King Lear, ACT III - Scene VII. quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What news is in the letter Cornwall gives Goneril to carry to her husband?

   • Lear has died during the storm on the heath
   • Correct answer: The army of France has landed in the kingdom
   • Edgar has been captured near the castle gates
   • Kent has been freed from the stocks by servants

   Cornwall tells Goneril to show her husband the letter because the army of France is landed.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Cornwall send Edmund away with Goneril?

   • Edmund must lead the soldiers who are hunting Edgar
   • Edmund has asked to return to his own estates at once
   • Correct answer: The revenge on his father is not fit for him to see
   • Goneril needs him to deliver a challenge to Albany

   Cornwall says the revenges they will take on Edmund's traitorous father are not fit for his beholding.

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3. 3

   Question 3. According to Oswald, where has Gloucester conveyed the King?

   • Correct answer: Toward Dover, with some of his knights
   • To Albany's castle, under heavy guard
   • Into a hovel on the heath, with the Fool
   • Toward France, aboard a ship at night

   Oswald reports that thirty-five or thirty-six of Lear's knights met him and are gone with him toward Dover.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What insult does Regan inflict on Gloucester right after he is bound?

   • She strikes him across the face with a glove
   • She spits on him and calls him a beggar
   • She tears the chain of office from his neck
   • Correct answer: She plucks the white hairs of his beard

   Regan plucks his beard, and Gloucester protests that it is most ignobly done to their host.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does Gloucester explain sending the King to Dover?

   • He hoped the French would make him a lord
   • Correct answer: He would not see Regan's nails pluck out Lear's eyes
   • He was following orders sent by Albany himself
   • He wanted Lear to find and forgive Edgar there

   Gloucester says he would not see Regan's cruel nails pluck out the King's poor old eyes, nor Goneril's boarish fangs in his flesh.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Who kills the servant who tries to stop Cornwall?

   • Cornwall, with a thrust to the heart
   • Oswald, who returns to defend his lord
   • Correct answer: Regan, who stabs him from behind
   • Edmund, who rushes back at the noise

   Regan takes a sword and runs at him behind, and the servant dies saying Cornwall has one eye left.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Gloucester realize when Regan tells him who betrayed him?

   • That Lear had planned his capture all along
   • That Kent had been spying for Cornwall
   • Correct answer: That Edgar had been wronged by his lies
   • That Albany secretly supports the French

   Learning that Edmund betrayed him, Gloucester cries, O my follies! Then Edgar was abus'd.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which theme does Gloucester's blinding make literal?

   • Correct answer: Fathers who cannot see the truth about their children
   • Kings who lose their crowns through vanity and pride
   • Lovers who are separated by jealous rivals at court
   • Nations that are destroyed by famine and disease

   Gloucester was figuratively blind to Edmund's deceit; now he is physically blinded and only then sees the truth.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happen in Act 3, Scene 7?

   • Goneril suggests that Gloucester's eyes be plucked out.

     Happened

   • Gloucester draws a sword and tries to defend himself.

     Didn't happen

   • Cornwall is wounded by one of his own servants.

     Happened

   • Edmund watches as his father is blinded.

     Didn't happen

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these happen at the end of the scene?

    • Regan orders Gloucester thrust out of the gates.

      Happened

    • Cornwall orders the dead servant thrown on the dunghill.

      Happened

    • Gloucester is locked in the castle's dungeon.

      Didn't happen

    • The servants send for a surgeon from Dover.

      Didn't happen

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'festinate' mean in: 'Advise the Duke where you are going, to a most festinate preparation'?

    • Joyful and festive
    • Correct answer: Hasty or speedy
    • Secret or hidden
    • Costly or lavish

    Festinate means hasty; Cornwall wants Albany to prepare quickly for the French invasion.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'confederacy' mean in: 'And what confederacy have you with the traitors Late footed in the kingdom?'

    • A family tie by marriage
    • A trade in stolen goods
    • A debt owed to a lord
    • Correct answer: A secret alliance or plot

    A confederacy is a secret alliance; Cornwall accuses Gloucester of plotting with the French.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'overture' mean in: 'It was he That made the overture of thy treasons to us'?

    • Correct answer: The disclosure or revealing
    • The musical opening piece
    • The punishment or the sentence
    • The forgiveness or pardon

    Here overture means disclosure: Edmund revealed Gloucester's supposed treasons to Cornwall and Regan.

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