The Roundheads MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 23, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 16 min

The Roundheads MCQs

 

1. Who are the soldiers initially declaring their support for?

A. Lord Fleetwood
B. Noble Lambert
C. King Charles
D. Speaker’s Glory

B. Noble Lambert.
The soldiers declare that they are for “Noble Lambert,” questioning any declarations made in support of Fleetwood.

2. What does the Joyner believe Lambert’s declaration violates?

A. Freedom of Speech
B. Against Property
C. Illegal Decision
D. Rule of Law

B. Against Property.
Joyner argues that Lambert’s declaration is “illegal” and against the “Property of the People”.

3. What does the Felt-maker prioritise over logic or combat?

A. Zeal Fleetwood
B. Public Good
C. Conscience only
D. Noble Lambert

A. Zeal Fleetwood.
The Felt-maker supports Fleetwood’s party, but the Joyner notes they do not act by “Reason”.

4. Which general is described as a “Blockhead” and “snivelling Fool”?

A. Lord Vane
B. General Lambert
C. Lord Fleetwood
D. Sir Haslerig

C. Lord Fleetwood.
The soldiers openly insult Fleetwood, calling him a “Coward,” a “Blockhead,” and a “snivelling Fool”.
5. What movement is Vane accused of dreaming about?

A. New Republic
B. Fifth Monarchy
C. King’s Law
D. True Religion

B. Fifth Monarchy.
The Second Soldier dismisses Vane as a fool only fit to reign in the “Fifth Monarchy” he constantly preaches.

6. Where is the word of command lodged for the soldiers, overriding law?

A. General’s Syllable
B. Their Hilts
C. Speaker’s Coach
D. Fleetwood’s Pay

B. Their Hilts.
The soldiers state their will was reason and law, and the “Word of Command lodg’d in our Hilts”.

7. What language did the Speaker fail to understand, according to the Corporal?

A. Sword’s Wit
B. Soldier’s Dialect
C. Keenness Sharp
D. Overruled Robes

B. Soldier’s Dialect.
The Corporal explains that the Speaker did not understand the “Soldier’s Dialect,” which confused his wit.

8. What three things characterise the “brave World,” according to the Corporal?

A. War Honour
B. Religion Knavery
C. Glory Dangers
D. Love Change

B. Religion Knavery.
The Corporal summarises the current world as “full of Religion, Knavery, and Change”.

9. Where is Lady Desbro attending a morning lecture?

A. Conventicle Hall
B. Wallingford House
C. Lambert’s House
D. Hard By

D. Hard By.
The Corporal informs Freeman that Lady Desbro is at a “Morning–Lecture here hard by” with Lady Lambert.
10. What does Loveless suspect the Ladies are seeking the Lord for?

A. Good Cause
B. Great Mischief
C. More Wit
D. For Pity

B. Great Mischief.
Loveless states the Ladies are “Seeking the Lord for some great Mischief or other” through their lecture attendance.

11. What item is used in answering love, according to Loveless?

A. Holy Texts
B. Scripture only
C. Sad Sighs
D. Vows Only

B. Scripture only.
Loveless sarcastically notes that when men make love to these wives, they always answer in “Scripture”.

12. What does Freeman say extreme zeal often excuses in women?

A. Much Whores
B. Creature too
C. Sanctity only
D. Holy Wit

B. Creature too.
Freeman implies that a woman who talks much of Heaven is usually “much for the Creature too”.

13. What were people holding forth on in the Meeting?

A. Good Cause
B. Bodkins Thimbles
C. Holy Temples
D. Rogue Holder

B. Bodkins Thimbles.
Loveless mentions the Rascal was seeking “Bodkins and Thimbles, Contribution, my beloved” for the good cause.

14. What effect did the Lay-Elder’s preaching have on Loveless?

A. Rage Madness
B. Sadness Sighing
C. Dùmb Nonsense
D. Holy Rapture

A. Rage Madness.
Loveless admits that the Lay-Elder’s humming, hawing, and snivelling drove him to “Madness”.
15. What secret loyalty does Lady Desbro possess beneath her piety?

A. True Saint
B. Heroick Heart
C. Loving Nature
D. Good Woman

B. Heroick Heart.
Freeman reveals that Lady Desbro is an “arrant Heroick in her Heart,” feigning religion to serve the Royal Party.

16. Where would Loveless rather beg than rule with rascals?

A. Unjust place
B. Laws Obey’d
C. Laws Broken
D. Rule Base

B. Laws Obey’d.
Loveless would rather beg where “Laws are obey’d, and Justice perform’d,” scorning the current rulers.

17. Whom does Lady Lambert confess her prayers were aimed toward?

A. Her Husband
B. Great Oliver
C. Unknown Man
D. Good Lord

C. Unknown Man.
Lady Lambert tells Desbro that when she tried to pray, her devotion was directed to the Cavalier she saw.

18. What quality of the Cavalier did Lady Lambert admire?

A. Angry Eyes
B. Wit Beauty
C. Mean Outside
D. Godlike form

B. Wit Beauty.
Lady Lambert says the man had a beautiful face where “Love, Wit and Beauty revel’d in his Eyes”.

19. What physical action of the Cavalier showed displeasure with the service?

A. Angry Eyes
B. Starting up
C. Talking Loud
D. Too Pious

A. Angry Eyes.
Lady Lambert observed that the gentleman seemed displeased and contradicted the Parson with his “angry Eyes”.
20. What is Loveless’s initial reaction to seeing Lady Lambert’s “Form”?

A. Charming Tongues
B. Excellent form
C. Godlike form
D. Handsome too

B. Excellent form.
Loveless, seeing the group, states, “I never saw a Form more excellent” (referring to Lady Lambert).

21. What action does Loveless perform to assist Lady Lambert when she faints?

A. Bowing holding
B. Kisses hand
C. Speaks kindly
D. Offers carriage

A. Bowing holding.
Loveless offers his support, “Bowing and holding her,” when Lady Lambert seems to faint from distress.

22. Why does Lady Lambert think Loveless does not know her identity?

A. Ignorance only
B. Her Quality
C. Greatness Elevated
D. High Censure

C. Greatness Elevated.
Lady Lambert claims she is “highly elevated above the common Crowd,” implying everyone should know her.

23. What personal flaw of Lady Lambert makes Loveless suspect her low quality?

A. Her Looks
B. Her Vanity
C. Her Title
D. Her Beauty

B. Her Vanity.
Loveless observes her displayed “Vanity” and fears she is one of the new, base “race of Quality”.

24. What title should Loveless ask for admittance by, if her status changes?

A. Her Honour
B. The Queen
C. General’s Lady
D. Protectress

C. General’s Lady.
Lady Lambert permits him to visit, telling him to ask for the “General’s Lady” if her title is altered.
25. What weaponry does the thought of her title bring to Loveless’s mind?

A. Wondrous Majesty
B. Perfect Madness
C. Pistols Daggers
D. General’s Sword

C. Pistols Daggers.
Loveless expresses his horror at her status, whispering “Pistols and Daggers to my Heart”.

26. How does Freeman explain Lady Lambert’s strange behaviour?

A. Ill Acted
B. True Greatness
C. Her Quality
D. She’s Raving

A. Ill Acted.
Freeman explains that Loveless mistakes her behaviour, as it is just “her ill-acted Greatness” or pageantry.

27. What political strategy does Whitlock suggest Lambert use against Fleetwood?

A. Use Cataline
B. Drill Fool
C. Hopes Empire
D. All of these

D. All of these.
Whitlock suggests Lambert “drill the dull Fool with Hopes of Empire” by using him like Cataline used Lentulus.

28. What formal obligation did Whitlock take and then violate?

A. Protector’s Oath
B. Allegiance Oath
C. General’s Trust
D. Richard’s Vow

B. Allegiance Oath.
Whitlock admits he broke the “Oath of Allegiance” because keeping it would not have been to their advantage.

29. What three characteristics define a man who will succeed in the world?

A. Dissimulation Equivocation
B. Mental Reservation
C. All of these
D. Trust Loyalty

C. All of these.
Lambert concludes that three rare qualities are necessary for life: Dissimulation, Equivocation, and “mental Reservation”.
30. Who does Lady Lambert credit for her husband’s ambition?

A. Lord Whitlock
B. Lord Fleetwood
C. Her Politicks
D. General’s Power

C. Her Politicks.
Lady Lambert claims her husband owes his “good Fortune” and crown prospect to her superior “Politicks”.

31. Which Colonels are forced to wait outside Lady Lambert’s chamber?

A. Cobbet Duckenfield
B. Hewson Desbro
C. Wariston Fleetwood
D. Whitlock Lambert

A. Cobbet Duckenfield.
Lady Lambert orders Colonel Cobbet and Colonel Duckenfield, along with Hewson and Wariston, to wait.

32. What advice does Lady Lambert give regarding Fleetwood’s use?

A. Profess Friendship
B. Flatter him
C. Betray him
D. All of these

D. All of these.
Lady Lambert suggests they “put on your fawning Looks, flatter him, and profess much Friendship to him” to betray him.

33. What is Fleetwood’s ‘method’ for explaining his successes?

A. Good Conduct
B. Lord’s handling
C. Powers above
D. His Interest

C. Powers above.
Fleetwood states that their established method is to “ascribe all to the Powers above”.

34. What specific type of shoemaker does Lady Lambert use to insult Hewson?

A. Cobler Lord
B. Filthy Cobler
C. Old Cobler
D. Blacksmith Lord

A. Cobler Lord.
Lady Lambert is disgusted that Hewson, the “filthy Cobler Lord,” betrays his original “Function”.
35. Why must Desbro leave the meeting hastily?

A. Visit Horses
B. Family Business
C. Wallingford House
D. Lack Patience

A. Visit Horses.
Desbro claims he must leave to ensure the ostler gave his horses their necessary “oats today”.

36. What item does Lambert claim is his vote, law, and title?

A. Sharpest Sword
B. Voters Will
C. Fleetwood’s Power
D. Cromwell’s Brains

A. Sharpest Sword.
Lambert vows that the “sharpest Sword’s my Vote, my Law, my Title,” not Parliament’s votes.

37. What title does Lady Lambert insist on using henceforth?

A. Your Honour
B. Her Highness
C. Your Grace
D. Protectress

B. Her Highness.
Since Lambert is aiming to be Protector, Lady Lambert immediately insists on the title “her Highness”.

38. What quality of hers does Lady Lambert boast that shows greater grandeur than Mrs Cromwell’s?

A. Her Shape
B. Her Gate
C. Her Humour
D. All of these

D. All of these.
Lady Lambert boasts that her “Shape, and Gate— my Humour, and my Youth” possess more grandeur than Mrs. Cromwell.

39. What attire makes the Page mistake Loveless for a “begging Tory”?

A. Hectoring Swash
B. Rude Rough
C. Cavalierish Habit
D. Poor Petitioning

C. Cavalierish Habit.
The Page describes the visitor as having a “Habit was something bad and Cavalierish”.
40. What financial loss does Loveless cite that makes him angry?

A. Nobility virtue
B. Trivial Estate
C. Accursed times
D. Lack friends

B. Trivial Estate.
Loveless states that he lost a “trivial Estate of some five and twenty hundred Pound a Year”.

41. What amount of money does Lady Lambert give Loveless for clothes?

A. Fifty Pieces
B. Two hundred
C. Three hundred
D. Five hundred

C. Three hundred.
Lady Lambert gives him a purse of Broad-pieces for his present use, specifically “three hundred Pieces” for clothes.

42. What disguise do the Saints use to seem pious?

A. Vizor Sanctity
B. Pious Gogle
C. Formal Language
D. All of these

D. All of these.
Gilliflower describes the Saints’ appearance using “Vizor of Sanctity,” “formal Language,” and the “pious Gogle”.

43. Who is the first person Lady Lambert makes wait outside?

A. Lord Fleetwood
B. Lady Desbro
C. Old Noll’s Wife
D. Gentleman Cavalier

C. Old Noll’s Wife.
Lady Lambert orders the Page to make “Old Noll’s Wife” (Lady Cromwell) wait without.

44. What violent act does Lady Cromwell threaten Lady Lambert with?

A. False Face
B. Perjur’d Villain
C. Thy Fingers
D. Rudeness Sir

C. Thy Fingers.
Lady Cromwell asks how Lady Lambert dares trust her “false Face within my Fingers reach”.
45. What sight does Lady Cromwell hope to see on Lambert’s head?

A. Royal Crown
B. Westminster Top
C. General’s Helmet
D. Lord’s Head

B. Westminster Top.
Lady Cromwell wishes to see Lambert’s “Husband’s Head o’th’ top of Westminster,” implying execution.

46. Which former son-in-law does Lady Cromwell hold in high esteem?

A. Colonel Cobbet
B. Lord Desbro
C. Richard Cromwell
D. Ireton best

D. Ireton best.
Lady Cromwell praises Ireton, saying he had “Wit and Courage,” and was her “best of Sons”.

47. What insulting title does Lady Cromwell say she is called?

A. Proud Baggage
B. Night-mare
C. Minion only
D. Wretched Idiot

B. Night-mare.
Lady Cromwell complains that she is now called the “Nightmare of the Commonwealth”.

48. What possession of Fleetwood’s does Lady Cromwell fear Lambert will destroy?

A. Fair Monument
B. His Horse
C. His Wit
D. His Office

A. Fair Monument.
Lady Cromwell warns Lady Fleetwood that Lambert’s malice will destroy the “fair Monument” erected by her father.

49. What lesson does Lady Lambert say Conventicles teach women?

A. Jilting only
B. Sacred Vows
C. Loving God
D. Pious Frauds

A. Jilting only.
Lady Lambert tells Loveless that “Jilting” is the first lesson women learn in the religious Conventicles.
50. What rich item is used to hide Loveless when the dancers approach?

A. Velvet Cushion
B. The Carpet
C. Prayer Book
D. Diamond Bracelet

B. The Carpet.
Loveless is made to lie down on the couch, and Lady Lambert covers him with “the Foot–Carpet”.

Brief Overview

The Roundheads is a play by Aphra Behn. It was first performed in 1681 and published in 1682. It functions as a political comedy and a Tory farce that strongly satirizes the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) during the English Civil War era and the subsequent Restoration period.

The play is set during a time of great political change and chaos in England. The story focuses on General Lambert and his supporters, who are trying to seize absolute power. Lambert’s wife, Lady Lambert, is very ambitious and acts as a “Stateswoman.” She is the driving force behind her husband’s goal to become the Protector or the King.

The sources show Lambert and his faction, including Lord Whitlock, plotting to trick their rival, Lord Fleetwood, into believing he will gain power. Fleetwood is religious but is easily fooled.

Meanwhile, Lady Lambert falls for a Royalist cavalier named Loveless. Loveless is poor because his estate was taken away. He actively hates the current regime. Lady Lambert tries to win Loveless with money and political favors.

Loveless’s friend, Freeman, is in love with Lady Desbro, who is secretly loyal to the King’s party. Lady Desbro uses her husband, Desbro, a key figure in the regime, as a “dull Property” to advance her love for Freeman and help the Royal cause.

The political power struggles among the “Roundheads” prove unstable. As General Monk moves his forces, the existing leaders, like Desbro and Lambert, start to fall. Lady Lambert is caught hiding Loveless.

The play ends with the Royalist party rising up. The “Rump” Parliament is overthrown. Lambert is imprisoned. Lady Lambert and Lady Desbro escape with their Royalist lovers. The people celebrate the King’s return to power.

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