Lesson C01.1.4

C01.1.4 Othello Quiz: OCR English Literature, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson C01.1.4, Othello: 20 multiple choice questions for the OCR English Literature (H472), Unit 1: Component 01: Drama and poetry pre-1900, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which dramatic genre best categorises Shakespeare's play Othello?

    • Jacobean domestic tragedy
    • Restoration comedy
    • Classical revenge tragedy
    • Elizabethan history play

  2. Which poetic metre is predominantly used for high-status characters in Othello?

    • Dactylic hexameter
    • Anapestic trimeter
    • Unrhymed iambic pentameter
    • Rhyming trochaic tetrameter

  3. Why does Iago often switch from blank verse to prose in his soliloquies?

    • To mimic royalty
    • To signal cynicism
    • To show grief
    • To express nobility

  4. Where does the primary action of Othello shift to after Act I?

    • Verona
    • Naples
    • Cyprus
    • Florence

  5. What motif on Desdemona's handkerchief symbolises fidelity and tragic fate?

    • Strawberries
    • Red tulips
    • Golden crowns
    • White roses

  6. Which dramatic device occurs when the audience knows Iago's villainy while Othello trusts him?

    • Catharsis
    • Deus ex machina
    • Dramatic irony
    • Anagnorisis

  7. Who inadvertently hands Desdemona's strawberry handkerchief over to Iago?

    • Cassio
    • Emilia
    • Bianca
    • Roderigo

  8. What term describes Othello's moment of tragic recognition of his mistake in Act V?

    • Peripeteia
    • Hubris
    • Anagnorisis
    • Hamartia

  9. What derogatory term is repeatedly used by Venetian characters to racialise Othello?

    • The Florentine
    • The Moor
    • The General
    • The Turk

  10. Which nineteenth-century critic famously described Iago's villainy as motiveless malignity?

    • T.S. Eliot
    • A.C. Bradley
    • F.R. Leavis
    • Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  11. Which critic argued that Othello's downfall was caused by internal flaws, not Iago?

    • A.C. Bradley
    • F.R. Leavis
    • Samuel Johnson
    • Germaine Greer

  12. In which act and scene does Othello kneel and vow revenge alongside Iago?

    • Act IV Scene 1
    • Act V Scene 2
    • Act III Scene 3
    • Act I Scene 2

  13. What type of imagery does Iago frequently use to degrade Othello and Desdemona's union?

    • Animalistic imagery
    • Botanical imagery
    • Chivalric imagery
    • Celestial imagery

  14. Which foolish character acts as Iago's wealthy dupe throughout the play?

    • Cassio
    • Roderigo
    • Lodovico
    • Montano

  15. Which female character challenges Jacobean patriarchal double standards in her Act IV speech?

    • Emilia
    • Desdemona
    • Barbary
    • Bianca

  16. How does Othello's speech style transform as Iago's poison infects his mind?

    • From rhymed to unrhymed
    • From Latin to English
    • From prose to verse
    • From verse to prose

  17. What dramatic effect is created by setting the second half in war-threatened Cyprus?

    • Comic relief
    • Claustrophobic isolation
    • Pastoral harmony
    • Political stability

  18. What term best describes Othello's tragic error in judgement regarding Iago's honesty?

    • Nemesis
    • Hybris
    • Hamartia
    • Catharsis

  19. In Renaissance England, what dual identity did Venice represent to contemporary audiences?

    • Order and corruption
    • Paganism and magic
    • Monarchy and feudalism
    • Poverty and famine

  20. Which song does Desdemona sing in Act IV that foreshadows her imminent death?

    • The Cuckoo Song
    • The Willow Song
    • The Lover's Complaint
    • The Green Sleeves

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