The Glove and the Lions – MCQs

1. King Francis is described as:
   a) A cruel and tyrannical ruler
   b) A hearty king who loved a royal sport
   c) A weak and indecisive monarch
   d) An old and feeble king
2. What sporting event is taking place at the court?
   a) A jousting tournament
   b) A hunting expedition
   c) A lion fight where lions battle each other
   d) A sword duel
3. The Count de Lorge is present at the court because:
   a) He is the king's advisor
   b) He is a noble in the king's court with a lady love
   c) He is a professional fighter
   d) He is a foreign dignitary
4. What is significant about the King's attention during the lion fight?
   a) He is focused entirely on the lions
   b) His attention is divided between the lions and a lady (de Lorge's love)
   c) He is sleeping
   d) He is distracted by his own thoughts
5. How is the lady described when she overhears the King's comment?
   a) Timid and shy
   b) Angry and resentful
   c) Beauteous (beautiful), lively, with smiling lips and sharp bright eyes
   d) Sad and melancholic
6. What does the lady decide to do to test her lover?
   a) Ask him to fight the king
   b) Challenge him to a duel
   c) Drop her glove into the lion pit to prove his love
   d) Ask him to perform a magic trick
7. What motivates the lady's test?
   a) Genuine concern for the count
   b) Vanity—she wants to gain glory by seeing her lover prove his devotion
   c) The king's request
   d) A dare from other ladies
8. How does the Count respond when he sees the glove dropped?
   a) He ignores it
   b) He hesitates and refuses
   c) He bows and immediately leaps into the lion pit
   d) He asks the king for permission
9. What is remarkable about the Count's action in the lion pit?
   a) He spends a long time retrieving the glove
   b) He is attacked by the lions
   c) The leap in and leap out are both quick; he retrieves the glove and returns to his place with great speed
   d) He is mortally wounded
10. How does the Count treat the lady when he returns with the glove?
    a) He presents it to her lovingly
    b) He throws it at her face, not with love but with disdain
    c) He hands it to the king
    d) He loses it again
11. What is the King's reaction to the Count's action?
    a) He is displeased
    b) He laughs at the count
    c) He rises and exclaims "By God! Rightly done!" approving the count's refusal to accept the lady's vanity test
    d) He orders the count's arrest
12. What does King Francis identify as the true motivation behind the lady's test?
    a) True love
    b) Vanity—"No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that"
    c) The desire to protect the count
    d) The tradition of chivalry
13. What is the central moral of the poem?
    a) Chivalry and bravery are always good
    b) Love demands dangerous tests and sacrifices
    c) True love does not require foolish tests or dangerous deeds; vanity often disguises itself as love
    d) Women are inherently vain
14. The poem's tone is primarily:
    a) Tragic and sorrowful
    b) Serious and didactic
    c) Lighthearted and ironic, with a moral lesson
    d) Dark and Gothic
15. What poetic device is used in "gave blows like beams"?
    a) Metaphor
    b) Simile (comparing the blows to beams in strength and power)
    c) Personification
    d) Alliteration
16. The rhyme scheme of the poem is:
    a) ABAB
    b) AABBCC... (rhyming couplets)
    c) ABCB
    d) Free verse
17. What does the lion fight represent in the poem?
    a) A literal sporting event only
    b) A metaphor for the conflicts and dangers of the courtly world
    c) A celebration of animal cruelty
    d) The king's military power
18. Which character shows true nobility at the end of the poem?
    a) The king
    b) The lady
    c) The Count de Lorge, who refuses to be manipulated by vanity
    d) The lions
19. The poem critiques which chivalric ideal?
    a) Courage and bravery
    b) The blind obedience to dangerous tests as proof of love
    c) Loyalty to the king
    d) Respect for women
20. What does the Count's final action suggest about his character?
    a) He is cowardly
    b) He is foolish
    c) He has self-respect and wisdom; he values his dignity over the lady's vanity
    d) He is cruel and heartless
21. The poem is written in what narrative style?
    a) Sonnet
    b) Ballad (a narrative poem telling a story)
    c) Ode
    d) Elegy
22. What is the setting of the poem?
    a) A battlefield
    b) A royal court with an arena where lions fight
    c) A forest
    d) A castle dungeon

Answers: 1-b, 2-c, 3-b, 4-b, 5-c, 6-c, 7-b, 8-c, 9-c, 10-b, 11-c, 12-b, 13-c, 14-c, 15-b, 16-b, 17-c, 18-c, 19-c, 20-b, 21-b, 22-b.