The Idiot MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

The Idiot MCQs
Updated on: November 1, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 19 min

The Idiot MCQs

1. From which country is Prince Myshkin returning to Russia?

A. France
B. Germany
C. Switzerland
D. England

C. Switzerland.
The prince returns from Switzerland, where he was treated for a strange nervous illness, known as the falling sickness.

2. What sort of illness did Myshkin suffer from, requiring him to go abroad?

A. Consumption
B. Nervous illness like falling sickness
C. Cholera
D. Typhus

B. Nervous illness like falling sickness.
He was sent abroad for a nervous illness described as the falling sickness or St. Vitus’s dance, which involved trembling.

3. What physical sign of his poverty does the red-nosed clerk immediately observe about Myshkin?

A. His old, worn coat
B. His lack of a hat
C. His cheap, foreign shoes and gaiters
D. His reliance on alms

C. His cheap, foreign shoes and gaiters.
The clerk deduces the prince’s poverty from the gaiters enclosing his foreign shoes.

4. Who was Myshkin’s deceased benefactor abroad?

A. General Epanchin
B. Nikolai Andreevich Pavlishchev
C. Parfyon Rogozhin
D. Ivan Fyodorovich

B. Nikolai Andreevich Pavlishchev.
Mr. Pavlishchev, who died two years prior, supported the prince in Switzerland at his own expense.
5. What is the first question the pimply clerk asks the Prince, demonstrating his “Know-it-all” nature?

A. How much money he has
B. His name and title
C. His future plans
D. His opinion of Totsky

B. His name and title.
The clerk suddenly asks the blond young man’s name, which is Prince Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin.

6. What specific talent does Myshkin claim to possess when speaking to General Epanchin?

A. Speaking French fluently
B. Designing architecture
C. Being a brilliant calligrapher
D. Playing the violin

C. Being a brilliant calligrapher.
The prince stated that his handwriting was excellent and that he was a “real calligrapher”.

7. What does Myshkin say he wants from the Epanchin family upon his return?

A. Financial aid
B. A military post
C. Good people and advice
D. To live in their house

C. Good people and advice.
The prince explained he needed good people to advise him, as he knew little about Russia.

8. What is the main reason General Epanchin dislikes the Major’s servant Ferdyshchenko?

A. He is a spy
B. He is a political activist
C. He is a salacious buffoon
D. He is too honest

C. He is a salacious buffoon.
The general states he does not like Ferdyshchenko, calling him “some sort of salacious buffoon”.

9. What idea about nature did Myshkin share with Mrs. Epanchin, which she found strange?

A. That waterfalls are terrifying
B. That one can love an ass
C. That mountains are beautiful
D. That the fog is cold

B. That one can love an ass.
Myshkin confessed his sudden liking and sympathy for the whole of Switzerland because of an ass.
10. What did Myshkin tell the Epanchin girls he felt when looking at Switzerland’s nature for the first time?

A. Intense happiness
B. Terribly oppressed and uneasy
C. Spiritual calm
D. Nostalgia for Russia

B. Terribly oppressed and uneasy.
He explained that looking at such nature for the first time made him feel both good and terribly oppressed.

11. What large inheritance did Rogozhin receive unexpectedly?

A. A house on Liteinaya
B. Two and a half million in capital
C. A factory outside Petersburg
D. Ten thousand roubles

B. Two and a half million in capital.
Rogozhin, returning bootless, had inherited two and a half million in pure capital.

12. What action by Rogozhin’s deceased father prevented Rogozhin from pursuing Nastasya Filippovna earlier?

A. The father was poor
B. The father would have killed him
C. The father was abroad
D. The father supported Totsky

B. The father would have killed him.
Rogozhin implies his father was tyrannical, stating the elder would have killed him for going to the ballet.

13. What expensive gift did Rogozhin immediately buy Nastasya Filippovna after receiving his first money?

A. A diamond ring
B. A carriage and horses
C. Diamond pendants
D. A pearl necklace

C. Diamond pendants.
He spent almost ten thousand roubles on pendants with a large diamond in each for her.

14. What was Nastasya Filippovna’s family name?

A. Ivolgin
B. Barashkov
C. Epanchin
D. Lebedev

B. Barashkov.
Nastasya Filippovna’s family name is Barashkov, and she lived with the landowner Totsky.
15. What status did Rogozhin humorously assign Myshkin due to his illness and inexperience with women?

A. A characterless being
B. A great general
C. A holy fool
D. A genius

C. A holy fool.
Rogozhin exclaimed that if the prince did not know women, he was a “holy fool,” whom God loves.

16. How did Nastasya Filippovna first react to Totsky’s proposal to compensate her with 75,000 roubles?

A. With intense rage
B. She dissolved in tears
C. With open and friendly discussion
D. She refused the money outright

C. With open and friendly discussion.
She seemed glad, wanting to speak in an open and friendly way, admitting she wanted advice.

17. Why did Totsky feel forced to yield to the new Nastasya Filippovna?

A. She had proof of his crime
B. She threatened to marry a richer man
C. She was capable of ruining herself for spite
D. He loved her newfound beauty

C. She was capable of ruining herself for spite.
Totsky realized she valued nothing, including herself, and would ruin herself to wreak havoc on him.

18. What was the central reason Nastasya Filippovna found Ganya’s offer acceptable?

A. He was rich and influential
B. She could “resurrect” in a family
C. He promised her a luxurious life
D. He was genuinely noble

B. She could “resurrect” in a family.
She confessed feeling oppressed and bored, wishing to resurrect in a family with a consciousness of new purpose.

19. What quality in Rogozhin does Myshkin say is worse than his fierce love?

A. His stupidity
B. His pity
C. His avarice
D. His cunning

B. His pity.
The prince tells Rogozhin that his pity for Nastasya Filippovna is perhaps “still worse than my love”.
20. What fate did Myshkin predict for Nastasya Filippovna if she married Rogozhin?

A. Poverty
B. Inevitable ruin
C. Great happiness
D. Spiritual awakening

B. Inevitable ruin.
Myshkin warned Rogozhin that marrying him meant “inevitable ruin for her,” and perhaps for him too.

21. What is General Epanchin’s social reputation based upon?

A. His old, noble family name
B. Big money, doings, and connections
C. His military heroism
D. His excellent education

B. Big money, doings, and connections.
He had the reputation of a man with big money, big doings, and big connections, achieved through finance.

22. How old is General Epanchin, which he considers the “prime of life”?

A. Thirty-five
B. Forty-seven
C. Fifty-six
D. Sixty-five

C. Fifty-six.
General Epanchin is fifty-six, which he considers a flourishing age where true life begins.

23. Why did General Epanchin want to postpone his daughters’ marriages?

A. He feared losing them
B. Their fortune and status were increasing yearly
C. They were too young
D. The general was too busy

B. Their fortune and status were increasing yearly.
He argued their fortune and social significance increased every year in geometrical progression.

24. What does Mrs. Epanchin confess is her main character flaw?

A. Her impatience
B. Her arrogance
C. Her excessive kindness
D. Her eccentric nature

C. Her excessive kindness.
She confessed that she is always kind, and that this kindness is her only failing.
25. What did Adelaida ask Myshkin to help her find for a painting subject?

A. A dark tragedy
B. A view of Switzerland
C. An interesting event
D. A heroic battle

C. An interesting event.
Adelaida asked Myshkin to find a subject for a picture, as she had been seeking one for two years.

26. What comparison did Aglaya make about Myshkin’s philosophy of life in prison?

A. It was like the General’s greed
B. It was the same as a cheap official’s wife’s
C. It was too idealistic
D. It was a true Christian path

B. It was the same as a cheap official’s wife’s.
Aglaya compared his immense life in prison to the cheapness embraced by the official’s wife, Evlampia Nikolavna.

27. What sight did Myshkin witness in Lyons that he found compelling and disturbing?

A. A terrible fire
B. An execution by guillotine
C. A political riot
D. A brutal fight

B. An execution by guillotine.
He saw an execution in Lyons, found it sickening, but confessed he watched, riveted to the sight.

28. What did Myshkin say he knew about the three Epanchin girls’ faces?

A. He would tell them later
B. They were all beautiful
C. They were deceiving him
D. They were secretly in love

A. He would tell them later.
When pressed about what he knew, the prince remained silent, saying “I’ll tell you later”.

29. What was the core philosophy Myshkin taught the children in Switzerland?

A. That they should study constantly
B. Nothing should be concealed from them
C. That they should pray often
D. That they should respect authority

B. Nothing should be concealed from them.
He was always struck that grown-ups hide things, believing nothing should be concealed from children.
30. Who does General Ivolgin claim to have nearly killed in a duel “across a handkerchief” over the prince’s mother?

A. Pavlishchev
B. General Epanchin
C. Prince Myshkin’s father
D. Parfyon Rogozhin

C. Prince Myshkin’s father.
General Ivolgin claims he nearly killed the prince’s father, Nikolai Lvovich, in a duel over his mother.

31. How did Ganya plan to keep his unruly father in check while pursuing Nastasya Filippovna?

A. By asking his mother’s aid
B. By keeping him in an iron grip
C. By bribing him with small sums
D. By sending him abroad

B. By keeping him in an iron grip.
Ganya announced that he kept his father “in an iron grip” and wanted to be obeyed at home.

32. What was Ganya’s primary anxiety about Nastasya Filippovna’s birthday party?

A. She would accept Rogozhin’s money
B. She would humiliate him publicly
C. Totsky would ruin his name
D. His father would disrupt the party

B. She would humiliate him publicly.
Ganya’s vanity made him fear being scorned or mocked by Nastasya Filippovna in front of others.

33. What did Rogozhin throw on the table at Nastasya Filippovna’s birthday party?

A. A diamond necklace
B. The deed to his house
C. A packet containing one hundred thousand roubles
D. A letter from Myshkin

C. A packet containing one hundred thousand roubles.
Rogozhin slammed a packet wrapped in white paper containing one hundred thousand roubles onto the table.

34. What stopped Ganya from striking his sister, Varya, during the confrontation?

A. His mother intervened
B. The Prince stopped his arm
C. Rogozhin threatened him
D. He recognized his own folly

B. The Prince stopped his arm.
Ganya swung at Varya, but the prince stepped between them and stopped his arm in midair.
35. What was Ganya’s immediate reaction after slapping the prince?

A. He ran away from the scene
B. He collapsed in shame
C. He bellowed in rage
D. He apologized immediately

C. He bellowed in rage.
Ganya bellowed and slapped the prince in the face, feeling an “utmost degree of rage”.

36. Why did Nastasya Filippovna put the packet of money into the fireplace?

A. To show her contempt for wealth
B. To test Ganya’s greed
C. To purify the money
D. To burn a contract

B. To test Ganya’s greed.
She threw the money into the fire to test if Ganya’s lust for money was greater than his vanity or pride.

37. What was the central emotion Ganya experienced while standing before the burning money?

A. Uncontrollable greed
B. Triumph over the Prince
C. Humiliation and sworn endurance
D. Sudden regret for his choices

C. Humiliation and sworn endurance.
Ganya looked at the fire and swore to endure the torture, proving his vanity was stronger than his lust.

38. What does Ganya want to achieve by making money and becoming “King of the Jews”?

A. To be universally respected
B. To prove he is an original man
C. To marry Aglaya Epanchin
D. To leave Petersburg forever

B. To prove he is an original man.
Ganya believed having money would make him an “original man in the highest degree”.

39. Why did the prince decide to live at the Ivolgins’ house?

A. He had family there
B. Rogozhin forbade him to stay
C. General Epanchin recommended it
D. He ran out of money

C. General Epanchin recommended it.
General Epanchin recommended the rooms at the Ivolgins, vouching for the prince’s good name.
40. When Myshkin left the Ivolgins’, what did Ganya accuse him of regarding Aglaya?

A. Stealing her money
B. Acting as a spy for Nastasya Filippovna
C. Being given too much of her confidence
D. Being a common thief

C. Being given too much of her confidence.
Ganya was stung by envy, questioning why the “idiot” had suddenly been taken into Aglaya’s confidence.

41. What idea did Ippolit Terentyev propose as the subject for a parlor game at Nastasya Filippovna’s party?

A. Describing the person you despise most
B. Confessing the worst deed you have done
C. Explaining the meaning of life
D. Predicting the general’s fate

B. Confessing the worst deed you have done.
He proposed that everyone should tell the worst thing they had done in the course of their whole life.

42. What was Myshkin’s crime when Ferdyshchenko pressed him about stealing?

A. He confessed he had sinned greatly
B. He admitted he was embarrassed
C. He admitted what Ferdyshchenko said was true, only exaggerated
D. He denied all guilt

C. He admitted what Ferdyshchenko said was true, only exaggerated.
Myshkin was blushing, but stated that Ferdyshchenko’s generalization that everyone stole was true, though greatly exaggerated.
43. What phrase did Nastasya Filippovna use to describe her feelings for the Prince?

A. Passionate love.
B. Romantic adoration.
C. Not love, but pity.
D. Eternal devotion.

C. Not love, but pity..
Myshkin repeatedly told Rogozhin that he loved Nastasya Filippovna “not with love, but with pity”.

44. What was Aglaya’s main reason for reciting Pushkin’s “The Poor Knight”?

A. To mock the Prince’s low social standing
B. To praise him for having an ideal and devotion
C. To prove her literary skill
D. To compare him to Don Quixote

B. To praise him for having an ideal and devotion.
Aglaya argued the poem directly portrays a man capable of having an ideal and blindly devoting his life to it.
45. How did Aglaya modify the letters on the knight’s shield (A.M.D.) during her recitation?

A. N.F.B.
B. E.P.R.
C. L.N.M.
D. I.F.E.

A. N.F.B..
Aglaya changed the letters to N.F.B., which was later proved to be an intentional, pointed joke.

46. What conviction does Ippolit mention that is supposedly independent of his death sentence?

A. That he is a genius
B. That the point is in life itself, not discovery
C. That society is corrupt
D. That God is absent

B. That the point is in life itself, not discovery.
Ippolit states the point is in life alone—in discovering it constantly—and not in the discovery itself.

47. What does the prince confess to Rogozhin he thinks about the Holbein painting of Christ taken from the cross?

A. It strengthens faith
B. It makes a man lose his faith
C. It is a masterpiece
D. It symbolizes suffering

B. It makes a man lose his faith.
The prince cried out that “A man could even lose his faith from that painting”.

48. What did Rogozhin claim was Nastasya Filippovna’s true reason for marrying him, despite her fear?

A. She wants to prove her contempt for him
B. She loves him and wants his money
C. She is afraid of the Prince’s pity
D. She believes she must marry him because she loves the Prince

D. She believes she must marry him because she loves the Prince.
Rogozhin believed she was marrying him because she loved the Prince but thought she would disgrace him.

49. What key feature of Nastasya Filippovna’s face did Myshkin tell Evgeny Pavlovich he feared?

A. Her arrogance
B. Her pallor
C. Her beauty
D. Her madness

D. Her madness.
Myshkin whispered that he was afraid of her face because he now knew with certainty that she was mad.
50. What condition was the corpse of Nastasya Filippovna in when Myshkin found her with Rogozhin?

A. She was covered in flowers
B. She was still trembling slightly
C. She was lying dead in the next room
D. She had been moved to the sofa

C. She was lying dead in the next room.
Rogozhin told Myshkin she was lying in the next room, confirming the murder, and they sat next to her.

Brief Overview

The Idiot, a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, was published from 1868 to 1869. It explores themes of morality, compassion, and the conflict between goodness and a materialistic world.

The novel follows “Christ-like” Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, a kind, gentle, and innocent man who returns to Russia after spending years in a Swiss hospital recovering from epilepsy.

When he comes back, he enters high society in St. Petersburg, but because he is so honest, simple, and pure-hearted, people think he is an idiot. He also meets Parfyon Rogozhin, a passionate and jealous man.

Myshkin meets two main women: Nastasya Filippovna, a beautiful but troubled woman with a painful past, and Aglaya Epanchin, a rich young woman who admires Myshkin’s goodness.

Both Myshkin and Rogozhin become deeply involved with the beautiful but disgraced Nastasya Filippovna Barashkov. Myshkin receives a large inheritance. Rogozhin’s love for Nastasya is described as being “indistinguishable from spite.” Myshkin later becomes engaged to the spirited Aglaya Epanchin.

Nastasya Filippovna forces a confrontation between the two women, causing Aglaya to leave the prince. Myshkin decides to marry Nastasya out of pity.

However, Myshkin’s kindness cannot fix the corruption, greed, and jealousy around him. In the end, tragedy strikes: on their wedding day, Nastasya runs away with Rogozhin.

Then, Myshkin finds Nastasya murdered by Rogozhin with a knife. The prince’s mind collapses again, sinks back into complete idiocy, and returns to Switzerland.

The story shows how the prince’s innocence and honesty ultimately prove ineffective against the sensuality, greed, and moral emptiness of those around him.

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