English Drama MCQs

Kenneth Allsop referred to a group of writers from the late 1950s as  full of “irreverence, stridency, vulgarity resentment against the cultivated” were called

(a) New drama

(b) Angry Young men

(c) The Theatre of Cruelty

(d) The Theatre of Revolt

Question’s Answer: Angry Young men


What was presented by “The Angry Young Men?”

(a) Frustration and deprivation

(b) Post war reforms

(c) A sense of alienation

(d) Betrayal and futility

Question’s Answer: Betrayal and futility



Osborne’s later plays show

(a) Anger

(b) Anger as a matter of the past

(c) More disgruntled than angry

(d) Acceptance of the world order

Question’s Answer: More disgruntled than angry


The post Second World War drama presents

(a) War related problems predicament

(b) Crisis of human

(c) Economic questions

(d) Fate of nations

Question’s Answer: Crisis of human


Which is the most famous play of this movement?

(a) Room at the Top

(b) Look Back in Anger

(c) The Outsider

(d) Lucky Jim

Question’s Answer: Look Back in Anger


Today Look Back in Anger is

(a) Manifestation of post second world war phenomenon

(b) A voice of dissent

(c) A comment of non-redressal of working class grievances

(d) A social critique

Question’s Answer: A voice of dissent


What was presented by “Angry Young Men?”

(a) Jaded aristocracy

(b) Lower middle class and working class

(c) War machinery

(d) Rich business class

Question’s Answer: Lower middle class and working class


In Look Back in Anger Jimmy Porter is

(a) The hero

(b) Unrealistic mouthpiece protagonist

(c) The playwright’s

(d) The anti-hero

Question’s Answer: The anti-hero


Look Back in Anger is

(a) A significant drama

(b) A great theatre experience

(c) A harbinger of a revolution in English drama

(d) A good book

Question’s Answer: A harbinger of a revolution in English drama


Who has been identified as the Angry Young Men’s leader?

(a) Alan Sillitoe

(b) John Osborne

(c) Colin Wilson

(d) John Wain

Question’s Answer: John Osborne


Why Look Back in Anger is a classic?

(a) Because it was taken as a revolt

(b) Because it shook the foundation of proaristocracy governance

(c) Because it was an attack on British complacency

(d) Because it awakened the policy makers from their slumber.

Question’s Answer: Because it was an attack on British complacency


The Entertainer and Luther lacked

(a) Force and vigour

(b) The anger of his first play

(c) Commitment

(d) Smouldering anger

Question’s Answer: The anger of his first play


The Theatre of Absurd’ is marked by

(a) Funny situations

(b) Divinity

(c) Human conflicts

(d) Surprise and shock

Question’s Answer: Surprise and shock


The Kitchen-sink drama’ is marked by

(a) Neo-realism

(b) Domestic life

(c) Kitchen scenes

(d) Pseudo-realism

Question’s Answer: Domestic life


The comedy of menace and dark comedy were written in

(a) 18th century

(b) 19th century

(c) Mid-twentieth century and after

(d) Early twentieth century during First World War

Question’s Answer: Mid-twentieth century and after


What is the label which is linked with Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco,Arthur Adamov and Jean Genet.

(a) The Theatre of Revolt

(b) The Theatre of Cruelty

(c) The Theatre of Paradox

(d) The Theatre of the Absurd

Question’s Answer: The Theatre of the Absurd


“Waiting for Godot” was published in _________.

(a) 1960

(b) 1951

(c) 1952

(d) 1956

Question’s Answer: 1952


The Theatre of Absurd’ is linked with

(a) Sartre

(b) Osborne

(c) Samuel Beckett

(d) Wesker

Question’s Answer: Samuel Beckett


The labels of ‘Kitchen-sink drama’,”Absurd drama’, “Comedy of menace’, ‘dark comedy’ and ‘Drama of cruelty’ are used by

(a) Journalists

(b) Playwrights

(c) Men of literature

(d) Drama critics

Question’s Answer: Men of literature


The theatre of the Absurd’ was first used by which of the following?

(a) John Russell Taylor

(b) Laurence Kitchin

(c) Martin Esslin

(d) Hugh Kenner

Question’s Answer: John Russell Taylor


“The Myth of Sisyphus” is written by ____ .

(a) Jean Paul Sartre

(b) James Joyce

(c) Samuel Beckett

(d) Albert Camus

Question’s Answer: Albert Camus


Who described Absurd as “devoid of” purpose______senseless, absurd,useless.”?

(a) Franz Kafka

(b) Albert Camus

(c) Eugene Ionesco

(d) Samuel Beckett

Question’s Answer: Eugene Ionesco


A thinker argues about the absurdity but the playwright

(a) Writes about it

(b) Gives form to abstract thought

(c) Presents concrete images of experience of Absurdity

(d) Answers existential questions

Question’s Answer: Presents concrete images of experience of Absurdity


When was the first time “Waiting for Godot” a play by Samuel Beckett was presented in a theatre?

(a) January 5, 1952

(b) April 13, 1955

(c) January 5, 1953

(d) April 13, 1953

Question’s Answer: January 5, 1953


Where was Waiting for Godot first performed in U.S.A.?

(a) New York theatre

(b) Washington D.c.

(c) Boston

(d) San Quenten

Question’s Answer: San Quenten


When Alan Schneider asked Beckett, ‘who was Godot”?

What reply did the playwright give? ‘Godot is a local landlord?”

(a) ‘Godot is diminuitive God’

(b) “If knew, I would have said so in the play’

(c) ‘Godot is a famous cyclist?

(d) ‘Godot is Augmentative God’

Question’s Answer: “If knew, I would have said so in the play’


Who are waiting for Godot?

(a) Pozzo and Lucky

(b) Vladimir and Estragon

(c) The little boy

(d) The people in the audience

Question’s Answer: Vladimir and Estragon


The Myth of Sisyphus presents

(a) Man as a stranger on the planet earth

(b) A sense of futility

(c) An ancient myth

(d) Re-writing a Greek myth

Question’s Answer: A sense of futility


Who is Lucky?

(a) An intelligent man in servitude

(b) A poor old man

(c) A serf

(d) A friend of Pozzo

Question’s Answer: An intelligent man in servitude


Lucky stands for

(a) An economic disaster

(b) A slave

(c) A moral destitute

(d)Good intelligent people mentally and physically controlled by men in power

Question’s Answer: Good intelligent people mentally and physically controlled by men in power


Why are Estragon and Vladimir awaiting Godot?

(a) For money and power

(b) For food and shelter

(c) For a prayer and salvation

(d) For Godot had promised to come tomorrow, but they don’t know why

Question’s Answer: For Godot had promised to come tomorrow, but they don’t know why


How long Estragon and Vladimir have been waiting?

(a) For two years

(b) For two evenings

(c) For sometime

(d) For a life time

Question’s Answer: For a life time


Vladimir and Estragon represent which of the followings?

(a) North Europe

(b) Down-trodden mankind

(c) Russia

(d) Themselves

Question’s Answer: Down-trodden mankind


The tramps are

(a) Ageless

(b) Old and sick

(c) Youngmen

(d) Fools

Question’s Answer: Ageless


Who is Pozzo?

(a) A rich man

(b) A despotic man reminding one of Hitler, and all he stood for

(c) A despotic man, like a war lord

(d) A good for nothing aristocrat

Question’s Answer: A despotic man reminding one of Hitler, and all he stood for


Lucky denotes

(a) Good for nothing worthless fellow

(b) He is no good now for he is old

(c) Citizens of the world who make this world and life worthwhile yet are not free

(d) An enslaved soul struggling for freedom

Question’s Answer: Citizens of the world who make this world and life worthwhile yet are not free


What does the playwright show by lucky on a rope?

(a) knowledge without freedom

(b) Attempt of despotic power to stifle the free spirit

(c) Hope is inherent even in slavery

(d) The person knows everything even his own key to salvation but is denied access

Question’s Answer: Attempt of despotic power to stifle the free spirit


Vladimir-Estragon show that

(a) They are together in their mission

(b) They are drowned in a situation with no hope

(c) They are waiting for something or someone

(d) They are mind and body, inseparable

Question’s Answer: They are drowned in a situation with no hope


Vladimir Estragon represent

(a) Twins

(b) Symbiotic twins

(c) Friends in failure

(d) Tied together

Question’s Answer: Symbiotic twins


While waiting what do they do to pass the time?

(a) Discuss the philosophy of life

(b) Sleep and complain

(c) Make plans for the future

(d) Talk, mime, and try to entertain

Question’s Answer: Talk, mime, and try to entertain


Valdimir and Estragon are waiting for whom?

(a) For salvation giving agent, a sage

(b) For a resolution of their predicament by a just judge

(c) For Godot

(d) For the little boy

Question’s Answer: For Godot


What is most conspicuous aspect missing in this play?

(a) Nobody comes, nobody goes;inaction

(b) Absence of plot

(c) Properly dressed characters

(d) Dialogues

Question’s Answer: Nobody comes, nobody goes;inaction


Why don’t Vladimir and Estragon not give up waiting and leave?

(a) They cannot leave, physically too weak

(b) They are honouring a life-long commitment

(c) They are keeping a promise

(d) Waiting is all they know and done

Question’s Answer: They are honouring a life-long commitment


What do these lines show?

“Estragon: Let’s ge

Vladimir: We can’t

Estragon: Why not?

Vladimir: We’re waiting for Godot.”

(a) A relentless vigil

(b) Reference to the theme

(c) A purpose, a desire to reveal the mysterious meaning of human existence

(d) A moral commitment

Question’s Answer: Reference to the theme


What is the characteristic feature of people in the opinion of the tramps?

(a) Moral wreck for they easily believe everything

(b) Bloody ignorant apes

(c) Sloth, in action

(d) No good for they are spineless

Question’s Answer: Bloody ignorant apes


Lucky’s speech shows

(a) Human knowledge and action not in harmony

(b) Human knowledge

(c) Power of speech

(d) Strength of thought

Question’s Answer: Human knowledge and action not in harmony


What denotes failure of thought process and logic in life?

(a) Pozzo’s description of twilight cross-talk

(b) Constantly waiting

(c) Lucky’s long speech

(d) Messenger boy’s dialogue

Question’s Answer: Lucky’s long speech


According to_____, “But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us…”.

(a) Lucky

(b) Vladimir

(c) Estragon

(d) Pozzo

Question’s Answer: Vladimir


What is the refrain in Waiting for Godot?

(a) ‘I felt lonely’

(b) ‘We’re waiting for Godot’

(c) ‘Dreadful deprivation’

(d) ‘I was asleep’

Question’s Answer: ‘We’re waiting for Godot’


According to_____,”Was I sleeping, while the others suffered”.

(a) Vladimir

(b) Pozzo

(c) Lucky

(d) Estragon

Question’s Answer: Vladimir


Pozzo’s speech – “That’s how it is on this bitch of an earth” – demonstrates

(a) Human effort to be poetic

(b) A desire for being expansive

(c) How to impress lesser fortunate people with a dose of their act of speech

(d) A total collapse of rhetoric and art of speech

Question’s Answer: A total collapse of rhetoric and art of speech


What do the tramps do with the hat to stop Lucky from continuing with his remorseless speech?

(a) Put it on

(b) Throw it out of the stage

(c) Throw it on the ground and trample it

(d) Spit in it

Question’s Answer: Throw it on the ground and trample it


At one stage Vladimir compares himself to à divinity. Who is that?

(a) M.K. Gandhi

(b) Jesus Christ

(c) Florence Nightingale

(d) St. Francis of Assisi

Question’s Answer: Jesus Christ


What change takes place in the tramp?

(a) The tramps run away

(b) Godot finally arrives and makes them rich

(c) Pozzo gives them shelter

(d) They realize that by helping Pozzo and Lucky they had become men with dignity

Question’s Answer: They realize that by helping Pozzo and Lucky they had become men with dignity


Which writer portrayed a cruel, senseless and pointless world?

(a) Arthur Adamov

(b) Harold Pinter

(c) Jean Genet

(d) Eugene Jonesco

Question’s Answer: Arthur Adamov


The Confessions presents

(a) Adamov’s escape from Russia and settlement in Switzerl

(b) The lifestyle of a rich Russian aristocracy

(c) Spiritual and psychological crisis of Adamov

(d) Adamov’s French experience

Question’s Answer: Spiritual and psychological crisis of Adamov


According to_____, “t human sadness cannot be abolished”.

(a) Arthur Adamov

(b) Jean Genet

(c) Eugene Ionesco

(d) Harold Pinter

Question’s Answer: Eugene Ionesco


Who wrote in context of Ionesco that,a creation of art is the expression of an incommunicable reality?

(a) Arthur Adamov

(b) Kenneth Tynan

(c) Jacques Lemarchand

(d) Philip Toynbee

Question’s Answer: Kenneth Tynan


The Confessions presents

(a) Anguish

(b) A ruthless self-revelation

(c) A deep sense of alienation

(d) A statement of metaphysical anguish

Question’s Answer: A statement of metaphysical anguish


What do the tramps do to the fallen Pozzo and Lucky?

(a) They ignore them

(b) They kick them and move away

(c) They raise them up

(d) They steal their food and money

Question’s Answer: They raise them up


Adamov’s war-period experiences are

(a) The endless humiliation

(b) Neurotic-leading to endless humiliation

(c) Sordid reality of dehumanization of the civilized life

(d) Based on escape in dreams

Question’s Answer: Neurotic-leading to endless humiliation


Adamov’s L’Invasion is a play

(a) About hopelsss search for meaning

(b) Showing disintegration of language

(c) About futility of search

(d) About futility-‘I’ll wait in silence, motionless

Question’s Answer: About futility-‘I’ll wait in silence, motionless


In “Le Professeur Taranne” by Arthur Adamov,  the hero is ____ .

(a) Mastermind and an exhibitionist

(b) Aggressive

(c) Innocent

(d) A scholar and a friend, a respectable citizen

Question’s Answer: Mastermind and an exhibitionist


Why he Chairs is a unique play? because it

(a) because it presents an impressive scenic spectacle

(b) because it simulates a crowd of invisible characters and is ‘tour de force’

(c) because it is a multi-dimensional poetic image

(d) because it is funny and unusual

Question’s Answer: because it simulates a crowd of invisible characters and is ‘tour de force’


What happens to the growing corpse in Amedee?

(a) It bursts out of the window in the street

(b) It grows into a balloon and Amedee floats in the air with it

(c) It draws attention of people

(d) It carries the whole house with  its growth

Question’s Answer: It grows into a balloon and Amedee floats in the air with it


What does proliferation of mushroom depict?

(a) Regeneration

(b) Symbol of death and decay

(c) Manifestation of nature

(d) Dampness

Question’s Answer: Symbol of death and decay


What is the theme of The Chairs?

(a) A delusion of the man and admiration of a doting uncritical wife

(b) Failure of human experience

(c) Futility

(d) Emptiness of polite conversation

Question’s Answer: A delusion of the man and admiration of a doting uncritical wife


Le Professeur Taranne by Arthur Adamov is based on a ____.

(a) A dream

(b) Real experience

(c) A friend

(d) A fusion

Question’s Answer: A dream


The Chairs presents

(a) Empty chairs, invisible guests and the silent speaker

(b) A large number of invisible guests

(c) The old man and his wife facing a total failure

(d) Rows of empty chairs

Question’s Answer: Empty chairs, invisible guests and the silent speaker


What is the message in The Chairs?

(a) Human struggle in the face of failure

(b) Failure of speech

(c) Meaninglessness of life

(d) Absence of guests

Question’s Answer: Meaninglessness of life


In which play Jean Anorillh found ‘black humour”?

(a) Genet’s The Confessions

(c) Beckett’s Endgame

(d) Ionesco’s The Chairs

(b) Osborne’s Look Back

Question’s Answer: Ionesco’s The Chairs


In Amedee Amedee and Madeliene are husband and wife who have

(a) Lived together

(b) Not left the apartment and brought their supplies through the window in a basket

(c) Amicable relationship

(d) Not left the apartment for fifteen years

Question’s Answer: Not left the apartment and brought their supplies through the window in a basket


What happens to Daisy before Berenger also discovers his own skin turning green and thick and growth of horns?

(a) She leaves the town to escape her change into rhino

(b) Nothing happens to Daisy

(c) She is unaffected by this mysterious transformation

(d) She also shows signs of transformation and joins the herd

Question’s Answer: She also shows signs of transformation and joins the herd


What is the relationship of Stanby with Meg?

(a) Motherly

(b) Caretaker and guest

(c) Man-woman love despite age difference

(d) Full of motherliness, almost incestuous

Question’s Answer: Full of motherliness, almost incestuous


Goldberg and Me Cann are sinister visitors who intimidate Stanley by

(a) Blocking his exit

(b) Taking away his glasses him almost blind leaving

(c) Beating him

(d) Forcing him to play blind man’s buff

Question’s Answer: Taking away his glasses him almost blind leaving


The autobiography of Jean Genet is known as

(a) A Hall of Mirrors

(b) The Thief’s journal

(c) Saint Genet

(d) The Lesson

Question’s Answer: The Thief’s journal


What is a perpetual image of man Genet presents in his plays?

(a) Man in a hall of mirrors, distorted perception

(b) Man is vulnerable

(c) Man in solitude

(d) Caged man

Question’s Answer: Man in a hall of mirrors, distorted perception


Harold Pinter turned a commonplace situation into

(a) One invested with menace, dread and mystery

(b) An experience of hell

(c) A claustrophobic experience

(d) One with existential dimension

Question’s Answer: One invested with menace, dread and mystery


Berenger’s transformation in Rhinoceros shows

(a) The whole town has been transformed into rhinoceros

(b) Interchange in nature

(c) Regeneration

(d) Insensitivity of man

Question’s Answer: Regeneration


The Room presents

(a) A situation with two people in a room

(b) The two people in the room who are afraid of overbearing outside world

(c) The world outside full of apprehensions

(d) The idea that the room is a refuge

Question’s Answer: The two people in the room who are afraid of overbearing outside world


The house may have many rooms, but the room ill which Rose is provides her with

(a) Bondage

(b) Limitations

(c) Security and warmth

(d) Her domain however bad it may

Question’s Answer: Security and warmth


What is the focal point of The Room?

(a) The door which may open ushering in someone with lurking danger

(b) The window

(c) The characters huddled together awaiting disaster

(d)  The fire place

Question’s Answer: The door which may open ushering in someone with lurking danger

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