The White Devil MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 8, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 16 min

The White Devil MCQs

1. What causes violent thunder to be adored?

A. Courtly reward
B. Great enemies
C. Those who pass
D. Fortune’s swoop

C. Those who pass.
People adore the power of violent thunder when they are being struck and destroyed by it.

2. What is Lodovico justly doomed for, according to Antonelli?

A. Ruined earldom
B. Courtly reward
C. Being starved
D. Bloody fleeces

A. Ruined earldom.
He spent his fortune, and his followers “swallowed” him, leaving him destitute.

3. What fruit could the phoenix scarce escape at Lodovico’s feasts?

A. Caviar
B. Small parcels
C. Rare birds
D. Sweet perfumes

C. Rare birds.
The phoenix symbolizes rarity, indicating Lodovico’s incredibly extravagant and prodigal feasts.

4. The Duke of Bracciano seeks to pròstitute the honour of whom?

A. Isabella, his Duchess
B. Zanche the Moor
C. Vittoria Corombona
D. Cornelia, Flaminio’s mother

C. Vittoria Corombona.
Bracciano seeks to disgrace Vittoria through “close panderism” while living freely in Rome.
5. What happens to trees when they are “new set”?

A. Render scents
B. Lose their virtue
C. Bear pleasant fruit
D. Express affliction

C. Bear pleasant fruit.
Trees are said to yield better fruit when transplanted than where they originally grew.

6. Who does Bracciano instruct to put out all the torches?

A. Camillo
B. The attendants
C. Zanche the Moor
D. Cornelia

B. The attendants.
Bracciano wants privacy, signaling the beginning of his secret, illicit meeting with Vittoria.

7. Flaminio claims most women’s coyness is merely the “superficies” of what?

A. Wanton lust
B. Subtle foldings
C. High spirit
D. Satiety

A. Wanton lust.
He argues that difficulty increases desire, calling female modesty only a thin surface layer of lust.

8. Who is Camillo compared to because he has shed many hairs by confession of his doctor?

A. Irish gamester
B. Dutch doublet
C. Quicksilver gilder
D. Great barriers

D. Great barriers.
Camillo is compared to the great barriers (tilting contest) because he moulted feathers/hair profusely.

9. What is Camillo compared to, revealing his foolishness despite his appearance?

A. Politician
B. Ass in footcloth
C. Earnest Bowler
D. Smiling planet

B. Ass in a footcloth.
Flaminio remarks that Camillo, despite looking like a politician, is merely a fool.
10. What does Camillo claim he is studying, coinciding with Flaminio’s mock advice?

A. Aristotle
B. Ephemerides
C. Alchemy
D. Physiognomy

C. Alchemy.
Camillo takes Flaminio’s suggestive joke about a philosopher’s stone ring seriously, saying he is studying alchemy.

11. Why does Flaminio advise Camillo not to lie with his wife tonight?

A. To cross her humour
B. To test her chastity
C. To avoid flaws
D. To show supremacy

A. To cross her humour.
Flaminio wants Camillo’s absence to make Vittoria more amenable to Bracciano’s advances.

12. The Duchess’s dream involves her husband and Bracciano’s Duchess digging with what tools?

A. Two fair cushions
B. Spade and pickaxe
C. Yew and blackthorn
D. A massy arm

B. Spade and pickaxe.
The Duchess and Camillo are seen digging a base, shallow grave beneath the yew tree.

13. Who is the first person to openly witness and condemn the ruin of the house?

A. Flaminio
B. Vittoria
C. Cornelia
D. Zanche

C. Cornelia.
She emerges, unseen until then, proclaiming woe to light hearts and fearing ruin.

14. Flaminio mentions that his poverty forces him to heel whose stockings?

A. Bracciano’s
B. The Cardinal’s
C. His tutor’s
D. His father’s

C. His tutor’s.
Flaminio bitterly recounts his lack of funds at Padua, forcing him to perform menial tasks.
15. What plant does Flaminio wish his garden had been planted with to make it a nursery for witchcraft?

A. Poisoned herbs
B. Mildewed flowers
C. Sacred yew
D. Blackthorn

A. Poisoned herbs.
Cornelia wishes the garden had been planted with Thessaly’s poisoned herbs instead of witnessing the dishonour.

16. What kind of horn are Isabella’s arms compared to, meant to protect her husband from straying?

A. Deer horn
B. Unicorn’s horn
C. Cow horn
D. Ram horn

B. Unicorn’s horn.
The horn’s powder was used in a preservative circle to neutralize a spider’s poison.

17. Monticelso compares Bracciano’s fame, lost through wilful shipwreck, to what result?

A. Fortune’s blast
B. A poisoned pearl
C. Princely titles perish
D. A lascivious dream

C. Princely titles perish.
Monticelso warns that if princes lose good fame, all their princely titles perish too.

18. What does Francisco offer Bracciano’s wife, Isabella, that he wished was locked fast in her winding-sheet?

A. Her white hands
B. Her great honour
C. Her soft down
D. Her soul to God

A. Her white hands.
Francisco viciously wishes Isabella had died before marrying Bracciano, to prevent her suffering.

19. Francisco predicts Bracciano’s melancholy will settle when what animals are found in season?

A. Wildcats
B. Wild ducks
C. Stags
D. Spiders

C. Stags.
This metaphor refers to the animal losing its horns (being cuckolded) during its time of sickness.
20. What object does the young Prince Giovanni ask for, showing he is “Growing to a soldier”?

A. A horse
B. An armour
C. A pike
D. A bullrush

C. A pike.
Giovanni, dressed in armour, asks for a pike to practice with, mimicking Homer’s frogs.

21. Where does Isabella confess she wishes to fix her eyes, if not on her husband or son?

A. Upon heaven
B. On Bracciano’s wounds
C. On her kindred
D. On her winding-sheet

A. Upon heaven.
She prays Bracciano will turn his attention to heaven if he won’t look upon her or his son.

22. When Isabella is overcome by grief, she wishes she could whip some men with what?

A. Wounds
B. Scorpions
C. Poison
D. Rough tongues

B. Scorpions.
In her anger, she wishes she were a man or fury with the power to torture her enemies.

23. Flaminio says Doctor Julio should have been lashed for what crime?

A. Treason
B. Lechery
C. Murder
D. Stealing goods

B. Lechery.
The Doctor only avoided the whip because he confessed a judgment and put the punishment to a non-plus.

24. Flaminio calls the Doctor an “abominable loathsome gargarism” because he can fetch up what organs by scruples?

A. Brains and eyes
B. Lungs, lights, heart
C. Liver and spleen
D. Elbows and hams

B. Lungs, lights, heart.
Flaminio mocks the Doctor’s potency, claiming his medicine could remove vital organs.
25. Flaminio states that small mischiefs are made secure by what kind of actions?

A. Greater ones
B. Open guilt
C. A kind of path
D. New set of trees

A. Greater ones.
This reflects the Machiavellian principle that a minor crime is hidden by committing a more serious one.

26. What does Camillo note he must do, now that he is turned soldier?

A. Go to Naples
B. Ruin his earldom
C. Sell all his wife hath
D. Change the air

C. Sell all his wife hath.
Camillo plans to liquidate Vittoria’s assets before leaving, ensuring she gets nothing.

27. Who does Francisco admit he intends to use as an “engine” for his plans?

A. Count Lodovick
B. Marcello
C. Camillo
D. Monticelso

A. Count Lodovick.
Francisco states that gold must procure Lodovico, who will be the instrument for revenge.

28. Flaminio compares Marcello’s feeding the Duke’s victories to witches feeding their serviceable spirits with what?

A. Prodigal blood
B. Small parcels
C. Mistletoe
D. Mandrake

A. Prodigal blood.
He suggests Marcello wastes his energy for no reward, like witches feeding their dark servants.

29. Flaminio compares a Spaniard, seen with his face in his ruff, to what bird’s claw?

A. Chicken
B. Blackbird’s claw
C. Crow’s pie
D. Eagle’s talon

B. Blackbird’s claw.
Flaminio, insulting the ambassador, says the Spanish Ambassador’s face looks like a blackbird’s claw.
30. Vittoria states that Bracciano’s question forces her to break what?

A. Her vow
B. The law
C. Her silence
D. Her heart

C. Her silence.
When asked who lodged beneath her roof, Bracciano is compelled to answer for her.

31. Bracciano states that the Cardinal’s coat resembles whom?

A. Cowardly dogs
B. Mercenary post-boys
C. A poisoned well
D. A shaved Polack

B. Mercenary post-boys.
He insults the Cardinal, accusing his coat of resembling the lies carried by common post-boys.

32. Vittoria argues that merely being tempted by lust does not prove what?

A. The dark deed
B. The act
C. Her beauty
D. Her denial

B. The act.
She quotes the Latin maxim “Casta est quam nemo rogavit” (chaste is she whom no one has tempted).

33. Monticelso confirms that Bracciano spent how many ducats in six months when he bought Vittoria from her father?

A. One thousand
B. Twelve thousand
C. Fifty thousand
D. Not one julio

B. Twelve thousand.
He uses this high price to highlight that the “ware being so light” was a hard penny-worth.

34. Monticelso states that Vittoria and Bracciano are like what kind of natural phenomena to princes?

A. Blazing stars
B. Corrupted trials
C. Mercenary heralds
D. New set of trees

A. Blazing stars.
He means they are ominous figures that portend danger and destruction for those in power.
35. When Vittoria claims she wants vengeance, where does Monticelso confine her?

A. Castel Angelo
B. Pope’s palace
C. A convent
D. House of convertites

D. House of convertites.
This house is for “penitent whores,” which she vows to make honest than the Pope’s palace.

36. Francisco feigns madness for his sister’s death to keep off what?

A. The Cardinal
B. Idle questions
C. The great Duke
D. His father’s poniard

B. Idle questions.
Flaminio uses this feigned distraction so he does not have to deal with complex inquiries.

37. What substance did the mourners wrap Isabella in after her death, preventing her son from kissing her?

A. Iron or lead
B. Perfumed linen
C. A winding-sheet
D. Soft lint

A. Iron or lead.
Giovanni complains that they wrapped his mother in a cruel fold of lead, forbidding him to kiss her.

38. Flaminio compares a politician to a devil, imitating what instrument of war?

A. A lightning bolt
B. A sword
C. A cannon
D. A musket

C. A cannon.
He states that the devil/politician causes mischief by presenting his backside towards you.

39. Lodovico says men hanging on Fortune’s wheel are worse off than if they were suffering what torture?

A. Banishment
B. The rack
C. Strappadoed
D. The gallows

C. Strappadoed.
Lodovico uses this torture image to represent the extremity of misfortune and poverty in the world.
40. Francisco, plotting revenge, compares Monticelso’s volatile plans to what material?

A. Hot gold
B. Quick-silver
C. Flax
D. Mistletoe

C. Flax.
Francisco notes that Monticelso’s plans, like flax, “soon kindles, soon is out again”.

41. Francisco plans to use Monticelso’s black book to point out a list of what kind of criminals?

A. Usurers
B. Bawds
C. Pirates
D. Murderers

D. Murderers.
Francisco says the book will serve to list agents for villainy, particularly murderers.

42. What object does Isabella’s ghost show Francisco in his melancholy thought?

A. A basilisk
B. A crucifix
C. A skull
D. A white hand

C. A skull.
The ghost throws earth upon Francisco, revealing a dead man’s skull beneath lily roots.

43. What name does Francisco use when disguised, serving as Bracciano’s pensioner?

A. Lodowick
B. Flaminio
C. Mulinassar
D. Giovanni

C. Mulinassar.
Francisco adopts this Turkish soldier persona to infiltrate Bracciano’s court and execute his revenge.

44. Bracciano suspects the letter Vittoria receives from “Florence” is what kind of plot?

A. Treacherous
B. Palpable
C. Lustful
D. A dream

B. Palpable.
Bracciano sees the letter, which promises Vittoria triumphs, as an obvious trick or juggling act.
45. Flaminio compares women’s tears, which dry quickly, to what kind of shadows?

A. Moonish shades
B. Quick-silver
C. Uncharitable
D. Great sorrow

A. Moonish shades.
He observes that women’s grief is fleeting, saying nothing dries faster than their tears.

46. What specific delusion does Bracciano suffer from when he is dying?

A. Dancing on ropes
B. Stuttering
C. Talking of battles
D. Lycanthropia

C. Talking of battles.
In his distraction, he talks of battles, monopolies, and levying taxes, confounding sense with folly.

47. What does Flaminio advise Antonio’s son to fly?

A. The court of princes
B. The tiger
C. Ambition
D. The galleys

A. The court of princes.
Antonio’s final wish is that his son avoid the dangerous and corrupt environments of princely courts.

48. Cornelia gives Flaminio rue and rosemary, saying she has left more for whom?

A. Her maid
B. Herself
C. Her son
D. The grave-maker

B. Herself.
The giving of herbs during mourning suggests she is prepared for her own death soon.

49. How is Bracciano killed?

A. Beheading
B. Poisoned beaver
C. Poisoned book
D. Strangling

B. Poisoned beaver.
Lodovico sprinkles poison on Bracciano’s helmet lining (beaver) before the barriers competition.
50. The Cardinal wants Antonio dead so his sister (whom he believes is alive) can marry again as planned.

A. By thine
B. My own engine
C. Blowing bubbles
D. My best

D. My best.
Lodovico declares that this bloody act of revenge is his greatest artistic masterpiece.

Brief Overview

The White Devil is a bloody, action-packed play from the 1600s by John Webster. It is a Jacobean tragedy that focuses on themes of power, sex, murder, and revenge among corrupt Italian nobles. The title refers to the idea that deep evil can disguise itself as virtue or beauty.

The play opens with Count Lodovico being banished from Rome for committing multiple murders. The powerful Duke of Bracciano desires Vittoria Corombona, who is married to Camillo. Bracciano and Vittoria’s cynical brother, Flaminio, arrange secret meetings for the couple. Bracciano’s wife, Duchess Isabella, confronts her husband in Rome.

Bracciano plots to kill both Isabella and Camillo. Isabella is killed by poison hidden in Bracciano’s picture. Camillo dies by a staged accident using a vaulting-horse, with Flaminio as the main plotter. Vittoria is then put on trial for her “black lust” and her husband’s murder. Cardinal Monticelso sentences Vittoria to a “house of convertites” for penitent women.

Bracciano and Vittoria escape and flee to Padua. Francisco, the Duke of Florence and Isabella’s brother, plots a complex revenge. Francisco employs Lodovico and disguises himself as a Moorish soldier named Mulinassar. Bracciano is poisoned during a barriers competition when poison is put on his helmet lining. Lodovico and Gasparo, disguised as friars, then strangle Bracciano while he is dying.

The young Duke Giovanni finds the murderers. Flaminio tries to test Vittoria and Zanche by faking his own death with empty pistols. Vittoria and Zanche reveal their hatred and are then killed by Lodovico and Gasparo. The play ends with Giovanni ensuring the murderers are punished.

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