The Age of Magic MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

The Age of Magic MCQs
Updated on: November 6, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The Age of Magic MCQs

1. Where was the crew traveling when Lao first spoke to the Quylph?

A. London to Paris
B. Basel to Goetheanum
C. Paris to Switzerland
D. Waterloo to Paris

C. Paris to Switzerland.
They were on the train from Paris to Switzerland when Lao fell asleep and met the Quylph.

2. Who did the Quylph suggest Lao might be afraid of?

A. Jim
B. Life
C. Malasso
D. The camera

C. Malasso.
The Quylph asked Lao if he was afraid of Malasso, noting everyone else was.

3. What did the Quylph say was the luckiest thing for a person?

A. To be rich
B. To be loved
C. To be at home everywhere
D. To be consistent

C. To be at home everywhere.
The Quylph stated the luckiest thing is “to be at home everywhere,” suggesting spiritual freedom.
4. What was the actual goal of the documentary journey, according to Lao?

A. To find wealth
B. To film famous people
C. A journey to an idea
D. To stop Malasso

C. A journey to an idea.
Lao believed that while traveling to Arcadia, they were, in truth, making a journey to an idea.

5. What quality did Lao believe personality was the outward presence of?

A. Inner accomplishment
B. Talent
C. Wealth
D. Societal pressure

A. Inner accomplishment.
Lao believed personality is the outward presence of a deeper, inner accomplishment.

6. What societal method did Lao believe was essential for success in cynical times?

A. Ardent belief
B. Fine hypocrisy
C. Extreme honesty
D. Strong enthusiasm

B. Fine hypocrisy.
Lao believed success in cynical times requires a “fine hypocrisy.”

7. What did Jim whisper to Lao during the interview that made Lao uneasy?

A. To smile more
B. To restate his theme
C. To look at Barbara
D. That they were failing

B. To restate his theme.
Jim whispered to Lao to restate the theme for the camera, which made Lao uneasy.
8. What was Scott’s theory about why civilizations keep losing their “best dreams”?

A. Ill luck
B. Greed, power, corruption
C. Poor leadership
D. Bad weather

B. Greed, power, corruption.
Scott believed that greed, power, and corruption are the reasons why golden ages fail.

9. Who was the “silent one” from New York whose words brought peace to the conversation?

A. Barbara
B. Emily
C. Husk
D. Jute

B. Emily.
Emily, the silent one, concluded that home is the place for peace, bringing harmony.

10. What did Lao think was the best thing about death?

A. Immortality
B. Having lived fully
C. Resting
D. Seeing God

B. Having lived fully.
Lao reflected that the best thing about death is having lived fully, making it a welcome return home.

11. What word did Lao realize was the inverse of “live”?

A. Died
B. Evil
C. Fear
D. Lie

B. Evil.
A presence whispered that the inverse of ‘live’ is ‘evil,’ a shocking realization.
12. What was the source of Lao’s gloominess on the train, visually?

A. Malasso’s presence
B. Urban ruins tumbling past
C. The fight with Mistletoe
D. Jim’s laughter

B. Urban ruins tumbling past.
Lao became gloomy staring at the urban ruins and dilapidated towns passing the window.

13. What did Lao do to Mistletoe in his “eviling” mood?

A. Criticized her
B. Remade her in malice
C. Ignored her
D. Asked her to leave

B. Remade her in malice.
In his evil mood, Lao feared looking at Mistletoe, lest he “reinvent her in malice.”

14. What entities did Lao see crowding the compartment during the tunnel blackout?

A. The Quylphs
B. Monsters of guilt and fear
C. Tourists
D. Shadowy police

B. Monsters of guilt and fear.
In the darkness, he saw imps of regret, goblins of worry, and monsters of guilt.

15. What mythological setting did Lao slip into while gazing at the station clock?

A. The Garden of Eden
B. The mythical world of the giant ice-cube
C. The realm of Malasso
D. Hades

B. The mythical world of the giant ice-cube.
Lao gazed at the clock and slipped into the “mythical world lurking within the giant ice-cube.”
16. What did Lao realize was woven into the fiber of all things in the original garden?

A. Pain
B. Silence
C. Freedom
D. Chaos

C. Freedom.
Lao pondered that in the original world, freedom was woven into the fiber of things.

17. What did the crew’s heavy luggage ultimately symbolize, according to Lao?

A. Their wealth
B. Their growing strength
C. Their sins in Hades
D. Their secrets

C. Their sins in Hades.
The heavy luggage made them seem like sinners dragging their accumulated sins in Hades.

18. What did Lao realize the monsters were doing on the station platform?

A. Attacking the crew
B. Getting acquainted and chatting
C. Hiding
D. Waiting for Malasso

B. Getting acquainted and chatting.
He was astonished to see the crew’s various monsters (trolls, gnomes) chatting merrily.

19. What did Lao realize was the first freedom a person could achieve?

A. Freedom of movement
B. Freedom of mind
C. Freedom from money
D. Freedom from the camera

B. Freedom of mind.
Lao concluded that the first freedom is freedom of mind, or freedom from its tyranny.
20. What specific moment did Lao lose when linking the present to the past at Basel station?

A. The moment he saw the Devil
B. The golden moment
C. The moment of the curse
D. The moment of clarity

B. The golden moment.
He was lost in synchronicity, losing the “golden moment” of clarity he sought.

21. What did the travellers staring at the consoles remind Lao of?

A. Shepherds reading a tomb inscription
B. Students reading textbooks
C. Thieves looking for treasure
D. Gods judging mánkind

A. Shepherds reading a tomb inscription.
He compared commuters staring at boards to the shepherds reading the inscription in Poussin’s painting.

22. What phrase was written on the tomb in Poussin’s painting, Et in Arcadia ego?

A. I, too, have lived in Arcadia
B. Seek the gold
C. Death is inevitable
D. Where do we go next

A. I, too, have lived in Arcadia.
The inscription *Et in Arcadia ego* means: “I too have lived in Arcadia,” a meditation on death.

23. What shocking phrase did Lao see written vertically in Jim’s notebook?

A. LOVE MISTLETOE
B. SELL HIS SOUL
C. KILL MALASSO
D. GO TO ARCADIA

C. KILL MALASSO.
Lao shuddered when he saw Jim’s list culminate in the vertically written words: KILL MALASSO.
24. What poetic form did Jim use to compose from the letters of “KILL MALASSO”?

A. Haiku
B. Sonnet
C. Acrostic poem
D. Free verse

C. Acrostic poem.
Lao saw Jim composing an acrostic poem using the capital letters of “KILL MALASSO.”

25. What did Lao suspect had happened to Jim after reading his list and hearing his laughter?

A. He was arrested
B. He was cracked
C. He found Malasso
D. He was cured

B. He was cracked.
Lao concluded that Jim was “cracked” and that life had driven him over the edge.

26. What quality did Jim possess that Lao suspected lay behind his outwardly jovial aspect?

A. Ambition
B. Secret cowardice
C. Genius
D. Kindness

B. Secret cowardice.
Jim’s evil mood fed on his failures and “secret cowardice,” masked by his jovial nature.

27. What was Jim’s primary motivation for writing his extensive lists of hatred?

A. To insult others
B. To escape his narrow condition
C. To punish himself
D. To seek fame

B. To escape his narrow condition.
Jim wrote the lists as a purgation to “escape his narrow condition” and cure his misery.
28. Why did the Devil refuse to buy Jim’s soul?

A. It was too valuable
B. It was too mild
C. It was already sold
D. He wanted Malasso’s soul

B. It was too mild.
The Devil refused because Jim’s soul was “too mild” and lacked potential for great good or evil.

29. What specific sense did the Devil use to seduce Jim?

A. Power
B. Serenity
C. Wealth
D. Lies

B. Serenity.
Jim said the Devil seduced him not with gifts, but with his peaceful and magnetic serenity.

30. Why was Jute crying during the discussion about the Arcadia journey proposal?

A. She was afraid of Malasso
B. She was happy to go
C. She couldn’t control her emotions
D. She had lost her job

C. She couldn’t control her emotions.
Jute was weeping uncontrollably, highly stressed, and unable to regulate her feelings.

31. What did Jute fall instantly in love with regarding Hans, the hotel owner?

A. His arrogance
B. His wealth
C. His fine moustache and genial face
D. His rude manners

C. His fine moustache and genial face.
Jute was struck by Hans’s amiable face, fine moustache, and old-world good manners.
32. What specific sight did Jute’s mother’s harshness destroy her belief in?

A. Her family’s wealth
B. An angel flying out of a book
C. Her ambition
D. Her memory

B. An angel flying out of a book.
Her mother’s scorn made the angel she saw fly out of a book disappear, ending her belief.

33. What did a soothing voice coax Jute to do while she stared at the lake?

A. Confess her sins
B. Jump into the lake and die happily
C. Call Malasso
D. Tell Hans she loved him

B. Jump into the lake and die happily.
A beautiful voice coaxed Jute to jump from the balcony and “die while she was happy.”

34. What did Lao claim was the quality that was higher and more powerful than will?

A. Freedom
B. Will’s junior partner
C. Discipline
D. Love

B. Will’s junior partner.
Lao argued there is a higher quality, which he called “will’s junior partner,” that guides action.

35. What did Jim claim the will built?

A. Machines
B. Nations, empires, and civilizations
C. Wealth
D. Great art

B. Nations, empires, and civilizations.
Jim argued that will built everything: nations, empires, and civilizations.
36. What did Jim say distinguishes those who succeed from those who fail?

A. Wealth
B. Will
C. Intelligence
D. Reason

B. Will.
Jim stated that determination distinguishes those who can from those who can’t; determination was everything.

37. What type of work did Mistletoe produce in her vision after being touched by the wand?

A. Poetry
B. Drawings that became real
C. Music
D. Sculptures

B. Drawings that became real.
Mistletoe drew figures on a canvas that then fell out and became real.

38. What was the name of the book Mistletoe drew the title for in her vision?

A. Et in Arcadia Ego
B. The Age of Magic
C. Astonishing the Gods
D. The Book of Life

C. Astonishing the Gods.
The magician asked for a title, and Mistletoe wrote down: *Astonishing the Gods*.

39. What did Lao realize was the destination of his fall into Malasso’s first map?

A. The ocean
B. The original garden
C. The precise point he started from
D. The palace

C. The precise point he started from.
He fell into the map only to land exactly at the precise point he was standing on.
40. What was the shocking quality of the “transformed Lao” who emerged from the tomb?

A. His cruelty
B. His silence
C. His tranquillity
D. His great size

C. His tranquillity.
A wiser, transfigured Lao emerged, and the most frightening thing about him was his “terrifying tranquillity.”

41. What warning did the dwarf-like figure give Lao on the mountain?

A. He would become a hero
B. He would lose his mind
C. He would find Malasso
D. He would become rich

B. He would lose his mind.
The dwarf warned that if Lao stayed too long, the island’s rigor would make him go mád.

42. What did Lao conclude about the back view of suburban houses from the train?

A. They were full of dreams
B. They were full of money
C. They were a mirror of our receding soul
D. They represented success

C. They were a mirror of our receding soul.
He reflected that the drab back view was a “mirror of our receding soul and Hades advancing.”

43. What did Jute’s mother’s whispers help her prepare for?

A. Her career success
B. Events to come
C. Her own death
D. Her skepticism

B. Events to come.
Jute believed her dead mother whispered messages to warn and guide her for events to come.
44. What was the traditional birthplace of Hermes, according to legend?

A. Eden
B. The Peloponnese
C. Arcadia
D. Babylon

C. Arcadia.
Lao mentioned that Arcadia is famously known in legend as the birthplace of Hermes.

45. What did the darkness force Jute to reveal while in the tunnel?

A. She was Malasso’s spy
B. She had the map Malasso wanted
C. She was the Archangel of Invisibility
D. She was pregnant

B. She had the map Malasso wanted.
Jute screamed in the dark that she had the map Malasso wanted, which is why he hunted her.

46. What did Lao conclude about the most enduring things in the world?

A. They are found in visible triumphs.
B. They dwell in the invisible realm.
C. They are made of gold.
D. They are the simplest things.

B. They dwell in the invisible realm.
The guide stated the most important and enduring things are unseen, dwelling in the invisible realm.

47. What did the man on the floating litter say she desired?

A. To find true love
B. Illusion, ugliness, and suffering
C. To be taken to the palace
D. To be left alone

B. Illusion, ugliness, and suffering.
The woman cried that too much beauty was bad and craved illusion, ugliness, and suffering.
48. What did the dwarf-like figure warn would happen if the protagonist stayed too long on the island?

A. He would become rich
B. He would lose his mind
C. He would find Malasso
D. He would become rich

B. He would lose his mind.
The dwarf figure warned Lao that if he stayed too long, he would go completely mád.

49. What new quality did the mysterious woman’s curse bestow upon the protagonist?

A. Eternal wealth
B. Loss of invisibility
C. Having to love without illusion
D. Endless yearning

C. Having to love without illusion.
She cursed him to “live to love without illusion,” calling it the worst punishment of all.

50. What did Lao believe was the secret law underlying the perfect harmony of the quiet street?

A. Love
B. The management of his mind
C. Wildness
D. Creativity

B. The management of his mind.
He realized the best way to see the hidden world is to “manage his mind.”

Brief Overview

The Age of Magic is a novel by Ben Okri, first published in 2014. The narrative is a philosophical fable that follows the journey of a documentary filmmaker named Alec. The novel is an allegorical quest to find a hidden, magical community, exploring the nature of art, reality, and genuine happiness.

Alec is a disenchanted filmmaker who is asked to make a documentary about a legendary, beautiful, and happy community that is hidden somewhere in Switzerland. Alec accepts the vague assignment, hoping to escape his own troubled life. He views the project as a search for a lost, true paradise.

His journey quickly becomes spiritual. He travels through various European towns, but he struggles with his own cynicism and his inability to perceive the reality around him truly. The novel raises the question of whether magic is something found outside the self or something that must be generated internally.

Alec meets strange, symbolic characters who offer him cryptic guidance. He learns that the most significant barrier to finding this magical community is his own disbelief and his focus on material things. The search is complicated by the interference of a rival crew member who represents commercialism and false art.

The novel suggests that the “Age of Magic” is not a specific historical period, but rather a state of mind. It is achieved when one lives authentically and embraces mystery. The book concludes with Alec undergoing a profound internal transformation, realizing that the greatest art is the art of truly seeing the world.

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