his authority by displaying the head of his father’s usurper, vowing to honor his father’s memory.
34.What title does Edward II bestow upon Gaveston, infuriating the nobles?
- A) Duke of Cornwall
- B) Prince of Wales
- C) Lord High Chamberlain and King of Man
- D) Earl of Kent
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Lord High Chamberlain and King of Man
Explanation: These excessive and immediate honors signal to the established nobility that Edward intends to favor Gaveston above all of them.
35.Which of Marlowe’s plays is considered his most structurally sound and sophisticated in its character development?
- A) *Dido, Queen of Carthage*
- B) *Tamburlaine, Part Two*
- C) *Edward II*
- D) *The Massacre at Paris*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *Edward II*
Explanation: Many critics consider *Edward II* to be Marlowe’s masterpiece in terms of dramatic structure and psychological complexity, showing a marked development from the more episodic nature of *Tamburlaine*.
36.Who is Lightborn in *Edward II*?
- A) A philosopher who advises the king
- B) Queen Isabella’s brother
- C) A hired assassin whose name suggests Lucifer
- D) The king’s loyal brother, the Earl of Kent
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A hired assassin whose name suggests Lucifer
Explanation: Lightborn is the sinister and chillingly professional killer hired by Mortimer to murder the deposed king in his prison cell.
Part 5: Poetry and Legacy
37.In Sir Walter Raleigh’s “The Nymph’s Reply,” what is the primary reason the nymph rejects the shepherd?
- A) He is not wealthy enough.
- B) The transient, fleeting nature of time and beauty.
- C) She loves another.
- D) She disapproves of the shepherd’s life.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The transient, fleeting nature of time and beauty.
Explanation: Raleigh’s nymph argues that the shepherd’s flowers, gowns, and youthful love will all fade and die, making his promises meaningless in the face of time.
38.In which year were Marlowe’s translations of Ovid’s *Amores* publicly burned?
- A) 1593
- B) 1599
- C) 1603
- D) 1616
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) 1599
Explanation: Six years after his death, his translations were targeted in the “Bishops’ Ban” and burned due to their erotic and amoral content.
39.In the opening of *Hero and Leander*, Marlowe describes Hero as a priestess of which goddess?
- A) Diana
- B) Athena
- C) Hera
- D) Venus (Aphrodite)
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Venus (Aphrodite)
Explanation: The irony of the poem is that Hero, a sworn virgin, is the nun of the goddess of love herself, setting up the central conflict of her desire for Leander.
40.The “Marlowe question” or “Marlovian theory” is a fringe theory that posits Marlowe…
- A) was secretly a Catholic.
- B) was the rightful heir to the throne.
- C) faked his death in 1593 and went on to write the plays of William Shakespeare.
- D) was illiterate and had his plays ghostwritten.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) faked his death in 1593 and went on to write the plays of William Shakespeare.
Explanation: This is a major conspiracy theory in the Shakespeare authorship question, arguing that Marlowe’s “death” was a ruse to escape his trial for atheism.
41.In which of Shakespeare’s plays does the character Pistol misquote a famous line from *Tamburlaine*?
- A) *The Merry Wives of Windsor*
- B) *Henry V*
- C) *Henry IV, Part 2*
- D) *The Taming of the Shrew*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *Henry IV, Part 2*
Explanation: Pistol exclaims, “Holla, you pamper’d jades of Asia, / Which cannot go but thirty miles a day,” directly parodying Tamburlaine’s line to the kings pulling his chariot.
42.The phrase “the face that launched a thousand ships” has become an idiom for:
- A) An unforgettable melody
- B) A declaration of war
- C) An extremely beautiful woman who causes great conflict
- D) A powerful naval fleet
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) An extremely beautiful woman who causes great conflict
Explanation: Marlowe’s line about Helen of Troy from *Doctor Faustus* has entered the English language as a common expression for a woman of supreme, and often dangerous, beauty.
43.In 2002, a stained-glass window was installed in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, to honor Marlowe. What does it depict?
- A) A scene from *Doctor Faustus*
- B) Marlowe’s portrait
- C) The stars and constellations mentioned in his works
- D) A stack of burning books
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The stars and constellations mentioned in his works
Explanation: The window, designed by John Hayward, features a celestial theme reflecting Marlowe’s “aspiring mind,” with an inscription of a line from *Doctor Faustus* and a question mark symbolizing the mystery of his life and death.
44.The line “Infinite riches in a little room” is spoken by Barabas in *The Jew of Malta* in reference to what?
- A) His daughter, Abigail
- B) His intellect and cunning
- C) His house of treasures and jewels
- D) The island of Malta
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) His house of treasures and jewels
Explanation: Spoken in the opening soliloquy, this line perfectly captures the Marlovian hero’s desire for limitless wealth contained in a physical, controllable space.
45.Who is Edward Alleyn?
- A) The poet who completed *Hero and Leander*
- B) Marlowe’s main publisher
- C) The lead actor of the Admiral’s Men and the first to play Marlowe’s major tragic roles
- D) A fellow University Wit who criticized Marlowe
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The lead actor of the Admiral’s Men and the first to play Marlowe’s major tragic roles
Explanation: Edward Alleyn was the first great tragic actor of the Elizabethan stage, and his powerful performances as Tamburlaine, Faustus, and Barabas were crucial to Marlowe’s success.
46.Which work of Shakespeare is thought to show the most direct stylistic influence from Marlowe, particularly *Edward II*?
- A) *Hamlet*
- B) *The Tempest*
- C) *Richard II*
- D) *A Midsummer Night’s Dream*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *Richard II*
Explanation: Shakespeare’s early history plays, especially *Richard II* with its poetic depiction of a weak king’s downfall and murder, are heavily indebted to Marlowe’s innovations in historical tragedy and blank verse.
47.Which of Marlowe’s contemporaries wrote the vengeful line, “I’ll play the murderer, Tamburlaine,” showing his influence?
- A) Robert Greene
- B) Thomas Kyd
- C) William Shakespeare
- D) Thomas Nashe
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Robert Greene
Explanation: In his play *Alphonsus, King of Aragon*, Greene directly imitates Marlowe’s most famous character, showing how much *Tamburlaine* dominated the popular imagination.
48.The “reckoning” or bill over which Marlowe was supposedly killed was for what?
- A) Gambling debts
- B) Food and drink
- C) Lodging
- D) Secret government business
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Food and drink
Explanation: The official story, highly doubted by many, was that the argument that led to the fatal brawl was a simple dispute over who would pay the bill at the tavern or lodging house.
49.Who is the long-suffering character that represents orthodox Christian belief and repeatedly urges Faustus to repent?
- A) Wagner
- B) Valdes
- C) The Old Man
- D) Cornelius
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Old Man
Explanation: The Old Man appears near the end of the play as a final, powerful symbol of grace and forgiveness, offering Faustus one last chance to save his soul.
51.What famous line does Tamburlaine speak when his wife Zenocrate dies?
- A) “So, she is dead.”
- B) “Now, eyes, enjoy your latest object’s sight”
- C) “For she is dead, and all my joys are gone”
- D) “Now walk the angels on the walls of heaven… To entertain divine Zenocrate.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) “Now walk the angels on the walls of heaven… To entertain divine Zenocrate.”
Explanation: This magnificent line showcases Marlowe’s “mighty line” and Tamburlaine’s supreme arrogance, as he envisions all of heaven serving his deceased wife.
52.What is the “Faustian bargain” a metaphor for?
- A) A difficult but fair business deal
- B) A deal where one trades something of immense spiritual value for worldly gain
- C) An act of charity
- D) A simple misunderstanding
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A deal where one trades something of immense spiritual value for worldly gain
Explanation: Thanks to Marlowe’s play, the term has entered the language to describe any deal where one sacrifices moral integrity or their soul for power, knowledge, or success.
53.The final words of *Doctor Faustus* are a warning about what?
- A) The dangers of pride
- B) The deceptive nature of women
- C) The folly of practicing “unlawful things”
- D) The corrupting nature of money
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The folly of practicing “unlawful things”
Explanation: The Chorus concludes: “Regard his hellish fall… Only to wonder at unlawful things, / Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits / To practise more than heavenly power permits.”
54.Who became the ruler of England after deposing Richard II, an event that shadows the plot of *Edward II*?
- A) Henry IV
- B) Richard III
- C) Henry V
- D) Edward III
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Henry IV
Explanation: The deposition of a legitimate king by a powerful nobleman (Henry Bolingbroke becoming Henry IV) was a potent and politically sensitive theme, which both Marlowe and Shakespeare explored in their history plays.
55.Which famous poet described Marlowe as having been “stabbed to death by a bawdy serving-man, a rival of his in his lewd love”?
- A) John Donne
- B) Ben Jonson
- C) Francis Meres
- D) John Milton
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Francis Meres
Explanation: In his *Palladis Tamia* (1598), Francis Meres spread this gossipy and moralistic version of Marlowe’s death, contrasting it with a “godly” death as a warning against impiety.
56.When Barabas is hiding his gold in *The Jew of Malta*, what location does his daughter Abigail help him retrieve it from?
- A) A secret vault in the church
- B) A pirate ship
- C) The city treasury
- D) A hiding place within the walls of his own house, which is now a nunnery
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) A hiding place within the walls of his own house, which is now a nunnery
Explanation: Barabas has Abigail pretend to convert to Christianity so she can enter their old home, now a convent, and retrieve his hidden treasure.
57.What is the source of the story for *Hero and Leander*?
- A) A Latin poem by Ovid
- B) A Greek poem by Musaeus Grammaticus
- C) The Old Testament
- D) Homer’s *Iliad*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A Greek poem by Musaeus Grammaticus
Explanation: Marlowe’s narrative poem is an expansive and richly detailed adaptation of the late Greek classical poem by Musaeus.
58.What physical affliction does Tamburlaine seem to suffer from at the end of Part Two before he dies?
- A) Blindness
- B) He is wounded in his final battle
- C) He appears to suffer a stroke or apoplectic fit
- D) He is poisoned
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He appears to suffer a stroke or apoplectic fit
Explanation: After his blasphemous act against Mahomet, he complains of a fiery distemper and a failing brain, suggesting a sudden, fatal illness rather than a battle wound.
59.The name Mephistophilis is likely of Greek origin, meaning roughly what?
- A) “King of Lies”
- B) “He who loves the light”
- C) “He who does not love the light”
- D) “The swift one”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “He who does not love the light”
Explanation: The name is often interpreted as a combination of Greek words meaning “not,” “light,” and “love,” signifying a spirit who is an enemy of the divine light of heaven.
60.Which of these mythological figures is NOT directly referenced or summoned in *Doctor Faustus*?
- A) Alexander the Great
- B) Helen of Troy
- C) Icarus (in the Chorus)
- D) Orpheus
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Orpheus
Explanation: Alexander and Helen appear as spirits, and the Chorus compares Faustus’s fall to that of Icarus. Orpheus, the musician who journeyed to the underworld, is not referenced.
61.In *The Massacre at Paris*, the Duke of Guise’s main Protestant rival, whom he assassinates, is:
- A) Henry of Navarre
- B) Admiral Coligny
- C) King Charles IX
- D) Ramus
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Admiral Coligny
Explanation: Gaspard de Coligny was the leader of the Huguenots, and his murder was one of the first acts of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, as dramatized by Marlowe.
62.Which of Marlowe’s works most clearly shows the influence of Machiavelli’s “The Prince”?
- A) *Doctor Faustus*
- B) *The Jew of Malta*
- C) *Dido, Queen of Carthage*
- D) *Hero and Leander*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *The Jew of Malta*
Explanation: With its prologue spoken by “Machevil” and a protagonist who uses poison, deception, and murder to achieve his goals, the play is a direct engagement with Machiavellian political philosophy.
63.“To entertain divine Zenocrate” is the ambition of which Marlovian hero?
- A) Doctor Faustus
- B) Tamburlaine
- C) Barabas
- D) King Edward II
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Tamburlaine
Explanation: Despite his ruthless conquest, Tamburlaine’s love for Zenocrate is a key motivation, as expressed in many of his famous poetic speeches.
64.Who is Queen Isabella’s lover and co-conspirator in *Edward II*?
- A) Gaveston
- B) Pembroke
- C) Spencer Junior
- D) Mortimer Junior
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Mortimer Junior
Explanation: Scorned by her husband, Queen Isabella joins forces with the ambitious Mortimer Junior; they become lovers and rule England together after deposing Edward.
65.At the end of his life, Tamburlaine is struck down by a mysterious illness immediately after doing what?
- A) Conquering Babylon
- B) Making a treaty with the Christian kings
- C) Burning a copy of the Quran and challenging the prophet Mahomet
- D) Crowning his son as his successor
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Burning a copy of the Quran and challenging the prophet Mahomet
Explanation: In his ultimate act of hubris, Tamburlaine declares himself greater than any god. He is immediately struck ill, implying divine retribution for his blasphemy.
66.In which year was the first performance of *Tamburlaine the Great*, the play that made Marlowe famous?
- A) 1587
- B) 1593
- C) 1600
- D) 1564
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) 1587
Explanation: First performed in 1587, *Tamburlaine* was a smash hit, and its bombastic hero and powerful blank verse revolutionized the English stage.
67.What famous line does Barabas speak aside to the audience while pretending to be patient?
- A) “Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.”
- B) “And thus I clothe my naked villainy.”
- C) “I am not what I am.”
- D) “Ego mihimet sum semper proximus.” (I am always nearest to myself.)
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) “Ego mihimet sum semper proximus.” (I am always nearest to myself.)
Explanation: While the Shakespearean Shylock famously speaks the line about “sufferance,” Barabas’s Latin aside reveals his true, self-serving Machiavellian nature to the audience.
68.The phrase “the wind that blew a thousand ships to Tenedos” is from which Marlowe poem?
- A) “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”
- B) *The First Book of Lucan*
- C) *Hero and Leander*
- D) *Amores*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *Hero and Leander*
Explanation: This is part of the description of the tempestuous sea that Leander must cross, showing Marlowe’s typical use of grand, classical allusions.
69.Who is the character that Faustus tricks by making horns grow on his head?
- A) Benvolio
- B) Valdes
- C) Wagner
- D) Martino
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Benvolio
Explanation: Benvolio, a knight at the Emperor’s court, is skeptical of Faustus’s powers. For his insolence, Faustus makes a pair of antlers sprout from his head.
70.In which year was the first quarto (the A-Text) of *Doctor Faustus* published?
- A) 1593
- B) 1598
- C) 1604
- D) 1616
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) 1604
Explanation: The A-Text was published 11 years after Marlowe’s death, highlighting the complex textual history and popularity of the play.
71.What physical object represents Edward II’s loss of power when he is forced to abdicate?
- A) His sword
- B) His scepter
- C) A handkerchief stained with his tears
- D) His signet ring
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A handkerchief stained with his tears
Explanation: In a highly symbolic scene, Edward refuses to part with his crown and instead sends the rebels a handkerchief full of tears, a potent symbol of his grief and impotence.
72.In Marlowe’s plays, a soliloquy often serves as a moment of what?
- A) Quiet moral reflection
- B) Prayer and repentance
- C) Explosive self-definition and the expression of boundless desire
- D) Comic relief from the main plot
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Explosive self-definition and the expression of boundless desire
Explanation: Unlike Shakespearean soliloquies which often show doubt, Marlowe’s (like those of Tamburlaine, Faustus, and Barabas) are powerful declarations of will and ambition.
73.Who is Gaveston’s primary advocate among the nobles at the beginning of *Edward II*?
- A) Edward’s brother, the Earl of Kent
- B) Old Spencer
- C) The Archbishop of Canterbury
- D) None, all the nobles oppose him
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Edward’s brother, the Earl of Kent
Explanation: Initially, Kent defends the king’s right to choose his friends, but he later joins the nobles’ rebellion when he sees how destructive the relationship is for the kingdom.
74.The literary source for *The Jew of Malta* is thought to be:
- A) The Bible
- B) A popular Italian novella
- C) There is no single known source; it is largely Marlowe’s invention
- D) A play by Seneca
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) There is no single known source; it is largely Marlowe’s invention
Explanation: While Marlowe drew on Machiavellian ideas and anti-Semitic stereotypes of the era, the specific plot of Barabas and his elaborate revenge seems to be original to him.
75.What famous critic praised Marlowe’s “dramatic-poetic élan” but also pointed out his weaknesses in plot construction?
- A) Dr. Samuel Johnson
- B) T.S. Eliot
- C) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- D) Matthew Arnold
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) T.S. Eliot
Explanation: In his essay “Notes on the Blank Verse of Christopher Marlowe,” T.S. Eliot famously analyzed Marlowe’s powerful but sometimes monotonous verse and compared it to Shakespeare’s more mature and flexible style.
76.The “B-Text” of Doctor Faustus contains an additional scene involving which two mythological figures?
- A) Orpheus and Eurydice
- B) Theseus and the Minotaur
- C) Darius and Alexander
- D) A subplot about a Clown named Robin
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Darius and Alexander
Explanation: In the longer B-Text, Faustus conjures Alexander the Great and his paramour at the request of the Emperor Charles V. It also includes an expanded role for the Clown and comic scenes.
77.Who takes control of Malta at the very end of *The Jew of Malta*?
- A) The Turkish forces under Calymath
- B) Barabas, who feigned his death
- C) Abigail, who was not really poisoned
- D) The Christian Governor Ferneze, who betrays Barabas
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) The Christian Governor Ferneze, who betrays Barabas
Explanation: After Barabas helps Ferneze defeat the Turks, Ferneze promptly betrays Barabas, has him killed in the cauldron, and re-establishes Christian control, showing himself to be the ultimate Machiavel.
78.Which of Marlowe’s plays features a scholar-in-love named Gaveston who uses classical allusions to plan entertainments for the king?
- A) *The Jew of Malta*
- B) *Dido, Queen of Carthage*
- C) *Edward II*
- D) *Doctor Faustus*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *Edward II*
Explanation: In an early speech, Gaveston fantasizes about hiring poets and actors to stage mythological scenes, particularly the story of Diana and Actaeon, to please the king.
79.The story of a ruler brought low by his or her own flaws is a theme Marlowe took from what medieval tradition?
- A) The Mystery Play cycle
- B) The Morality Play
- C) The *De casibus virorum illustrium* (On the Fates of Famous Men) tradition
- D) Arthurian Romance
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The *De casibus virorum illustrium* (On the Fates of Famous Men) tradition
Explanation: This popular medieval genre, exemplified by Lydgate’s *Fall of Princes* and *The Mirror for Magistrates*, told cautionary tales about the downfall of great historical figures, a structure Marlowe adapted for tragedy.
80.Marlowe’s contemporary Michael Drayton gave him a fitting tribute, calling him:
- A) “Father of English Tragedy”
- B) “That fine madness”
- C) “The Muses’ darling”
- D) “The star of poets”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) “That fine madness”
Explanation: In his poem “To Henry Reynolds,” Drayton writes of Marlowe: “…his raptures were / All air and fire… / For that fine madness still he did retain, / Which rightly should possess a poet’s brain.”
81.In Marlowe’s poem, how does Leander die?
- A) Hero rejects him.
- B) He is killed by a jealous rival.
- C) He drowns in the Hellespont during a storm.
- D) The poem is unfinished, so his death is not described by Marlowe.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) The poem is unfinished, so his death is not described by Marlowe.
Explanation: Marlowe’s section of the poem ends with the lovers consummating their relationship. The traditional mythological ending, where Leander drowns and Hero kills herself, was written by George Chapman in his continuation.
82.The “Baines Note” accused Marlowe of persuading people to atheism and also of claiming the right to do what?
- A) Rule England
- B) Coin money as freely as the Queen
- C) Marry anyone he chose
- D) Overthrow the Pope
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Coin money as freely as the Queen
Explanation: This seditious claim of the right to “coin” was a direct challenge to royal authority and links back to his real-life arrest for counterfeiting in the Netherlands.
83.Which of these is NOT a location visited by Faustus and Mephistophilis on their magical tour?
- A) Rome, to see the Pope
- B) The Emperor’s court in Germany
- C) The heavens, to view the stars
- D) The Garden of Eden
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) The Garden of Eden
Explanation: Their travels are vast, but they do not visit the biblical Eden. The Chorus describes them flying in a chariot drawn by dragons over various European cities.
84.What two friars does Barabas trick into fighting and getting one killed, thus framing the other for murder?
- A) Friar Laurence and Friar John
- B) Friar Barnardine and Friar Jacomo
- C) Friar Tuck and Friar Francis
- D) Friar Lodowick and Friar Mathias
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Friar Barnardine and Friar Jacomo
Explanation: When his daughter Abigail confesses to them, Barabas poisons one and frames the other for the crime, eliminating them both in a darkly comic subplot.
85.How does Marlowe challenge traditional depictions of Helen of Troy in *Doctor Faustus*?
- A) He portrays her as unintelligent.
- B) He presents her as a silent, demonic succubus rather than a human character.
- C) He gives her a long, powerful speech.
- D) He suggests she was not really beautiful.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He presents her as a silent, demonic succubus rather than a human character.
Explanation: The Helen that appears is a spirit, a demon. Her kiss literally sucks Faustus’s soul away and ensures his final damnation, making her an object of sublime but deadly beauty.
86.Marlowe’s translation of Lucan’s *Pharsalia* details the civil war between which two Roman figures?
- A) Octavius and Antony
- B) Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar
- C) Scipio and Hannibal
- D) Brutus and Cassius
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar
Explanation: Lucan’s epic poem is the classic historical account of the war between Pompey and Caesar that ended the Roman Republic.
87.What university ceremony was the play *Dido, Queen of Carthage* likely written for?
- A) A royal visit
- B) A performance by a boy’s acting troupe
- C) The opening of a new library
- D) A graduation ceremony
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A performance by a boy’s acting troupe
Explanation: The play was published as having been performed by the “Children of the Chapel,” one of the professional boy companies that performed sophisticated plays for aristocratic audiences.
88.In his early days in London, Marlowe was briefly imprisoned in which notorious prison for his involvement in a fatal duel?
- A) The Tower of London
- B) Newgate Prison
- C) The Clink
- D) The Fleet
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Newgate Prison
Explanation: He was arrested in 1589 after a street brawl where his friend, the poet Thomas Watson, killed William Bradley. Marlowe was held in Newgate but was later acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
89.What happens to King Edward’s loyal brother, the Earl of Kent, in *Edward II*?
- A) He becomes king.
- B) He is exiled by Mortimer.
- C) He is executed by Mortimer for his lingering loyalty to the king’s line.
- D) He flees to France.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He is executed by Mortimer for his lingering loyalty to the king’s line.
Explanation: Kent’s moral compass ultimately leads him to defend the legitimate royal line, which makes him a threat to the usurper Mortimer, who has him killed.
90.What famous acting family has Marlowe ancestry, lending a modern touch to his legacy?
- A) The Redgrave family
- B) The Barrymore family
- C) The Cusack family
- D) The Fiennes family
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) The Redgrave family
Explanation: The legendary theatrical dynasty of the Redgraves (Michael, Vanessa, Lynn, etc.) are descendants of Christopher Marlowe’s older sister, Joan.
91.At the start of Part Two, Tamburlaine’s sons are training for war. What does Tamburlaine do to test his sons’ fortitude?
- A) He makes them fast for three days.
- B) He has them fight professional soldiers.
- C) He wounds his own arm with a dagger and urges them to do the same.
- D) He makes them read ancient texts on war.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He wounds his own arm with a dagger and urges them to do the same.
Explanation: He declares that blood is the “silk” of a soldier and demonstrates the warrior’s contempt for pain, an ideal his son Calyphas fails to live up to.
92.In *The Jew of Malta*, how does Governor Ferneze manage to break his pact with the Turks?
- A) The King of Spain arrives with his fleet to defend the island.
- B) A storm destroys the Turkish fleet.
- C) The Turkish leader Calymath is assassinated.
- D) He gets Barabas to defeat them for him.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) The King of Spain arrives with his fleet to defend the island.
Explanation: The arrival of the Spanish fleet, Malta’s supposed protectors, emboldens Ferneze to break his promise to pay tribute, leading to the first great confiscation of Barabas’s wealth.
93.Who says the line “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?”
- A) The Chorus
- B) Mephistophilis
- C) Faustus
- D) A Scholar
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Faustus
Explanation: Faustus speaks this famous line upon seeing the spirit of Helen of Troy, beginning one of the most celebrated speeches in English drama.
94.What is the central irony of Mephistophilis’s character?
- A) He is secretly good.
- B) He understands the horrors of hell and the value of what Faustus is losing, yet must tempt him anyway.
- C) He is less powerful than Faustus.
- D) He is a comic figure.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He understands the horrors of hell and the value of what Faustus is losing, yet must tempt him anyway.
Explanation: This gives him a tragic dimension. Unlike a simple pantomime villain, Mephistophilis is tormented by his separation from God and implicitly warns Faustus of his own fate.
95.What modern word, meaning extravagant and bombastic language, is often associated with the style of *Tamburlaine*?
- A) Marlovian
- B) Machiavellian
- C) Hyperbole
- D) Bombast
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Bombast
Explanation: The word, originally meaning cotton padding, came to describe the inflated, grandiloquent, and often over-the-top speeches that Marlowe perfected for his larger-than-life heroes.
96.In which year was Marlowe officially added to Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, despite centuries of controversy?
- A) 1802
- B) 1902
- C) 2002
- D) He is still not honored there.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) 2002
Explanation: It took over 400 years for his controversial reputation to be overcome, but on July 11, 2002, a stained-glass memorial window was dedicated to him.
97.Who is described as the “scourge of God” in Marlowe’s work?
- A) Doctor Faustus
- B) Tamburlaine
- C) Barabas
- D) The Duke of Guise
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Tamburlaine
Explanation: Tamburlaine sees himself as an instrument of divine wrath sent to punish the wicked and decadent rulers of the world, adopting the title “The Scourge of God.”
98.What happens to the Governor of Babylon after Tamburlaine conquers the city in Part Two?
- A) He is made a vassal king.
- B) He is hoisted up on the city walls and shot to death.
- C) He is flayed alive.
- D) He is pardoned.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He is hoisted up on the city walls and shot to death.
Explanation: Echoing the fate of the Virgins of Damascus, Tamburlaine makes an example of the Governor, demonstrating his consistent and brutal methods of conquest.
99.What is the “mighty line”?
- A) A direct quotation from Marlowe’s work.
- B) A term for the finishing line of a sonnet.
- C) Ben Jonson’s term for the power and energy of Marlowe’s blank verse.
- D) The name of the fault line that runs through Canterbury.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Ben Jonson’s term for the power and energy of Marlowe’s blank verse.
Explanation: In his tribute to Shakespeare, Ben Jonson acknowledged Marlowe’s contribution to drama by referencing “Marlowe’s mighty line,” a phrase that has become the definitive description of his poetic style.
100.The final scene of *Edward II* suggests that the young King Edward III will rule with what quality his father lacked?
- A) Compassion
- B) Ruthless justice and authority
- C) A love for poetry
- D) Forgiveness
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Ruthless justice and authority
Explanation: By immediately ordering the execution of Mortimer, even over his own mother’s pleas, the young king demonstrates that he, unlike his father, will not let personal feelings interfere with the necessities of power.
Conclusion: The Enduring Echo of the Mighty Line
“Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend The wondrous architecture of the world… Still climbing after knowledge infinite,” – Tamburlaine the Great
Having navigated this second set of challenges, your knowledge of Christopher Marlowe is truly comprehensive. From the specifics of the Baines Note to the motivations of minor characters and the very structure of his verse, you have explored the depths of Marlowe’s creative and rebellious mind. He was a trailblazer whose ‘mighty line’ and titanic characters set the stage for the golden age of English drama. Though his life was brief, his work continues to echo through centuries of literature.
How did you do on this advanced set? Share your results and your favorite Marlowe play in the comments below!