The Plumed Serpent MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

The Plumed Serpent MCQs
Updated on: October 13, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 18 min

The Plumed Serpent MCQs

1. What city hosted the last bull-fight of the season?

A. Guadalajara
B. Mexico City
C. Vera Cruz
D. Tlacolula

B. Mexico City.

The novel opens at a bullfight, immediately immersing Kate in the strange and brutal culture of Mexico.

2. What materials were used to construct the huge, ugly stadium?

A. Wood and glass
B. Iron scaffolding, concrete, and iron
C. Adobe and stone
D. Concrete and marble

B. Iron scaffolding, concrete, and iron.

The modern, industrial ugliness of the stadium contrasts with the ancient, bloody ritual taking place inside it.

3. Kate said she hated “common people” after witnessing which activity?

A. Selling greasy food
B. The common rowdiness of the audience
C. The military entrance
D. The general rush

B. The common rowdiness of the audience.

Kate’s European sense of order and propriety is offended by the chaotic energy of the Mexican crowd.

4. What did the toreadors look like to Kate, shattering her illusions?

A. Gallant heroes
B. Eunuchs or women in tight pants
C. Expert horsemen
D. Elegant gentlemen

B. Eunuchs or women in tight pants.

Kate finds the bullfighters unmanly and artificial, not the heroic figures she expected.

5. What horrific sight shocked Kate during the bull-fight?

A. The bull dying instantly
B. The toreadors’ cruelty
C. A horse walking out with entrails hanging out
D. The crowd rioting

C. A horse walking out with entrails hanging out.

This gruesome image represents the meaningless, ugly violence of the spectacle that drives Kate away in disgust.

6. Why did Kate leave the bull-fight early?

A. She was bored and overwhelmed by the indecency
B. She was afraid of the military
C. She needed to meet General Viedma
D. Owen was feeling sick

A. She was bored and overwhelmed by the indecency.

Kate rejects the bullfight not just for its horror, but because she finds its vulgarity boring and meaningless.

7. Which character approached Kate to offer her transportation away from the stadium?

A. Villiers
B. General Viedma (Don Cipriano)
C. Owen Rhys
D. Julio Toussaint

B. General Viedma (Don Cipriano).

This is the first significant interaction between Kate and Don Cipriano, one of the novel’s main characters.

8. What nationality did Kate claim to General Viedma?

A. American
B. English
C. Irish
D. Scottish

C. Irish.

Kate identifies as Irish, which separates her from the English and positions her as an outsider in her own right.

9. What did Kate feel about General Viedma that made her want to get away from him?

A. His insolence
B. His heavy, black Mexican fatality
C. His overwhelming kindness
D. His aggressive Americanism

B. His heavy, black Mexican fatality.

Kate is both attracted and repelled by Cipriano’s dark, powerful, and non-European presence.

10. What philosophical despair did Owen suffer from?

A. Despair of not having enough money
B. Despair of having lived in vain
C. Despair of being stuck in Mexico
D. Despair of being too old

B. Despair of having lived in vain.

Owen represents the emptiness of a modern intellectual who seeks thrilling “Life” experiences but has no real core.

11. What feeling overcame the people discussing Mexico seriously at Mrs Norris’s house?

A. Patriotic pride
B. Intense irritation
C. Doom and despair
D. Will-to-happiness

C. Doom and despair.

The intellectual conversation about Mexico’s problems only leads to a sense of hopelessness, which the new religion seeks to overcome.

12. Don Ramón said Mexicans truly mean this when they cry “Viva!”

A. Long live liberty!
B. Long live Montes!
C. Death for Somebody or Other!
D. Long live Christ the King!

C. Death for Somebody or Other!.

Ramón argues that Mexican cries for life are actually cries for death, showing the country’s destructive spirit.

13. What was Don Ramón’s voice compared to?

A. A drum
B. Metal music
C. A violoncello
D. A parrot

C. A violoncello.

Ramón’s deep, resonant voice gives him a charismatic and powerful presence as a speaker.

14. What did Kate call the heavy, black Mexican fatality she felt in Mexico City?

A. The dragon of the Aztecs
B. The altitude sickness
C. The weight of revolution
D. The curse of the tropics

A. The dragon of the Aztecs.

Kate senses a dark, ancient, and powerful spirit in Mexico that is both terrifying and fascinating.

15. What does Quetzalcoatl literally mean?

A. Fire serpent
B. Feathered man
C. Plumed Serpent
D. Golden eagle

C. Plumed Serpent.

This is the name of the ancient Aztec god that Don Ramón seeks to revive in his new religion.

16. What did Kate’s second husband, Joachim Leslie, fight for?

A. Irish politics (changing the world)
B. Socialism in Mexico
C. American ideals
D. Academic scholarship

A. Irish politics (changing the world).

Kate is a widow of a political idealist. She is tired of men who try to “save the world” with their minds.

17. According to Don Ramón, what is nonexistent, as men are slaves to domination?

A. Will-to-happiness
B. The search for God
C. Liberty
D. Socialism

C. Liberty.

Ramón’s philosophy rejects modern ideas of freedom and democracy in favor of natural leadership and submission.

18. What did Ramón say he needed to make the world’s roots rise again?

A. Land reform
B. The word
C. Violence
D. Foreign aid

B. The word.

Ramón believes he must create a new religious language and story to give life back to the Mexican people.

19. Cipriano’s education was described as lying upon his consciousness like what substance?

A. A thick black shroud
B. A film of white oil on a black lake
C. A shining jewel
D. An iron mask

B. A film of white oil on a black lake.

This image shows that Cipriano’s European education is a thin, superficial layer covering his deep, dark, native identity.

20. What did the naked man in the river claim the lake belonged to?

A. The government
B. The old gods of Mexico
C. Don Ramón
D. The fishermen

B. The old gods of Mexico.

This encounter shows Kate that the ancient, pagan spirit of Mexico still lives in the people and the landscape.

21. What was the Quetzalcoatl emblem on the leaflet?

A. Eagle with serpent eating its tail
B. Plumed serpent head
C. Crucifix
D. Morning Star

A. Eagle with serpent eating its tail.

This symbol of a snake eating its own tail, a famous ancient icon, represents the cyclical nature of life and death.

22. The singer of the Quetzalcoatl hymn sang inwardly, into which dimension?

A. The future
B. The infinite room inside the axis of wheeling space
C. The spirit of God
D. The depths of the earth

B. The infinite room inside the axis of wheeling space.

The hymns are not sung for an audience, but are a form of meditation meant to connect the singer to a cosmic center.

23. What action did the women perform to choose their man after the speech?

A. They danced in a circle
B. They slipped in and picked up the man’s right hand
C. They threw flowers at them
D. They sang a private song

B. They slipped in and picked up the man’s right hand.

This simple ritual establishes a bond between a man and a woman based on a silent, mutual choosing.

24. What was the Snake of the earth said to be doing at the heart of the earth?

A. Sleeping in the midst of fire
B. Coiling round the globe
C. Waiting for victims
D. Moving the tectonic plates

A. Sleeping in the midst of fire.

The hymns create a powerful mythology of the earth as a living, fiery, and snake-like being.

25. In the Hymn, what did Jesus say the Mexican people had swallowed, making them heavy?

A. The stone of despair
B. The fire-waters
C. The silver cross
D. The foreign tongue

A. The stone of despair.

The new religion claims that Christianity has burdened the Mexican people with a feeling of hopelessness.

26. What was the fate of the images (Dead Christ, Madonna, etc.) from the church?

A. They were stolen by bandits
B. They were hidden in the hacienda
C. They were reverence-burnt upon the lake
D. They were sent back to Rome

C. They were reverence-burnt upon the lake.

This dramatic act shows the complete rejection of Christianity and its replacement by the Quetzalcoatl religion.

27. What celestial object was said to set the dragons upon the inert ones in the Fourth Hymn?

A. The Morning Star
B. The Sun
C. The Moon
D. The North Star

A. The Morning Star.

The Morning Star is a key symbol in the new religion, representing a new consciousness and a powerful, awakening force.

28. Who was Carlota’s godfather of her younger son?

A. Owen Rhys
B. General Viedma (Cipriano)
C. Judge Burlap
D. Montes

B. General Viedma (Cipriano).

This detail establishes the close, long-standing relationship between Ramón’s family and Cipriano.

29. What sound made Doña Carlota rock herself in agitation at Jamiltepec?

A. The military bugle
B. The thunder
C. The church bells
D. The drum

D. The drum.

The steady, hypnotic beat of the pagan drum torments Carlota, who sees it as the sound of the devil.

30. What curse did Kate feel she suffered from, leading to her “spasmodic desire”?

A. The curse of Eve/greedy vision/prying eyes
B. The curse of the tropics
C. The curse of being Irish
D. The curse of pride

A. The curse of Eve/greedy vision/prying eyes.

Kate feels that her modern, female need to “know” and mentally possess a man is a curse that prevents true connection.

31. What did Ramón say was the ‘Morning Star,’ rising between man and woman?

A. Their shared destiny
B. Their combined soul/meeting-ground
C. Their desire for peace
D. Their children

B. Their combined soul/meeting-ground.

Ramón’s philosophy seeks a new kind of relationship that is not based on personal love but on a shared connection to the divine.

32. What was the visible effect of Carlota’s final collapse in the church?

A. Carlota was shot by a soldier
B. Carlota went into convulsions and collapsed
C. Carlota successfully disrupted the event
D. Carlota spoke in tongues

B. Carlota went into convulsions and collapsed.

Carlota’s passionate Christian faith literally consumes her as she confronts and denounces her husband’s new religion, leading to her death.

33. What did Ramón say was ‘Good’ about the bandits he and Kate killed?

A. Good that they ran away
B. Good that they are dead
C. Good for Mexico’s future
D. Good for Carlota

B. Good that they are dead.

Ramón’s cold acceptance of death and killing shows the anti-humanist and brutal side of his new religion.

34. What animal did Ramón compare the job of transforming Mexico to?

A. Hatching the chick
B. Killing the snake
C. Climbing the mountain
D. Hunting the jaguar

A. Hatching the chick.

Ramón sees the rebirth of Mexico as a slow, delicate process that requires patience and nurturing.

35. What was the core reason Ramón was going to marry Teresa?

A. To secure her dowry
B. He was madly in love
C. To save her sex/pride from insult
D. To anger Carlota

C. To save her sex/pride from insult.

Ramón’s marriage is not based on personal love but is a religious and social act to give his female follower a place of honor.

36. What did Kate feel was lacking in Cipriano, leading to her fear and repulsion of his mystical power?

A. Kindness
B. Military skill
C. English culture
D. Loyalty to Ramón

A. Kindness.

Kate fears that Cipriano’s power is purely dark and destructive, lacking the human warmth and kindness she is used to.

37. What name did Cipriano use for Kate after she submitted to his power?

A. Itzpapalotl
B. Teresa
C. Malintzi
D. Caterina

C. Malintzi.

By giving her this new name, Cipriano transforms Kate from an individual into a goddess within his religious system.

38. What was the name of the strong-scented flower Cipriano used to decorate Kate’s chair in the church?

A. Oleander
B. Buena de noche (good by night)
C. Hibiscus
D. Jasmine

B. Buena de noche (good by night).

The heavy, nocturnal scent of the flower adds to the strange, sensual, and pagan atmosphere of the ritual.

39. What new god name did Cipriano claim for himself?

A. Tezcatlipocá
B. Huitzilopochtli
C. Tlaloc
D. Montes

B. Huitzilopochtli.

Cipriano takes the name of the ancient Aztec god of war, symbolizing his role as the powerful, active force of the new religion.

40. What did Kate say was her primary desire when she felt suffocated by the new Mexican movement?

A. To return to the simple life in London
B. To join the military
C. To become a goddess
D. To run Don Ramón’s hacienda

A. To return to the simple life in London.

Kate’s European self constantly fights against the movement, longing for the familiar comforts and individuality of her old life.

41. What did Ramón say was the key to bringing together the ‘two great human impulses’?

A. Love and charity
B. The starry power (divinity in man)
C. Political action
D. Economic reform

B. The starry power (divinity in man).

Ramón believes that recognizing the divine spark within oneself is the only way to heal the split in modern humanity.

42. What was the core difference between Kate’s old physical fulfillment and her new one with Cipriano?

A. The old was sharp and ecstasy-filled; the new was dark, hot, and subterranean
B. The old was passionate; the new was cold
C. The old was emotional; the new was purely intellectual
D. The old was rare; the new was constant

A. The old was sharp and ecstasy-filled; the new was dark, hot, and subterranean.

Her relationship with Cipriano is not based on personal, ecstatic love, but on a deeper, darker, more impersonal connection.

43. What was the fate prescribed for the bodies of the ‘grey dog’ and ‘grey bitch’ traitors?

A. Burial in quick-lime
B. Burning on the altar fire
C. Left in the plaza
D. Carried away by the soldiers

A. Burial in quick-lime.

The ritualistic execution and disposal of the traitors’ bodies shows the cold, ruthless justice of the Huitzilopochtli cult.

44. What did Ramón describe Carlota as, because she kept back the ‘wine of her body’?

A. A saint
B. A charitable woman
C. A stale virgin/spinster/born widow
D. A martyr

C. A stale virgin/spinster/born widow.

Ramón believes his wife’s Christian piety made her deny her own physical, sensual nature.

45. What was Cipriano’s description of his consciousness after the deep ritual sleep?

A. He was afraid
B. He had been a god and belonged where he went
C. He felt ready to fight
D. He was purely human again

B. He had been a god and belonged where he went.

After the ritual, Cipriano feels he has transcended his human self and fully become the god Huitzilopochtli.

46. What was the source of Ramón’s pain and feeling that his soul was coming undone before Kate left?

A. The physical wound
B. The conflict with Montes
C. His spiritual effort and inability to hold out
D. Carlota’s death

C. His spiritual effort and inability to hold out.

Being the “living Quetzalcoatl” is a huge strain on Ramón, and he sometimes struggles to maintain his divine consciousness.

47. What did Ramón suggest Kate tell the Irish people to do?

A. Emigrate to Mexico
B. Adopt the Catholic Church fully
C. Substantiate their own mysteries (like Quetzalcoatl)
D. Focus on politics

C. Substantiate their own mysteries (like Quetzalcoatl).

Ramón believes that every culture, including Kate’s own Irish one, needs to find its own deep, religious consciousness.

48. What did Kate fear her women ‘friends’ were turning into in their middle years?

A. Bitter feminists
B. Self-sacrificing nuns
C. Grey-ribbed grimalkins
D. Elegant socialites

C. Grey-ribbed grimalkins.

A grimalkin is an old, spiteful cat. Kate fears that modern, independent women become sexless and bitter as they age.

49. What was the only physical action Kate performed to stop Ramón from leaving her after their talk of her going home?

A. She kissed him
B. She cried and said he didn’t want her
C. She pleaded in Spanish
D. She confessed her true feelings

B. She cried and said he didn’t want her.

In a moment of vulnerability, Kate shows her deep need for Ramón, which makes him stay.

50. What phrase did Ramón use to describe the nature of man, including his voice?

A. A creature of will and appetite
B. A flawed reflection of God
C. A column of blood, with a voice in it
D. A machine for creating

C. A column of blood, with a voice in it.

This phrase captures Ramón’s belief that humanity’s true source is the physical, instinctual “blood,” not the abstract mind.

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