Epicoene or, the Silent Woman MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

Epicoene or, the Silent Woman MCQs
Updated on: November 6, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 15 min

Epicoene or, The Silent Woman MCQs

1. What name does the Page fear Clerimont will get for writing a song?

A. Town nuisance
B. Dangerous poet
C. Clever songwriter
D. Court favourite

B. Dangerous poet.
The Page warns that writing the song might earn Clerimont the dangerous name of a poet.

2. How does the lady of the mansion typically greet the Page?

A. Gives money
B. Scolds him
C. Kisses him
D. Throws him out

C. Kisses him.
The Page says the lady kisses him with her oil’d face after throwing him on the bed.

3. Truewit says Clerimont will value his time only if he is condemned to what punishment?

A. Financial loss
B. Social ridicule
C. Capital punishment
D. Forced labour

C. Capital punishment.
If condemned to capital punishment, Clerimont would then begin to think and value his time.

4. According to Truewit, how do fashionable men waste their time?

A. Working hard
B. Seeking wisdom
C. Laying wagers
D. Studying books

C. Laying wagers.
Fashionable men lay wagers on races, praise horses, and visit ladies to gossip.
5. Clerimont believes men should only devote their time to goodness when they possess what inability?

A. Inability to read
B. Inability to concentrate
C. Want of ability
D. Lack of money

C. Want of ability.
Clerimont suggests waiting to be good until their want of ability stops them from doing evil.

6. Truewit compares mocking time to sleeping all term and thinking to affect business on which day?

A. The first day
B. The middle day
C. The last day
D. The holy day

C. The last day.
Truewit says mocking time is like sleeping all term and hoping to finish business the last day.

7. What institution do the ladies call themselves, according to Truewit?

A. The Sisterhood
B. The Courtlings
C. The Collegiates
D. The Wits

C. The Collegiates.
There is a new foundation of ladies in town who call themselves the collegiates.

8. Truewit describes the Collegiates’ authority as what type?

A. Gentle, quiet
B. Masculine/hermaphroditical
C. Simple, feminine
D. Strict, religious

B. Masculine/hermaphroditical.
They cry down or up fashion and brains with the most masculine or hermaphroditical authority.

9. Who is the President of the “collegiates”?

A. Lady Centaure
B. Mistress Dol Mavis
C. Lady Haughty
D. Mistress Epicoene

C. Lady Haughty.
Lady Haughty, the grave and youthful matron, is named as the college’s president.
10. What advice does Clerimont give Truewit to prevent spoiling his wit?

A. Read more Plutarch
B. Talk of pins and feathers
C. Make more sermons
D. Study Stoicism

B. Talk of pins and feathers.
Clerimont warns Truewit that talking Stoicism will spoil his wit; he should talk of pins.

11. What item did a poor madam snatch at in haste, only to put it on the wrong way?

A. Her shoe
B. Her ruff
C. Her peruke
D. Her gown

C. Her peruke.
The poor madam, in haste, snatched at her peruke and put it on the wrong way.

12. Who is Morose’s melancholy kinsman mentioned by Truewit?

A. Clerimont
B. Dauphine Eugenie
C. Sir Amorous La-Foole
D. Cutbeard

B. Dauphine Eugénie.
Truewit asks Clerimont when he last saw Dauphine Eugenie, noting he is melancholy.

13. What trade does Morose swoon if he hears?

A. A baker
B. A tailor
C. A costard-monger
D. A chimney-sweep

C. A costard-monger.
Morose cannot endure a costard-monger and swoons if he hears one.

14. What unusual footwear does Morose’s servant wear to avoid noise?

A. Wooden clogs
B. Iron boots
C. Tennis-court socks
D. Barefoot

C. Tennis-court socks.
His servant now waits on him, wearing tennis-court socks or wool-soled slippers.
15. What plot point makes Dauphine melancholy regarding his uncle Morose?

A. He is ill
B. He fears disinheritance
C. He lacks money
D. He lost a duel

B. He fears disinheritance.
Dauphine says Morose intends to disinherit him, blaming his company for his predicament.

16. What is the essential requirement Morose seeks in a wife?

A. Extreme beauty
B. Silence
C. High nobility
D. Wealth

B. Silence.
Morose has employed a man to find him a dûmb woman, whose silence is dowry.

17. Who is Morose’s trusted agent in the marriage business?

A. A lawyer
B. A barber
C. A priest
D. A physician

B. A barber.
Morose’s agent is a barber named Cutbeard, who tells Dauphine all the marriage news.

18. Where is the silent gentlewoman, Epicoene, lodged?

A. In Morose’s house
B. In Sir John Daw’s house
C. At the college
D. At Tom Otter’s

B. In Sir John Daw’s house.
Epicoene is lodged right over against the barber’s, in Sir John Daw’s house.

19. Why does Truewit initially refuse to visit Epicoene’s lodging?

A. He is busy
B. He fears Morose
C. Danger to meet Daw
D. He hates silent women

C. Danger to meet Daw.
Truewit says he will not go thither due to the danger of meeting Daw, whom he dislikes.
20. What does Truewit claim Sir John Daw buys instead of books?

A. Fine food
B. Titles
C. Land
D. Clothes

B. Titles.
Truewit states Daw pretends to learning, buying titles and nothing else of books.

21. What did Sir John Daw do while courting Epicoene, according to Dauphine?

A. Gave her jewels
B. Read her letters
C. Praised her silence
D. Took her dancing

C. Praised her silence.
Daw commends Epicoene’s silence in verses while desiring her to talk and be free.

22. What quality best describes Sir Amorous La-Foole?

A. Witty and reserved
B. Precious mannikin
C. Learned scholar
D. Silent gentleman

B. Precious mannikin.
Clerimont describes La-Foole as a “precious mannikin” who is brave but not a wit.

23. Where does Sir Amorous La-Foole hold his feast?

A. At the college
B. At Morose’s house
C. At Tom Otter’s
D. In the Strand

C. At Tom Otter’s.
La-Foole tells Clerimont he is holding his feast at Tom Otter’s house.

24. What is Captain Otter’s profession or background?

A. Soldier and scholar
B. Kind of gamester
C. Silent merchant
D. Law clerk

B. Kind of a gamester.
Captain Otter is a kind of gamester who has held command both by sea and land.
25. What is Captain Otter’s wife primarily known for?

A. Rich China-woman
B. French tailor
C. Court musician
D. Poor scholar

A. Rich China-woman.
His wife was the rich china-woman whom the courtiers often visited.

26. Sir Amorous La-Foole claims to be descended lineally from which group?

A. London La-Fooles
B. North La-Fooles
C. French La-Fooles
D. Essex La-Fooles

C. French La-Fooles.
La-Foole asserts he is descended lineally from the French La-Fooles, an ancient family.

27. What animal does the Page call Captain Otter because he has command by sea and land?

A. Animal amphibium
B. Animal aquatic
C. Animal terrestrial
D. Great fish

A. Animal amphibium.
Since Captain Otter commands by sea and land, the Page calls him animal amphibious.

28. By what means does Morose communicate with his servant, Mute, without speaking?

A. Written notes
B. A tube/trunk
C. Gestures only
D. Hand signals

B. A tube/trunk.
Morose holds a tube in his hand to talk, trying to save the labour of speech.

29. To prevent noise, what item has Morose fastened to the outside of his street door?

A. A wooden board
B. A thick quilt
C. A heavy curtain
D. An iron grate

B. A thick quilt.
Mute confirms he has fastened a thick quilt or flock-bed on the outside of the door.
30. Truewit suggests Morose should choose which of the two deaths is easier over marriage?

A. Starvation
B. Drowning
C. Old age
D. Exile

B. Drowning.
Truewit suggests drowning in the Thames or leaping from a delicate steeple like Bow.

31. If Morose marries a learned wife, what must he do to please her?

A. Fund her college
B. Buy her books
C. Translate texts
D. Lie with her in languages

D. Lie with her in languages.
If she is learned, he must lie with her in Latin and Greek to please her.

32. What common object does Morose curse Cutbeard for making him marry?

A. His lute-string
B. His peruke
C. His cittern
D. His razor

C. His cittern.
Morose laments that he has married Cutbeard’s cittern, which is common to all men.

33. What object does Truewit use to get entrance to Morose’s house?

A. A false letter
B. A post-horn
C. A hidden key
D. A lute

B. A post-horn.
Truewit enters Morose’s house, faining to be a post, with a loud horn.

34. How does Morose instruct Mute to answer him if Cutbeard is coming in half an hour?

A. Hold up the whole hand
B. Shake his head
C. Hold up two fingers
D. Hold up one finger

C. Hold up two fingers.
Morose specifies holding up two fingers to indicate half an hour until Cutbeard arrives.
35. Dauphine confesses that Epicoene was performing her silence for whose sake?

A. Morose’s sake
B. Truewit’s sake
C. His own sake
D. Clerimont’s sake

C. His own sake.
Dauphine reveals Epicoene was his entire friend and kept silence for his sake.

36. What word did Cutbeard use to describe the success of the marriage plot?

A. Nunc est bibendum
B. Mala bestia
C. Omnia secunda
D. Prorsus inutilis

C. Omnia secunda.
Cutbeard joyfully tells Dauphine the plot is successful: omnia secunda (all things favour).

37. Epicoene questions Morose, asking if he thought he had married what inanimate object?

A. A puppet
B. A statue
C. A portrait
D. A marble slab

B. A statue.
Epicoene asks if Morose thought he had married a statue or a motion only.

38. Morose accuses Epicoene of marrying him to make him die, how?

A. In poverty
B. Intestate
C. In prison
D. By poison

B. Intestate.
Morose suggests Epicoene wants to poison him so she would be possessed of his estate.

39. What is the name of Sir Amorous’s noble family coat-of-arms colour?

A. Black and silver
B. Azure and white
C. Yellow, or or
D. Green and blue

C. Yellow, or or.
La-Foole states their family coat-of-arms bears “yellow, or or, checker’d azure, and gules”.
40. What are the names of Captain Otter’s chief carousing cups?

A. Dog, Fox, Ape
B. Bull, Bear, Horse
C. Dragon, Lion, Tiger
D. Stag, Deer, Goat

B. Bull, Bear, Horse.
Otter names his chief cups “his bull, his bear, and his horse,” from the Bear-garden.

41. What allowance does Mistress Otter give her husband daily?

A. Five shillings
B. Half a crown
C. A golden sovereign
D. Two pence

B. Half a crown.
Mistress Otter allows him “your half-crown a day, to spend where you will”.

42. How does Sir John Daw describe classical authors like Homer?

A. Very witty
B. Tedious and prolix
C. Moral paragons
D. Easy readers

B. Tedious and prolix.
Daw calls Homer “an old tedious, prolix ass” and dismisses other revered writers.

43. What literary figures does Epicoene compare Morose’s unwanted marriage to?

A. Penelope and Ulysses
B. Penthesilea, Semiramis
C. Medea and Hercules
D. Venus and Adonis

B. Penthesilea, Semiramis.
Morose exclaims he has married a “Penthesilea, a Semiramis,” meaning a powerful woman.

44. Where does Morose retreat to escape the noise of the wedding guests?

A. Under the bed
B. Top of the house
C. The cellar
D. The garden

B. Top of the house.
He locks himself up as high as he can climb, sitting over a cross-beam of the roof.
45. Truewit advises that a woman who might have been forced but was let go free will ever feel what emotion toward the man?

A. Gratitude
B. Hate
C. Indifference
D. Respect

B. Hate.
A woman spared force will ever hate the man, despite seeming to thank him.

46. What object does Truewit use to blindfold Sir Amorous La-Foole for his beating?

A. A handkerchief
B. This scarf
C. A hood
D. A velvet ribbon

B. This scarf.
La-Foole agrees to be hoodwinked in “this scarf” before he is led in for his beating.

47. What type of law does Cutbeard primarily represent while in disguise?

A. State law
B. Common law
C. Canon law
D. Civil law

C. Canon law.
Cutbeard is disguised as a “canon lawyer,” discussing divorce and impediments.

48. What is the final, decisive impediment that Dauphine uses to annul the marriage?

A. Error fortunae
B. Ligament
C. Error personae
D. Crimen adulterii

C. Error personae.
Dauphine calls the marriage a justum impedimentum, specifically error personae (mistake of person).

49. Who is disguised as the Canon Lawyer (Master Doctor)?

A. Dauphine
B. Otter
C. Cutbeard
D. Clerimont

C. Cutbeard.
Dauphine pulls off the disguise, revealing that the Canon Lawyer is the barber, Cutbeard.
50. What is revealed about Epicoene’s true identity?

A. She is a widow
B. She is Dauphine’s friend
C. She is a mute woman
D. She is a boy in disguise

D. She is a boy in disguise.
Dauphine removes her disguise, revealing that Morose has married a boy, the son of a gentleman.

Brief Overview

Epicoene, or The Silent Woman, is a Jacobean comedy by Ben Jonson, first performed in 1609. The play functions as a social satire, primarily focusing on gender roles and societal norms.

The plot centers on Morose, an eccentric gentleman who cannot stand any noise and lives in a soundproofed room. He is determined to disinherit his nephew, Dauphine Eugenie, by marrying a completely silent woman.

Morose’s barber, Cutbeard, helps him find Epicoene, who appears to be a soft-spoken lady. Morose quickly marries Epicoene in a ceremony performed by a parson with a low voice.

Immediately following the wedding, Epicoene begins to speak very loudly and immediately takes full control of the house. Dauphine’s friend, Truewit, arranges a rowdy feast to torment Morose, bringing loud women and Captain Otter. Morose, tormented by the noise, tries to obtain a divorce using disguised lawyers.

Dauphine agrees to free Morose from the marriage, but only if Morose signs over his entire estate. Morose instantly signs the papers to escape the noise. Dauphine then reveals the final trick: Epicoene is actually a boy. This revelation immediately voids the marriage, allowing Dauphine to secure his inheritance legally.

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