The Duchess of Malfi Quizzes

1. Which cruelty does Ferdinand not commit against the Duchess?

• Have fake corpses of her family made and shown to her
• Surround her prison with lunatics
• Give her a dead man's hand and tell her it is Antonio's
• Kill Antonio

2. Who has just returned from France at the opening of the play?

• The Duchess
• Antonio
• The Cardinal
• Delio

3. For what does the Duchess call Cariola a superstitious fool?

• Telling the Duchess not to get remarried before her husband has been dead a year
• Saying the Duchess shouldn’t use religion to sell a lie about Antonio
• Insisting the Duchess have a church ceremony even though she and Antonio are legally married
• Thinking Antonio’s bloody nose is a bad omen

4. Who says, “I could kill her now,/In you, or in myself, for I do think/It is some sin in us heaven doth revenge/By her” (2.5.64-7)?

• Ferdinand
• Bosola
• Antonio
• The Cardinal

5. Who mocks an old woman for wearing makeup?

• Ferdinand
• Bosola
• The Duchess
• Delio

6. Where does Ferdinand go after leaving Bosola with the Duchess’s body?

• To hunt badger
• To join the madmen
• To kill Antonio
• To kill himself

7. Who asks Ferdinand to stop torturing the Duchess in Act Four?

• Bosola
• Cariola
• Antonio
• The Cardinal

8. What excuse does Antonio give for having the courtiers locked in their rooms on the night the Duchess gives birth?

• Some of the Duchess's jewels have gone missing.
• The Duchess is in labor.
• They were being too loud in the hallways.
• The maids complained about their lasciviousness.

9. Who tells the Duchess “Wisdom begins at the end: remember it” (1.1.319)?

• Bosola
• Antonio
• The Cardinal
• The executioner

10. What does Bosola mean when he says, “we may go read i’th’ stars” (3.1.60) in reference to the identify of the Duchess's lover?

• Everybody knows.
• God only knows.
• We have to use astrology to find out.
• We'll find out soon enough.