Estimated Reading Time: 17 min
A New Way to Pay Old Debts MCQs
1. Welborne enters Act One, Scene One, lacking both money and what other comfort?
A. Good clothes
B. Tobacco, booze
C. Fine friends
D. A place to sleep
2. Welborne tells Tapwell that if he advances, the alehouse keeper shall receive what garment?
A. His winter coat
B. His Plymouth cloak
C. His hat, gloves
D. His torn jerkin
3. Tapwell compares Welborne, who once lived like an emperor, to what lowly house worker?
A. A street beggar
B. A kitchen slave
C. A drunken sot
D. A drudge in his house
4. Welborne curses Tapwell, calling him a thin-gutted squire and a viper and a what?
A. Thankless viper
B. Common thief
C. Ungrateful dog
D. Pitiful fool
5. Welborne vows to remember Tapwell and Froth and “tread thee” how?
A. Deep into mud
B. Tread thee into mortar
C. Into the dust
D. Onto the ground
6. Welborne claims his present wounds will not be cured by balms or corrosives, but must be what?
A. Treated by a doctor
B. Given some plainness
C. Soothing words
D. Art, not medicine
7. Welborne believes his current lack of resources will cause him to die how?
A. Forgotten, buried
B. Die thus, forgotten
C. A shameful death
D. Miserably poòr
8. Alworth says his mother, Lady Alworth, is a noble widow who keeps her reputation pure from what?
A. Loose talk
B. Taint of infamy
C. Public gossip
D. Bad deeds
9. Welborne claims Alworth walks in clouds because he dreams of what unusual event?
A. Dream of marriage
B. A new war
C. Pomp and glory
D. Great wealth
10. Welborne claims Alworth’s “folly’s guided” by what specific part of the body?
A. His own heart
B. Your jolly’s guided
C. His love
D. His strong faith
11. Order, the steward, says, for one whole week, forfeiture of what happens if someone misses their function?
A. Their breakfast
B. Their wages
C. Their dinner
D. Their chamber
12. Furnace, the cook, complains that Order is angry at all times and places, even when Order is at what?
A. His prayers
B. His rest
C. His meals
D. His duties
13. Watchall asks Furnace the cause of his lady’s grief, which she gave up after she did what?
A. She forswore it
B. She was happy
C. She got revenge
D. She saw Welborne
14. Furnace claims he keeps his brain cracking to find tempting sauces and raise what in the pantry?
A. Grand dinner
B. Fortifications
C. Perfect dessert
D. Good fortune
15. Furnace mocks Master Greedy, saying his stomach is as insatiate as what?
A. A starving dog
B. The grave
C. A wicked lawyer
D. A greedy man
16. Alworth presents Lady Alworth with what specific object from his dead father?
A. A heavy chest
B. His father’s picture
C. A rich ring
D. A signed deed
17. Lady Alworth tells Alworth his father’s words are a school where what is taught?
A. Noble manners
B. Virtue and truth
C. Principles truly followed
D. Good conduct
18. Lady Alworth compares soldiers’ lives to a place where lusts and riots have license?
A. A public inn
B. A military camp
C. A repair thither
D. A wicked city
19. Lady Alworth warns Welborne that she knows enough about soldiers that she would tell her son to do what?
A. Follow him to war
B. Run from the cannon’s mouth
C. Join a band of rebels
D. Fight bravely
20. Lady Alworth says that the provision of essentials makes up a soldier’s main parts, excluding what two vices?
A. Swearing, dice, drinking
B. Fighting, cheating
C. Pride, ambition
D. Lust, riot
21. Lady Alworth is amazed to hear Welborne speak, observing that such a rudeness can ever find what?
A. Such a fine house
B. Dar’st thou think
C. True love
D. Best men
22. Welborne tells Lady Alworth he restored her late husband’s hope, and set him how?
A. Safe at sea
B. Upon his horse
C. Set him upright
D. On his throne
23. Sir Giles Overreach calls Marall a fool because he wants to put his thin-gut into a what?
A. Commission
B. New suit
C. Fine carriage
D. Big house
24. Sir Giles Overreach says the devotion to his service keeps Greedy from what temptation?
A. Great lust
B. Eating too much
C. Going to church
D. Being honest
25. Sir Giles boasts he will make his enemy Master Frugal’s fences open and break what?
A. His standing corn
B. His cattle’s legs
C. His farm gate
D. His hedges
26. Sir Giles tells Margaret he will have a lord who is what specific type of person?
A. A bold leader
B. Of a low descent
C. A rich lord
D. A handsome man
27. Sir Giles tells Margaret her father’s content is worth more than what two virtues?
A. Honour and love
B. Grace of heaven
C. Truth and honesty
D. Wit and sense
28. Welborne tells Furnace, the cook, he wants to dine where, since he is too pòor for the rich house?
A. In a barn
B. Under the hedge
C. At the tavern
D. By the roadside
29. Welborne compares the Chambermaid’s virtuous conversion to a belief that what celestial figures could not cause?
A. Saints nor angels
B. The sun or moon
C. Jove himself
D. The stars
30. When Lady Alworth greets Welborne, she offers him a first kiss for form, and a second to show what?
A. Show her love
B. Greet a friend
C. Seal the bargain
D. Offer thanks
31. What is the condition Lady Alworth puts on Welborne dining with her at her own table?
A. He must not speak
B. He must promise marriage
C. He must be humble
D. He must stop babbling
32. Order admits that Welborne is a gentleman and what rank, which makes him regret denying him food?
A. Royal as an emperor
B. A great lord
C. A bold soldier
D. A wise scholar
33. Marall, observing Welborne’s change, claims he can see what flying up to the eye?
A. His good fortune
B. Rank already
C. Great respect
D. Future glory
34. Welborne makes Marall kiss what specific object, marking his new loyalty?
A. The floor
B. End of his cudgel
C. Lady Alworth’s hand
D. A fine jewel
35. Marall promises Welborne his loyalty, saying he will lay down his feet to serve him how?
A. To do your will
B. Will serve to buy you
C. To your liking
D. In all matters
36. Alworth claims that facing Lovell’s power, wealth, and beauty is too much for whom?
A. Any young lover
B. Too great for Hercules
C. Any gentleman
D. A wise man
37. Alworth assures Lovell that Margaret’s voice will batter any bulwark that guards what?
A. Her innocence
B. Your sight
C. Her beauty
D. Your senses
38. Sir Giles Overreach tells Margaret that he sees her now as a lord and a good leader in what volume?
A. His heart’s book
B. One volume
C. A great book
D. His library
39. Sir Giles tells Margaret her father’s content is worth more than what two virtues?
A. Honour and love
B. Grace of heaven
C. Truth and honesty
D. Wit and sense
40. Margaret observes to Sir Giles that her beauty and her husband’s wealth will not do what?
A. Gain true love
B. Make them great
C. Weigh his titles down
D. Win the world
41. Sir Giles says if Margaret denies Welborne’s passion, her maiden honour will be what?
A. Much ruined
B. Prostituted, canned
C. Safe and pure
D. Lost forever
42. Sir Giles admits he brought off a bloody and strict accomplishment, to cure whose wounded honour?
A. His own honour
B. Welborne’s honour
C. Lovell’s name
D. Marall’s honesty
43. Sir Giles tells Lovell he expects Welborne will see all his old debts discharged and help what?
A. His new enemies
B. His new nephew
C. His old friends
D. His loyal servants
44. Sir Giles claims the complaints of the pòor are only feeble murmurs that come from what?
A. Out of spite
B. From hell
C. Out of envy
D. From the wrong
45. Sir Giles says he delights more in Margaret’s true character if she resembles what cold stone?
A. Grey marble
B. Smooth pearl
C. Fine jewel
D. White Rock
46. Lady Alworth reminds Lovell that acquiring wealth wrongly becomes what type of rubbish?
A. Worthless trash
B. Poured into a river
C. Pure mud
D. Empty dirt
47. Welborne commands the constable to pull down what, so he can eat before doing it?
A. The alehouse sign
B. Tapwell’s house
C. The new sign
D. The gallows
48. Welborne tells Greedy that an honest cook for his breakfast is worth more than what item?
A. A gold angel
B. A gift bounty
C. A fine friend
D. A cheap joke
49. Welborne tells Marall he must produce what legal item, or Welborne will deliver him up?
A. The bond deed
B. A new writ
C. The will
D. All his money
50. When Sir Giles is overcome by madness, Lovell says there is a precedent to teach what?
A. Wicked men
B. All mànkind
C. Good behaviour
D. Simple folk
Brief Overview
A New Way to Pay Old Debts is a play by Philip Massinger, first performed in 1626. This Jacobean comedy powerfully addresses themes of greed, debt, and the rigid class structure of the early Stuart era.
The story centers on Welborne, a “prodigal” nephew. He has lost all his money and social status. Because he is now poor, low-class people like Tapwell, an “alehouse keeper,” openly mock him.
Welborne’s cruel uncle is Sir Giles Overreach, a ruthless, wealthy man and “cruel extortioner.” Sir Giles is obsessed with wealth and status. He actively works to ruin his neighbors and take their estates. His ultimate plan is to force his daughter, Margaret, into a high-status marriage with the aristocratic Lord Lovell.
Welborne begins a trick to restore his inheritance through a false engagement, a “fake marriage.” Lady Alworth, a “rich widow,” helps him in his complicated scheme. Sir Giles is initially delighted with Welborne’s apparent return to rank and wealth.
In the end, Sir Giles is completely defeated by the trick. His severe avarice and deep moral corruption lead him into a state of spectacular madness. Lord Lovell notes that this terrible fate is meant to teach “wicked men” about the consequences of their actions.
