Aphra Behn

Study question Aphra Behn

Facts about Aphra Behn

➾ Aphra Behn, the author, was born in 1640 (approximately) in either Harbledown or Kent, England, but her origin is debated.

➾ Behn’s birth origin remains a mystery, suggesting she may have deliberately obscured details of her early life.

➾ She became the first Englishwoman known to successfully earn her living entirely by writing prose and plays.

➾ One tradition states she travelled to Suriname, then an English possession, with a couple named Amis.

➾ Aphra Behn was more likely the daughter of a barber named Bartholomew Johnson, according to one account.

➾ She married a merchant named Behn in 1664; he died or they separated shortly after.

➾ King Charles II employed the witty and talented Aphra Behn for secret service work in the Netherlands.

➾ She was unrewarded for her government service and briefly imprisoned due to accruing debt before writing.

➾ Though she wrote a sole tragedy, Abdelazer, she increasingly turned toward writing light comedy and farce.

➾ Behn claimed acquaintance with the enslaved African prince, Oroonoko, the central subject of her short 1688 novel.

➾ Her relative freedom as a professional writer, plus the subject matter, made her the object of public scandal.

➾ Her play, The Emperor of the Moon (1687), interestingly presaged the harlequinade, leading to English pantomime.

Afra Behn MCQs

1. When was Aphra Behn born?

A. Sixteen forty
B. Sixteen sixty
C. Sixteen eighty
D. Seventeen oh-five

A. Sixteen forty
Aphra Behn’s birth year is approximately 1640, though a precise date and location are not completely certain.

2. Where was Aphra Behn most likely born?

A. Harbledown, Kent
B. London, England
C. Naples, Italy
D. Suriname, Caribbean

A. Harbledown, Kent
She was born in Harbledown, Kent, England, although the exact location and time remain part of an enduring mystery.

3. In what year did Aphra Behn pass away?

A. Sixteen seventy
B. Sixteen eighty-nine
C. Seventeen oh-three
D. Seventeen eighteen

B. Sixteen eighty-nine
Aphra Behn died in London on April 16, 1689, concluding her impactful and financially successful career as a writer.

4. Where did Aphra Behn die?

A. Naples
B. Madrid
C. London
D. Kent

C. London
Aphra Behn died in the city of London on April 16, 1689, having lived and worked there professionally.

5. What is Aphra Behn famous for being first to do?

A. Write poetry
B. Earn a living by writing
C. Travel to Suriname
D. Write a comedy

B. Earn a living by writing
She is recognised as the first known Englishwoman who successfully earned her living solely through writing.

6. What was Behn’s first play produced?

A. The Rover
B. The Emperor
C. The Forced Marriage
D. Oroonoko

C. The Forced Marriage
Her inaugural play, The Forc’d Marriage, a tragicomedy in verse, was first produced for the stage in 1670.

7. Which short novel, addressing slavery and race, was published in 1688?

A. Love-Letters
B. The Fair Jilt
C. Oroonoko
D. The Rover

C. Oroonoko
The short novel Oroonoko, published in 1688, became her best-known work by the turn of the 21st century.

8. Which literary genre draws the most current interest regarding Behn’s work?

A. Verse tragedy
B. Her fiction
C. Early pantomime
D. Secret Service files

B. Her fiction
Although she wrote many plays, her fiction, especially Oroonoko, currently attracts significantly more academic interest.

9. What description characterised Aphra Behn’s personality, according to sources?

A. Reserved and shy
B. Charm and generosity
C. Cynical and distant
D. Wealthy and powerful

B. Charm and generosity
Her charm and generosity were noted traits that helped her win a wide circle of devoted friends.

10. What profession is one tradition suggesting Behn’s father held?

A. A dramatist
B. A merchant
C. A barber
D. A spy

C. A barber
One tradition identifies Behn as the daughter of Bartholomew Johnson, who worked as a barber.

11. What was the name of the couple Behn allegedly travelled with to Suriname?

A. The Johnsons
B. The Amis
C. The Stuarts
D. The Roves

B. The Amis
One tradition suggests she travelled to Suriname in the 1650s with a couple known only as Amis.

12. In what decade did Behn potentially travel to Suriname?

A. The 1640s
B. The 1650s
C. The 1660s
D. The 1680s

B. The 1650s
According to one tradition, the child known as Aphra travelled to Suriname sometime during the 1650s.

13. What English possession did Behn travel to in the 1650s or 1663?

A. Naples
B. London
C. Kent
D. Suriname

D. Suriname
Behn travelled with her family, or possibly the Amis couple, to the English possession of Suriname.

14. When did Behn return to England from her travels abroad?

A. Sixteen sixty-three
B. Sixteen sixty-four
C. Sixteen sixty-six
D. Sixteen seventy

B. Sixteen sixty-four
She returned to England in 1664, shortly thereafter marrying a merchant named Behn.

15. What status did Behn’s husband hold?

A. A barber
B. A dramatist
C. A merchant
D. A king’s spy

C. A merchant
After returning to England, she married a man named Behn, identified in the source as a merchant.

16. Who employed Aphra Behn in secret service in the 1660s?

A. King George I
B. King Charles II
C. Queen Anne
D. Lord Protector

B. King Charles II
Due to her recognised talent and wit, she was hired for secret service work by King Charles II.

17. In which country did Behn serve as a spy for the English Crown?

A. France
B. The Netherlands
C. Spain
D. Italy

B. The Netherlands
King Charles II employed Behn for secret service duties carried out in the Netherlands in 1666.

18. Why did Behn begin writing professionally?

A. Personal passion
B. To gain fame
C. To support herself
D. King’s orders

C. To support herself
Unrewarded for her spy work and briefly imprisoned for debt, she turned to writing to earn a living.

19. What happened to Behn immediately before she began writing?

A. She travelled
B. She was imprisoned
C. She married
D. She published

B. She was imprisoned
Behn was briefly imprisoned for debt after her secret service work, before she started supporting herself by writing.

20. What is known about Behn’s early life origin?

A. It is clear
B. It is well-documented
C. It is a mystery
D. It is highly simple

C. It is a mystery
Behn may have intentionally obscured her background, leading to the lasting mystery surrounding her early life.

21. What was the name of the potential father, a barber, mentioned in one tradition?

A. Bartholomew Johnson
B. Charles Behn
C. Prince Oroonoko
D. Amis Bartholomew

A. Bartholomew Johnson
One tradition suggests she was the daughter of a barber named Bartholomew Johnson, though the account is disputed.

22. What description led to Behn being employed by the King?

A. Her great beauty
B. Her great wealth
C. Her wit and talent
D. Her noble birth

C. Her wit and talent
Her recognised wit and talent led to her employment in the secret service by King Charles II in 1666.

23. What primary dramatic form characterised Behn’s initial works?

A. High tragedy
B. Satirical poems
C. Tragicomedies in verse
D. Epistolary novels

C. Tragicomedies in verse
Behn’s early dramatic works, including her first play, were generally structured as tragicomedies presented in verse format.

24. What type of work was Behn’s play Abdelazer?

A. A light comedy
B. A verse tragedy
C. A short novel
D. A tragicomedy

B. A verse tragedy
Abdelazer, staged in 1676, stands out as Behn’s sole known tragedy among her dramatic and vast output.

25. When was Behn’s single tragedy, Abdelazer, staged?

A. Sixteen seventy
B. Sixteen seventy-six
C. Sixteen seventy-seven
D. Sixteen eighty-one

B. Sixteen seventy-six
Behn’s only tragedy, Abdelazer, was performed for the first time on stage in 1676.

26. What was The Amorous Prince, produced in 1671?

A. A tragedy
B. A farce
C. An early play
D. A poem

C. An early play
The Amorous Prince followed her first play, The Forc’d Marriage, being successfully produced on stage in 1671.

27. What category did Behn increasingly focus on during the 1670s?

A. Sole tragedy
B. Light comedy/farce
C. Epistolary novels
D. Historical fiction

B. Light comedy/farce
Over the 1670s, Behn shifted her dramatic attention toward the commercially popular genres of light comedy and farce.

28. Which of Behn’s comedies was commercially successful and produced in two parts?

A. The Amorous Prince
B. Abdelazer
C. The Rover
D. The Fair Jilt

C. The Rover
The witty and vivacious comedy The Rover was highly successful, staged in two distinct parts.

29. In what years were the two parts of The Rover produced?

A. 1670 and 1671
B. 1677 and 1681
C. 1684 and 1687
D. 1688 and 1689

B. 1677 and 1681
The two commercially successful parts of The Rover were staged four years apart, in 1677 and 1681.

30. Who were the main characters whose adventures The Rover depicts?

A. Enslaved Africans
B. English Cavaliers
C. Dutch merchants
D. French aristocrats

B. English Cavaliers
The Rover follows the lively adventures of a small group of English Cavaliers during their period of political exile.

31. In which European cities do the events of The Rover take place?

A. London and Paris
B. Amsterdam and Dover
C. Madrid and Naples
D. Rome and Venice

C. Madrid and Naples
The story of The Rover is set in Madrid and Naples while the English Cavaliers are in exile.

32. The Emperor of the Moon presaged the development of what form of comic theatre?

A. Harlequinade
B. Burlesque
C. Opera
D. Masque

A. Harlequinade
The Emperor of the Moon, first staged in 1687, foreshadowed the emerging comic theatre form known as the harlequinade.

33. What did the harlequinade later evolve into in England?

A. English opera
B. English tragedy
C. English pantomime
D. English satire

C. English pantomime
The harlequinade, anticipated by Behn’s work, later evolved into the popular form of English pantomime.

34. How were Behn’s comedies successful?

A. Long and dull
B. Witty and vivacious
C. Dark and mysterious
D. Traditional and plain

B. Witty and vivacious
Her commercially successful light comedies, like The Rover, are described specifically as both witty and very vivacious.

35. What is the subject of the plot of Behn’s novel Oroonoko?

A. A wealthy king
B. An enslaved prince
C. A Dutch spy
D. A London barber

B. An enslaved prince
Oroonoko recounts the story of an enslaved African prince whom Behn claimed to have personally known.

36. When was Behn’s short novel Oroonoko published?

A. Sixteen seventy-six
B. Sixteen eighty-four
C. Sixteen eighty-eight
D. Sixteen eighty-nine

C. Sixteen eighty-eight
The novel Oroonoko, which focuses on themes of slavery and race, was published in 1688.

37. What themes does Oroonoko engage with that make it relevant today?

A. Theatre and exile
B. Debt and spying
C. Slavery and race
D. Religion and faith

C. Slavery and race
Oroonoko’s engagement with themes like slavery, race, and gender contributed significantly to its enduring fame.

38. What helped make Oroonoko her best-known work by the 21st century?

A. Its use of farce
B. Its plot influence
C. Its development of novel
D. Its financial success

C. Its development of novel
Its influence on the development of the English novel contributed significantly to its ongoing critical recognition.

39. What form of novel is Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister?

A. A short novel
B. A tragicomedy
C. An epistolary novel
D. A verse narrative

C. An epistolary novel
Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister is described as a multipart novel written in the epistolary format.

40. Over what years was Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister published?

A. 1677–1681
B. 1684–1687
C. 1688–1689
D. 1666–1670

B. 1684–1687
This multipart epistolary novel, Love-Letters, was published serially from 1684 to 1687.

41. The Fair Jilt (1688) falls under which category of Behn’s work?

A. Poetry
B. Fiction
C. Tragedy
D. Secret Service

B. Fiction
The Fair Jilt is listed among Behn’s other notable popular fiction works, published in 1688.

42. Where did Behn claim to have met the enslaved Prince Oroonoko?

A. London society
B. South America
C. The Netherlands
D. Spain

B. South America
Behn claimed that she had personally known Prince Oroonoko during her time in South America.

43. Which genre, besides plays, became the source of Behn’s greatest modern interest?

A. Poetry
B. Fiction
C. Letters
D. Adaptations

B. Fiction
Today, Behn’s fiction, such as Oroonoko, is considered more interesting and influential than her many plays.

44. What was notable about Behn’s professional freedom as a writer?

A. It was restricted
B. It was complete
C. It was relative
D. It was forbidden

C. It was relative
Her relative freedom as a professional writer, alongside her subject matter, contributed to her public scandal.

45. The bulk of Behn’s poetry was collected in which publication?

A. The Rover
B. Lycidus
C. Poems upon Occasions
D. Love-Letters

C. Poems upon Occasions
The majority of her poetry output was collected together in the volume Poems upon Several Occasions.

46. What year was the collection Poems upon Several Occasions published?

A. 1670
B. 1684
C. 1687
D. 1688

B. 1684
The poetry collection, Poems upon Several Occasions, which included A Voyage to the Island of Love, appeared in 1684.

47. Lycidus; or, The Lover in Fashion was a collection of poetry published in which year?

A. 1677
B. 1684
C. 1688
D. 1689

C. 1688
Lycidus; or, The Lover in Fashion, one of Behn’s later poetry collections, was published in the year 1688.

48. Behn’s output was described as being what?

A. Focused
B. Immense
C. Sparse
D. Traditional

B. Immense
Behn’s overall output of plays, fiction, and poetry is specifically described in the sources as immense.

49. Which factor, besides her freedom, made Behn the object of scandal?

A. Her wealth
B. Her travels
C. Her subject matter
D. Her political ties

C. Her subject matter
The often provocative subject matter of her varied literary works contributed significantly to the existing scandal.

50. Besides original work, what else did Behn often do regarding drama?

A. Adapted older dramatists
B. Translated French plays
C. Wrote long treatises
D. Designed costumes

A. Adapted older dramatists
Her versatility included frequently adapting the plays of various older dramatists.

Sir Patient Fancy MCQs

1. What is the greatest complaint Isabella makes against custom for her sex?

A. Filthy jointure
B. Forced choices
C. Formal visits
D. Parents’ rules

B. Forced choices.
Isabella laments that custom denies women “free choice,” forcing them to endure the recommendations of a parent.

2. What negative consequence of marriage does Lucretia note?

A. Loss fortune
B. Slavery Fools
C. Odious foppe
D. Custom rules

B. Slavery Fools.
Lucretia observes that parents choose husbands (fools) for their daughters, resulting in their slavery for a jointure.

3. What does Lucretia perceive her mother has recently developed toward Leander?

A. Softer eyes
B. Great wealth
C. Fond opinion
D. Matrimonial aim

A. Softer eyes.
Lucretia and Isabella perceive that Lady Knowell is directing softer looks and smiles toward Leander, trying to entice him.

4. Who does Lucretia fear her mother may choose to marry?

A. Her cousin
B. Lodwick’s friend
C. Leander Fancy
D. Devonshire knight

C. Leander Fancy.
Lucretia is vexed by the possibility of her mother marrying her lover, Leander, saying she will never call him father.

5. Which type of man is described as the most unmanageable beast in nature?

A. Old Dotard
B. Town Fop
C. Country Fop
D. Learned man

B. Town Fop.
Isabella states that “those of the Town” are the most tiresome and unmanageable beasts, unlike country fops.

6. What unusual attribute characterizes Lady Knowell?

A. Highly discreet
B. Most learned
C. Great traveller
D. Affectedly charming

B. Most learned.
Isabella notes that Lady Knowell is virtuous and affected, but her uniqueness lies in being the “most learned of her Sex”.

7. Who is blamed for turning Isabella’s father into a “Monster”?

A. Doting love
B. His religion
C. Young mother
D. Feigned sickness

C. Young mother.
Isabella states that her young mother flatters her father into foolishness, making a monster of him.

8. When Lady Knowell reads serious works, which subject does she focus on?

A. Love Stories
B. Homer’s Poetry
C. Morals Authors
D. Heroick business

C. Morals Authors.
Lady Knowell prefers “useful Author[s]” such as Tacitus, Seneca, or Plutarch’s Morals when reading seriously.

9. What foreign language does Lady Knowell prefer for expressive reading?

A. Divine Homer
B. English language
C. Grecian Language
D. French Dialogue

C. Grecian Language.
Lady Knowell insists that great or moving concepts cannot be expressed in “filthy English,” preferring the Grecian Language.

10. What classical author does Lady Knowell want to read to cheer herself up?

A. Virgil Homer
B. Plutarch’s Morals
C. Martiall Author
D. Tacitus Seneca

C. Martiall Author.
Lady Knowell suggests retiring to her Cabinet to read “a leaf or two in Martiall” to find a reason to laugh.

11. Which character claims that Leander spells worse than a “Country Farryer”?

A. Lucretia
B. Isabella
C. Lady Knowell
D. Lodwick

B. Isabella.
Isabella joins Lucretia in mocking Leander, claiming he spells even worse than an uneducated farrier prescribing medicine.

12. Who is the “Creature” Lodwick says is more ridiculous than a Buffoon?

A. Lucretia’s cousin
B. Lodwick’s friend
C. Presbyterian Preacher
D. Sir Credulous

D. Sir Credulous.
Lodwick announces that Sir Credulous Easie, Lucretia’s new lover, is a creature below, more ridiculous than expected.

13. What reason did Sir Credulous give for selling off all his pads (horses)?

A. Mare departed
B. Lives in town
C. Lack of money
D. Loves walking

B. Lives in town.
Sir Credulous explains that since he is marrying and intends to live in London, he must sell off all his pads.

14. Who does Sir Credulous plan to visit at St Clements Church-yard?

A. Dog tutor
B. Farmer’s son
C. Parson Cuffets
D. Jackson Cobler

D. Jackson Cobler.
Sir Credulous instructs Curry to go to Jackson the Cobler at St. Clements Church-yard to check on his dog.

15. How long has Sir Credulous owned the suit he wears to London?

A. Eight visits
B. Since last summer
C. Five years
D. Ten terms

C. Five years.
Curry points out that the suit is out of fashion, as it was made five summers and five winters ago (five years).

16. Why does Sir Credulous believe he has failed in past courtships?

A. Women false
B. They ran
C. All forward
D. Used one method

C. All forward.
He believes the women were “all so forward” that they married someone else or ran away before he could formalise the match.

17. Why does Sir Credulous agree to play the Dùmb Ambassador?

A. Rare fun
B. Excellent at Signes
C. Lodwick helped
D. Out of the way

B. Excellent at Signes.
Sir Credulous finds the idea “pure” and “rare” because he boasts that he is “old Excellent at Signes”.

18. What unexpected problem arises during the Dùmb Ambassador farce?

A. Sir Credulous
B. Tokens missing
C. Lodwick mistook
D. The ladies laughed

C. Lodwick mistook.
Sir Credulous complains that Lodwick keeps entirely mistaking the meaning of his signs, costing him his jewellery.

19. Lodwick warns Sir Credulous that the lavish gifts may result in what consequence?

A. Marries him
B. Cuckold him
C. Saves his gems
D. Shame conscience

B. Cuckold him.
Upon describing the watch’s hours of enjoyment, Lodwick says Sir Credulous might “be a Cuckold by the shift”.

20. What is Leander doing when he is called away during the farce?

A. Dùmb Oration
B. Making faces
C. Waiting on Mother
D. Talking softly

C. Waiting on Mother.
A Page arrives commanding Leander to attend upon Lady Knowell, cutting his observation of the farce short.

21. What did Sir Credulous’s landlady receive in exchange for a kindness?

A. Half crown
B. Cambrick handkerchief
C. Jet bracelets
D. Lodwick’s gold

B. Cambrick handkerchief.
Lodwick’s false interpretation claims Sir Credulous gave the landlady the handkerchief token for a civility received.

22. What prevents Lodwick from losing his chance to see Isabella?

A. Credulous’s arrival
B. Mother’s visit
C. Leander’s wait
D. Curry’s presence

B. Mother’s visit.
Lodwick is obliged to lose a “blessed opportunity” with Isabella because his sister’s lover, Sir Credulous, has just arrived.

23. Wittmore describes Sir Patient’s new religion as primarily what?

A. Faith in God
B. Contradiction only
C. Pious zeal
D. Public opinion

B. Contradiction only.
Lady Fancy tells Wittmore that Sir Patient’s religion “means nothing but that, and Contradiction”.

24. What office does Sir Patient perform for Lady Fancy due to his fondness?

A. Pays servants
B. Dresses undresses
C. Visits others
D. Reads books

B. Dresses undresses.
Lady Fancy complains that Sir Patient is so fond that he performs the duties of her women, dressing and undressing her.

25. Why has Sir Patient stopped trading (Transitory Traffick)?

A. Lack of money
B. Cautiously rich
C. Mutinous caball
D. Imagined sickness

B. Cautiously rich.
Wittmore asks if Sir Patient still trades, and Lady Fancy says he is “Grown Cautiously rich” and won’t venture substantial stock.

26. Who is the “Scout” that warns Lady Fancy of Sir Patient’s awakening?

A. Maundy
B. Roger
C. Fain-Love
D. Lady Knowell

B. Roger.
Roger runs in quickly to warn Lady Fancy and Wittmore that his Master (Sir Patient) has risen from sleep.

27. What does Sir Patient check on the bill he is reading when he enters the garden?

A. Total costs
B. Doctor’s name
C. Twelve Purges
D. Apothecary’s prize

C. Twelve Purges.
Sir Patient enters, reading a medical bill, checking if the total number of purges for January (Twelve Purges) exceeds last month’s.

28. What does Wittmore claim he must gain to marry Isabella?

A. Consent Cuckold
B. Patience’s permission
C. Father’s respect
D. Family wealth

B. Patience’s permission.
Wittmore dissembles, claiming he will not marry Isabella without Sir Patient’s permission, hoping to gain his consent.

29. Wittmore claims his father was knighted during the days of what leader?

A. King Charles
B. Lord Protector
C. King Philip
D. King George

B. Lord Protector.
Sir Patient recognises the false identity, recalling that Wittmore’s father (Mr Fain-Love) was knighted under the late Lord Protector.

30. Why does Sir Patient decide to leave London immediately in Act IV?

A. Sister’s Lover
B. Lady Knowell
C. Family problems
D. Fears sickness

B. Lady Knowell.
Sir Patient calls Lady Knowell the “intolerable Lady, Madam Romance” and resolves to leave town rather than be tormented by her.

31. What action of Sir Patient’s triggers Lady Fancy’s plan to feign his illness?

A. Called her
B. Brother sick
C. Ready to leave
D. Took physic

C. Ready to leave.
Lady Fancy panics because Sir Patient is immediately dressing to leave town, which would prevent her from seeing Wittmore.

32. What condition does Lady Fancy pretend to suffer from to stop Sir Patient from leaving?

A. Frightfully blown up
B. Shivering limbs
C. Feeling Imagination
D. Head and eyes

A. Frightfully blown up.
Lady Fancy claims Sir Patient’s face has become frightfully swollen and his eyes are starting to swell up.

33. What did the sight of his doublet/coat prove to Sir Patient?

A. He was lost
B. Senses fail
C. He was sick
D. He was swollen

D. He was swollen.
When Sir Patient tries on his Doublet and Coat, and they don’t fit, he is convinced he has indeed swelled up.

34. What action does Lady Knowell say Lady Fancy’s husband is unfit for?

A. Being a knight
B. Being a nurse
C. Being a slave
D. Being a lord

B. Being a nurse.
Lady Knowell insults Sir Patient, calling him impudent for marrying such a fair woman only to make her a nurse.

35. What does Lodwick offer Isabella as proof that he will marry her honestly?

A. Mother’s resolve
B. Generosity’s promise
C. Not sully linen
D. Punctual lover

C. Not sully linen.
Lodwick assures Isabella of his good intentions, asking, “Who would first sully the Linen they mean to put on?”.

36. Who leads Lodwick into Lady Fancy’s chamber by mistake?

A. Isabella
B. Fanny
C. Wittmore
D. Maundy

D. Maundy.
Maundy, thinking Lodwick is Wittmore (the expected lover), leads him into Lady Fancy’s chamber in the dark.

37. What makes Lodwick realise he is in the wrong room?

A. Her name
B. Husband’s voice
C. Lack of virtue
D. Isabella’s voice

B. Husband’s voice.
Lady Fancy mentions her “Husband” and Lodwick suddenly realises “Hah,—’tis not Isabella’s voice”.

38. Where does Isabella hide when Sir Patient unexpectedly returns?

A. Under the table
B. Behind the curtain
C. Next chamber
D. Garden door

B. Behind the curtain.
When Sir Patient enters the room, Isabella, who has also mistaken the chamber, hides behind the curtain.

39. What does Lady Fancy claim is the reason Lodwick is in her bedchamber?

A. Absolute accident
B. Mistook the chamber
C. Isabella’s lover
D. Her own sin

B. Mistook the chamber.
Lady Fancy explains that Lodwick (mistaken for Fain-Love) went to the wrong room, believing it was Isabella’s.

40. What action does Lady Fancy make immediately after Sir Patient exits with Lodwick?

A. Asks about Wittmore
B. Curses Lodwick
C. Weeps sadly
D. Plans revenge

B. Curses Lodwick.
As Lodwick leaves, Lady Fancy whispers, “Ten thousand Curses upon thee” for the havoc and mistake he caused.

41. What type of instruments provided the “Hellish Noise” during the Serenade?

A. Popish Horn-Pipes
B. Jesuitical Cymballs
C. Babylonish Minstrells
D. All of these

D. All of these.
Sir Patient, hearing the noise, describes the sounds as profane tinkling, Popish Horn-Pipes, and Jesuitical Cymballs.

42. What type of music was Lodwick accused of trying to spoil during the Serenade?

A. King’s music
B. Bad ballad
C. Designed Serenade
D. Cymballs only

C. Designed Serenade.
Lodwick, intervening in the fight, realises the servants are “spoiling my designed Serenade too”.

43. What literary fault does Sir Credulous’s mother-in-law (Lady Knowell) accuse him of?

A. Too serious
B. Hypothetical arguing
C. Illiterate writing
D. Lacking learning

B. Hypothetical arguing.
Lady Knowell, annoyed by his ambiguous complaints, tells Sir Credulous she hates his “Hypothetical way of arguing”.

44. Who is Sir Credulous most afraid of because of the newly invented poison plot?

A. Lodwick’s sister
B. Leander rival
C. Hector killer
D. Angry man

B. Leander rival.
Lodwick informs Sir Credulous that Leander, his true rival, is the one who plans to use the silent, subtle poison on him.

45. Why does Lady Fancy claim she wrote the compromising love letter?

A. Confess sin
B. To save Lodwick
C. Found Isabella’s
D. Test Sir Patient

C. Found Isabella’s.
Lady Fancy claims she found the letter open on Isabella’s table and copied it out of curiosity, intending to show it to her husband.

46. What specific amount of money does Sir Patient reveal he has hidden for his wife?

A. Five hundred
B. Two thousand
C. Eight thousand
D. Four thousand

C. Eight thousand.
Sir Patient reveals he concealed eight thousand Pounds in gold and silver for Lady Fancy behind the wainscot in his study.

47. What reason does Lady Fancy give to avoid going to prayer with Sir Patient?

A. Bad cold
B. Psalm singing
C. Headaches
D. Disorder

C. Headaches.
Lady Fancy complains of a painful headache, claiming she is unable to endure the psalm singing at devotion.

48. What excuse does Lady Fancy use to cover the crash when Wittmore falls in the bedroom?

A. Sudden giddiness
B. The death-watch
C. Roger’s carelessness
D. Spirits fail

A. Sudden giddiness.
She claims she suffered a “sudden giddiness,” causing her to fall and pull the chair down with her.

49. What does Lodwick propose to the Doctors to rectify Sir Patient’s constitution?

A. Eat less
B. Drink wine
C. Fasting pills
D. Walk more

A. Eat less.
Sir Credulous (instructed by Lodwick) proposes that Sir Patient should eat only “once in four or five daies” to cure his blood.

50. What final resolution does Sir Patient come to after being tricked by everyone?

A. Turn Spark
B. Join Conventicles
C. Leave London
D. Write books

A. Turn Spark.
Cured of his folly, Sir Patient decides to “turn Spark,” keep a mistress, go to Court, and hate all Conventicles.

Brief Overview

Sir Patient Fancy is a comedic play by Aphra Behn. It was first performed and published in 1678. A major hit of the Restoration stage, the play functions as a comedy of manners that satirizes the hypocrisy and social pretense of its time.

The story centers on Sir Patient Fancy, an old, easily tricked gentleman obsessed with his own health. His young wife, Lady Fancy (Lucia), pretends to be a pious, learned woman to hide her true self. Lady Fancy is actively having an affair with a man named Wittmore.

Sir Patient has a daughter, Isabella (Isab.), who loves Lodwick. Lodwick is the son of Lady Knowell, a very loud, learned, and affected woman. Lodwick’s sister, Lucretia (Lucr.), loves Leander. Lady Knowell desires Leander for herself.

A foolish country knight, Sir Credulous Easie (Sir Cred.), is forced upon Lucretia as a husband. Lodwick and Leander trick Sir Credulous into stopping this unwanted marriage. Wittmore, Lady Fancy’s lover, uses a disguise as Mr. Fain-love to marry Isabella, giving him easy access to Lady Fancy.

Lady Fancy and Lodwick mistake each other for their real lovers in the dark. Sir Patient discovers Lodwick hiding in his bedroom, but he is tricked into thinking Lodwick is Fain-love (Wittmore), who simply mistook the room while looking for Isabella.

The play concludes with the young couples getting married: Lodwick marries Isabella, and Leander marries Lucretia. Sir Patient catches Lady Fancy and Wittmore together and discovers her deceit. Cured of his old ways and hypocrisy, Sir Patient decides to reform and “turn Spark.”