The Rainbow MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

The Rainbow MCQs
Updated on: October 12, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The Rainbow MCQs

1. Where did the Brangwens live for generations?

A. Shelly Hall
B. Ilkeston Vicarage
C. Marsh Farm
D. The Black Horse

C. Marsh Farm.

Marsh Farm is the ancestral home, representing a deep, instinctual connection to the land and nature.

2. What structure did the Brangwen men see in the empty sky when they lifted their heads from work?

A. A colliery headstock
B. Nottingham Castle
C. A church-tower at Ilkeston
D. A cathedral spire

C. A church-tower at Ilkeston.

The church tower symbolizes the “world beyond” the farm, representing society, religion, and intellect.

3. The Brangwen men are described as facing inwards to what kind of life?

A. The spoken world beyond
B. The teeming life of creation
C. Cities and governments
D. Outward scope and freedom

B. The teeming life of creation.

The men are connected to the physical, instinctual life of the farm, working with the soil and animals.

4. What did the Brangwen women look out towards?

A. The fertile soil
B. The heated, blind intercourse of farm-life
C. The spoken world beyond
D. The grain furrow

C. The spoken world beyond.

The women yearn for a life of the mind, society, and greater knowledge, which they see in the nearby town and church.

5. What did the wife believe the Vicar possessed that raised him above common men?

A. Money
B. Position
C. Power over Tom Brangwen
D. Knowledge

D. Knowledge.

The Brangwen women see education and knowledge as the key to a higher, more fulfilling way of life.

6. Who was the lady of Shelly Hall who served as the “living dream” for the women of Cossethay?

A. Mrs. Brangwen
B. Mrs. Hardy
C. Mrs. Lensky
D. Alice Brangwen

B. Mrs. Hardy.

Mrs. Hardy, the lady of the manor, represents the ideal of a cultured and sophisticated life that the farm women desire.

7. What kind of emotion moved Tom Brangwen beyond all calculation when the teacher read Tennyson’s “Ulysses”?

A. Amusement
B. Betrayed emotion
C. Violent repulsion
D. Rage and incompetence

B. Betrayed emotion.

The poem awakens a deep, nameless longing in Tom that his education cannot satisfy, making him feel betrayed.

8. What nationality was the lady Tom Brangwen married?

A. German
B. Russian
C. Polish
D. Venetian

C. Polish.

Tom marries a Polish refugee, bringing a foreign and aristocratic element into the English farmhouse.

9. What was the name of the Polish lady’s little girl?

A. Effie
B. Anna
C. Alice
D. Gudrun

B. Anna.

Anna is the first character of the second generation. The story will later follow her own marriage and children.

10. What was the Polish lady’s first request when she came knocking at the Marsh Farm door?

A. A room to rent
B. A pound of butter
C. An interview with the vicar
D. To see Anna

B. A pound of butter.

This simple, domestic request is what first brings the foreign Mrs. Lensky into Tom Brangwen’s life.

11. In the long February nights, while tending the ewes in labour, Tom realized that without Lydia, he was what?

A. Masterful
B. Complete
C. A fragment
D. A thing of power

C. A fragment.

Tom realizes that his life is incomplete without her and that he needs her to be whole.

12. What flowers did Brangwen bring when he proposed to Mrs. Lensky?

A. Roses
B. Lilies
C. Daffodils
D. Snowdrops

C. Daffodils.

The bright yellow daffodils symbolize the hope and new life that Tom offers to the grieving widow.

13. After Lensky’s death, what became Lydia’s desire, though she could not fulfill it?

A. To return to Poland
B. To seek satisfaction in dread
C. To marry Brangwen
D. To become a refugee again

B. To seek satisfaction in dread.

Overwhelmed by tragedy, Lydia had given up on happiness and was living in a state of fear and despair.

14. At the wedding, what did Brangwen stare at, which glowed intensely in the church?

A. The altar cloth
B. The east window
C. His wife’s bonnet
D. The vicar’s face

B. The east window.

The colored light of the church window makes him think of the rainbow, the novel’s central symbol of promise and connection.

15. Tom Brangwen argued that a married couple makes what, since an Angel cannot be less than a human being?

A. One Angel
B. Two souls
C. Heaven
D. A legion

A. One Angel.

In his drunken wedding speech, Tom expresses his mystical belief that marriage creates a new, single, angelic being.

16. Tom Brangwen eventually had to learn the bitter lesson to subdue himself and take what?

A. Full control
B. Less than he wanted
C. More freedom
D. Another wife

B. Less than he wanted.

Tom learns that he cannot completely possess or understand his wife, and must accept their separateness.

17. What happened to Tom Brangwen (the elder) during a heavy flood at the Marsh Farm?

A. He escaped on his horse
B. He was found drinking
C. He was pushed past the house drowning
D. He safely reached the stable

C. He was pushed past the house drowning.

The patriarch of the first generation dies in a flood, overwhelmed by the forces of nature he lived with all his life.

18. Who was the Polish exile and Vicar who was Anna’s mother’s friend?

A. Lensky
B. Baron Skrebensky
C. Lord William
D. Mr. Gladstone

B. Baron Skrebensky.

The Baron and his son Anton connect Ursula’s generation back to her grandmother’s Polish aristocratic past.

19. Will Brangwen was primarily interested in church architecture and was influenced by whom?

A. Shelley
B. Browning
C. Ruskin
D. Tennyson

C. Ruskin.

Will’s love for the religious art and architecture promoted by John Ruskin defines his spiritual and artistic character.

20. What mythological figures was Will carving for a church panel?

A. The Virgin Mary
B. Adam and Eve
C. St. George and the Dragon
D. Penelope and Ulysses

B. Adam and Eve.

Will’s attempt to carve Adam and Eve symbolizes his struggle to understand the relationship between man and woman.

21. Where did Will and Anna meet one moonlit night to put up sheaves?

A. In the Marsh yard
B. In the open stubble field
C. In the vicarage garden
D. In the slaughter-house

B. In the open stubble field.

This is a famous, powerful scene of courtship where the two lovers connect under the moon in a harvest field.

22. What structure stood next to the cottage Tom Brangwen rented for the young couple?

A. A factory
B. The Marsh Farm
C. The church
D. The Black Swan Inn

C. The church.

Living right next to the church symbolizes the central role that religion and the church building play in Will’s life.

23. Anna became hostile because Will seemed in correspondence with what image in the church window?

A. The Virgin Mary
B. The lamb with the flag
C. The cross
D. St. George

B. The lamb with the flag.

Anna feels jealous of the religious passion Will directs toward the church, seeing it as a rival for his love.

24. What structure did Will Brangwen buy a book about in Nottingham, finding great satisfaction?

A. St. Paul’s Cathedral
B. Lincoln Cathedral
C. Bamberg Cathedral
D. St. Nicholas

C. Bamberg Cathedral.

Will’s fascination with cathedrals shows his deep connection to a medieval, spiritual, and non-industrial world.

25. Anna jeered at Will’s carving, saying Eve was like what size object?

A. A giant
B. A doll/marionette
C. A lion
D. A flower

B. A doll/marionette.

Anna mocks his art to assert her own power over him, undermining his creative confidence.

26. What saved Anna from being swept away by the tide of passion in the cathedral?

A. The altar
B. Her mother-of-pearl rosary
C. The organ music
D. Sly little faces carved in stone

D. Sly little faces carved in stone.

The small, mischievous faces carved by medieval craftsmen remind Anna of the human, imperfect world, breaking the spell of the cathedral’s overwhelming spirituality.

27. Anna’s soul was in bliss over the baby. Before this baby was ten months old, what was she again?

A. Trying to leave Will
B. Looking for work
C. With child
D. Going to London

C. With child.

Anna finds her ultimate fulfillment in motherhood, having many children and giving up her earlier struggles with Will.

28. The second child born to Anna and Will was a girl named what?

A. Ursula
B. Catherine
C. Gudrun
D. Theresa

C. Gudrun.

The birth of Gudrun introduces the second sister, who will become a main character in the sequel, *Women in Love*.

29. Who was Ursula’s chief friend at the age of eight, who saw the world in a great, hushed space?

A. Maggie Schofield
B. Her mother Anna
C. Her Uncle Tom
D. Her grandmother Lydia

D. Her grandmother Lydia.

Ursula feels a special bond with her foreign grandmother, who represents a connection to a wider, more mysterious world.

30. What gave Ursula a deep, joyous thrill, leading her to feel “fate on either side of her terrible”?

A. Her education
B. Her Polish antecedents
C. Her mother’s love
D. Her father’s gifts

B. Her Polish antecedents.

Learning about her Polish heritage makes Ursula feel special and destined for a life beyond her simple English town.

31. When Ursula saw a Rubens picture of naked babies, what was the title that made her shudder?

A. The Nativity
B. Fecundity
C. The Judgment
D. Adam and Eve

B. Fecundity.

Ursula fears being reduced to just a mother. The word for fertility, “fecundity,” frightens her.

32. What did Ursula hate most about the evangelical teachings she encountered?

A. The rejection of the Pope
B. The insistence on the humanity of Christ
C. The mention of salvation
D. The emphasis on rules

B. The insistence on the humanity of Christ.

Ursula desires a mystical, powerful God and is disappointed by a religion that makes Jesus seem merely human.

33. Ursula’s soul was stirred by the Biblical passage about the Sons of God marrying whom?

A. The daughters of Zion
B. The daughters of men
C. The daughters of Israel
D. The daughters of Noah

B. The daughters of men.

This story inspires Ursula’s youthful dream of being chosen by a powerful, almost divine lover from a world beyond her own.

34. Who was the first person Ursula encountered as a real, living person outside her parents’ orbit?

A. Will Brangwen
B. Baron Skrebensky
C. Mr. Harby
D. Tilly

B. Baron Skrebensky.

Anton Skrebensky is Ursula’s first serious lover. He seems to fulfill her dream of a “Son of God.”

35. What did the headmaster’s primary drive in life, according to Ursula’s perception?

A. To educate the children
B. To hold blind authority over the school
C. To earn good wages
D. To reform the system

B. To hold blind authority over the school.

Ursula realizes that Mr. Harby cares more about power and control than about genuinely educating the children.

36. Which boy did Ursula finally seize and drag to the front of the class, resulting in a physical altercation?

A. Hill
B. Wright
C. Williams
D. Letts

C. Williams.

The fight with Williams is a turning point. To control the class, Ursula is forced to become as brutal as the system she hates.

37. After being “broken in” to teaching, Ursula realized her job was a prison where her chaotic soul became what?

A. More sensitive
B. Hard and independent
C. Completely corrupted
D. Passionate and free

B. Hard and independent.

The difficult experience of teaching forces Ursula to develop a hard, separate self in order to survive.

38. What was Ursula studying for during her first year of college?

A. Final Arts
B. Intermediate Arts
C. Matriculation
D. Pure Botany

B. Intermediate Arts.

Attending university is the next step in Ursula’s quest for independence and knowledge.

39. By her final year, Ursula viewed college as a little apprentice-shop where one was equipped for what purpose?

A. Making money
B. Spiritual growth
C. Self-realization
D. True learning

A. Making money.

Ursula becomes disillusioned with college. She sees it as just another system designed to prepare people for the world of commerce.

40. Who was Tom Brangwen’s (Ursula’s Uncle) real mistress, according to Ursula’s critical perception?

A. Winifred Inger
B. The pit/machine
C. His wife
D. Ursula

B. The pit/machine.

Ursula sees that her uncle, a colliery manager, is truly married to the industrial machine, not to a person.

41. Anton Skrebensky’s views on duty required every man to give himself to support what institution?

A. The church
B. The individual
C. The state
D. The aristocracy

C. The state.

Skrebensky believes in serving a larger social system, like the nation or the army. He has no strong individual self.

42. When Ursula told Anton she didn’t want to marry him, how did he react?

A. He became abusive
B. He cried uncontrollably, noiselessly
C. He left immediately and angrily
D. He laughed nervously

B. He cried uncontrollably, noiselessly.

His breakdown shows his emotional dependence on her and his lack of a solid inner self.

43. Ursula failed her final examination, which resulted in her not receiving what?

A. Her certificate
B. Her degree
C. A teaching post
D. A promotion

B. Her degree.

Her academic failure coincides with her personal and emotional crisis, leaving her with no clear path forward.

44. What was the one thing Ursula knew subconsciously about her upcoming marriage date?

A. She would be late
B. She would never sail for India
C. She would fail her examination
D. She would marry the Colonel’s daughter

B. She would never sail for India.

Deep down, Ursula knows that a conventional life as an officer’s wife in India is not her true path.

45. What did Anton say to Ursula on the sand-dunes that caused her to break off the engagement?

A. He told her he was leaving
B. He said, “I have no soul”
C. He proposed to her
D. He was silent, waiting for the moon to conquer her

B. He said, “I have no soul”.

In this key scene, Ursula’s powerful will seems to destroy Skrebensky’s sense of self, revealing his inner emptiness.

46. What action did Anton take immediately after breaking up with Ursula?

A. He returned to his old job
B. He married his Colonel’s daughter
C. He drank himself to oblivion
D. He wrote a long letter to Ursula

B. He married his Colonel’s daughter.

After failing to connect with Ursula, Skrebensky immediately retreats into a safe, conventional marriage within his social class.

47. What immediate realization came to Ursula weeks after the breakup?

A. She had failed her exam
B. She was with child
C. She missed Anton terribly
D. She loved teaching

B. She was with child.

The pregnancy forces Ursula to reconsider her rejection of Skrebensky and the conventional path of marriage.

48. What did Ursula try to avoid lifting her face to as she walked in the wilderness track during the rain?

A. The church tower
B. The colliery
C. Some horses looming
D. The turbulent sky

C. Some horses looming.

This is the beginning of the novel’s climactic scene, where Ursula confronts a powerful, non-human force.

49. In her delirium, what did Ursula realize was the thing that bound her to Skrebensky and his world?

A. Her love
B. Financial necessity
C. The child
D. The desire for security

C. The child.

During her illness and miscarriage, Ursula realizes the unborn child was her last link to Skrebensky and the old world he represents.

50. In her final moment of delirium, what did Ursula compare herself to, bursting forth from an unreality?

A. A soaring bird
B. A stone at rest
C. A ship sailing free
D. An acorn kernel thrusting forth a shoot

D. An acorn kernel thrusting forth a shoot.

After her traumatic experience and miscarriage, Ursula feels she has been reborn, ready to start a new, true life.

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