Robert Greene Practice Questions
20 free Robert Greene practice questions for the English Literature. Tap an option to answer — you get instant feedback, the correct answer, and a detailed explanation for every question.
In Robert Greene's landmark comedy *Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay*, what magical artifact do the two friars spend seven years constructing, only for it to be destroyed because of an assistant's negligence?
- A A golden mirror that reveals the exact locations of hidden treasures
- B A brass head prophesied to speak and surround England with a wall of brass
- C An enchanted ring that makes its wearer completely invisible to the King's own guards
- D A crystal book containing the secret true names of all the demons in hell
Correct answer: A brass head prophesied to speak and surround England with a wall of brass
The plot of *Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay* centers on the creation of a prophetic Brazen Head designed to protect England. The head speaks only three brief times—saying 'Time is,' 'Time was,' and 'Time is past'—before smashing into pieces while Bacon's foolish servant, Miles, fails to wake his master. This dramatic failure serves as a moral lesson on the limits of human ambition and magical power.
Which romantic heroine from Robert Greene's drama *Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay* is celebrated by scholars as one of the earliest complex, independent female characters in Elizabethan comedy?
- A Margaret, the Fair Maid of Fressingfield
- B Ida, the daughter of the Countess of Arran
- C Dorothea, the Queen of Scotland
- D Zenocrate, the daughter of the Soldan of Egypt
Correct answer: Margaret, the Fair Maid of Fressingfield
Margaret, the Fair Maid of Fressingfield, is the emotional anchor of the play's romantic subplot, caught in a love triangle involving Prince Edward and Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln. Her character transitions from a confident rural beauty to a deeply loyal partner who intends to enter a nunnery when she believes her love is lost, before a happy resolution occurs. Greene's portrayal of Margaret heavily influenced Shakespeare's subsequent creation of vibrant romantic heroines.
Robert Greene wrote a highly influential series of pamphlets detailing the tricks, slang, and scams of the London criminal underworld. What specific literary genre did these works pioneer?
- A Rogue cony-catching pamphlets
- B Spiritual autobiographies
- C Euphuistic court romances
- D Chivalric knightly romance manuals
Correct answer: Rogue cony-catching pamphlets
Greene's 'cony-catching' pamphlets, published between 1591 and 1592, exposed the underground techniques used by Elizabethan thieves and swindlers (cheaters) to exploit naive victims, whom they called 'conies' (rabbits). These pieces combined investigative journalism, criminal underworld slang, and moralizing narratives to satisfy the public appetite for gritty urban realism. This shift to underworld documentation greatly enriched the social canvas of Elizabethan dramatic literature.
What is the primary source material for Robert Greene's historical romance play *The Scottish History of James IV*?
- A Raphael Holinshed's *Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland*
- B A novella from Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's *Hecatommithi*
- C Plutarch's *Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans*
- D William Baldwyn's *A Mirror for Magistrates*
Correct answer: A novella from Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's *Hecatommithi*
Despite its misleading title, *The Scottish History of James IV* is not an accurate chronicle play based on British history, but an adaptation of a fictional Italian story from Cinthio's *Hecatommithi*. Greene utilized the framework of a fictionalized Scottish court to construct a romantic tragedy concerning marital infidelity, royal guilt, and eventual reconciliation. This method of using Italian novellas for state-level drama became a standard practice among Elizabethan playwrights.
In the induction and framing framework of *The Scottish History of James IV*, which two symbolic characters comment on the action of the play, introducing a meta-theatrical element?
- A Bohan, a cynical Scottish misanthrope, and Oberon, the King of Fairies
- B Friar Bacon and the ghostly spirit of Julius Caesar
- C Jack Wilton, the traveler, and an unnamed London merchant
- D Venus, the goddess of love, and Ate, the goddess of revenge and discord
Correct answer: Bohan, a cynical Scottish misanthrope, and Oberon, the King of Fairies
Greene introduces the play through an induction featuring Bohan, a disillusioned Scot who has retreated from the corrupt world to live in a tomb, and Oberon, the magical King of Fairies. Bohan presents the story of James IV to Oberon as a historical illustration of why human society is fundamentally wicked and untrustworthy. This structural device provides an analytical, multi-layered perspective on the political actions occurring on stage.
Which highly popular 1588 prose romance by Robert Greene contains a famous geographic blunder—giving the landlocked region of Bohemia a sea coast—which was later directly copied by William Shakespeare?
- A Pandosto: The Triumph of Time
- B Menaphon: Camilla's Alarm to Slumbering Euphues
- C Mamillia: A Mirror or Looking-glass for the Ladies of England
- D Groat's-Worth of Wit
Correct answer: Pandosto: The Triumph of Time
Greene's pastoral romance *Pandosto* served as the direct narrative source for Shakespeare's late romance *The Winter's Tale*. Shakespeare retained Greene's famous geographical error by placing a shipwreck on the fictional 'coast of Bohemia.' The text showcases Greene's mastery of the prose romance form before he shifted his attention completely to public commercial theater.
In *The Scottish History of James IV*, what villainous action does the King orchestrate that drives the plot, due to his obsessive infatuation with the noblewoman Ida?
- A He attempts to have Queen Dorothea assassinated by a hired killer named Jaques.
- B He secretly poisons his own father in order to seize the crown of Scotland early.
- C He sells the entire Scottish royal navy to French pirates in exchange for gold.
- D He imprisons all the high priests of Edinburgh inside an enchanted copper tower.
Correct answer: He attempts to have Queen Dorothea assassinated by a hired killer named Jaques.
King James IV becomes so blinded by his lust for the virtuous Ida that he signs a contract with a flatterer to murder his wife, Queen Dorothea, who is the daughter of the King of England. Dorothea escapes the assassination attempt by disguising herself as a male soldier, leading to a complex series of military and political crises between England and Scotland. This narrative exploration of tyrannical desire clashing with marital fidelity is a recurrent theme in Greene's work.
Robert Greene's play *Alphonsus, King of Aragon* (c. 1587) was written in direct imitation of which massive theatrical hit by his contemporary Christopher Marlowe?
- A Tamburlaine the Great
- B The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
- C The Rich Jew of Malta
- D Edward the Second
Correct answer: Tamburlaine the Great
*Alphonsus, King of Aragon* represents Greene's early attempt to cash in on the immense popularity of Marlowe's *Tamburlaine*. The play features a conquering hero who speaks in boastful blank verse and rises to political heights through military force. However, Greene's imitation lacked the genuine poetic depth of Marlowe's 'mighty line,' prompting him to pivot toward romantic comedy and pastoral themes where his talents excelled.
In *Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay*, which German magician travels to England to challenge Friar Bacon to a public exhibition of competitive sorcery before the royal court?
- A Doctor Faustus
- B Valdes of Wittenberg
- C Benvolio of Naples
- D Jacques Vandermast
Correct answer: Jacques Vandermast
Jacques Vandermast arrives in England boasting of his magical achievements across European universities, easily defeating Friar Bungay in a magical contest at Oxford. However, Friar Bacon intervenes and effortlessly outmaneuvers Vandermast by freezing a magical spirit the German had summoned and forcing it to carry him back to Europe. This contest serves as an expression of Elizabethan national pride, celebrating English intellectual supremacy over continental rivals.
What is the title of Robert Greene's final, posthumously published autobiographical pamphlet (1592) that contains his famous repentance for his wild lifestyle and his warnings to his fellow University Wits?
- A The Repentance of Robert Greene, Master of Arts of Cambridge and Oxford
- B A Notable Discovery of Coosnage, exposing London's criminal underworld
- C The Black Book's Messenger, telling the life and death of a spy
- D Greene's Groat's-Worth of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance
Correct answer: Greene's Groat's-Worth of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance
*Greene's Groat's-Worth of Wit* is a semi-autobiographical text published shortly after Greene's squalid death in September 1592. The text contains an address to his fellow playwrights—Marlowe, Nashe, and Peele—urging them to abandon their loose morals and avoid the deceptive theater industry. It remains a crucial historical document because of its direct swipe at William Shakespeare.
Which collaborative play, written by Robert Greene and Thomas Lodge around 1590, utilizes the biblical narrative of Jonah and Nineveh to deliver a stern, prophetic warning to the citizens of Elizabethan London?
- A The Wounds of Civil War in Rome
- B The Historie of Orlando Furioso
- C The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon
- D A Looking Glass for London and England
Correct answer: A Looking Glass for London and England
*A Looking Glass for London and England* uses the moral corruption, tyranny, and ultimate repentance of ancient Nineveh as an explicit allegory for Tudor London. Greene and Lodge blended spectacular staging events, such as a character being struck by lightning on stage, with serious sermons delivered by the prophet Jonah directly to the audience. This production stands as a powerful hybrid of the medieval morality play tradition and high Renaissance dramatic style.
In Robert Greene’s *Orlando Furioso* (c. 1591), what causes the titular hero, one of Charlemagne's top knights, to completely lose his sanity and wander the stage as a madman?
- A A magical sleeping potion is secretly slipped into his wine by a wandering African sorcerer.
- B The sudden and false news arrives that Charlemagne has permanently banished him from France.
- C He suffers a heavy blow to the head during a jousting tournament from a giant warrior.
- D Sacripant hangs fake love poems on trees to convince Orlando that Angelica was unfaithful.
Correct answer: Sacripant hangs fake love poems on trees to convince Orlando that Angelica was unfaithful.
The villainous Sacripant orchestrates Orlando's madness by hanging forged love poems written by another man on the trees of the forest, convincing Orlando that Angelica has betrayed him. Orlando goes into a spectacular state of theatrical madness, tearing up plants and beating up comic characters, which gave actor Edward Alleyn a major showpiece role. This play adapts Ludovico Ariosto's epic Italian poem for the populist London stage.
What structural element of early English comedy did Robert Greene masterfully develop, as seen in *Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay*, which later became a definitive feature of Shakespearean romantic comedy?
- A The strict enforcement of the classical Aristotelian unities of time, place, and action
- B The total elimination of all prose dialogue in favor of rhymed couplets
- C The exclusion of clown characters from serious romantic scenes entirely
- D The integration of multiple, contrasting plots that mirror and comment on each other
Correct answer: The integration of multiple, contrasting plots that mirror and comment on each other
Greene's greatest contribution to English dramatic structure was his ability to weave together separate, distinct plots—such as the royal love affairs of princes and the magical actions of university scholars—into a single, harmonious play. This multi-plot structure allowed for thematic cross-commentary between aristocratic characters and commoners, a technique that Shakespeare adopted and refined in plays like *A Midsummer Night's Dream*.
Which of the University Wits was a close friend and defender of Robert Greene, attacking his literary rival Gabriel Harvey in pamphlets after Greene's death?
- A John Lyly, the euphuistic prose stylist and playwright
- B Thomas Kyd, author of the tragedy The Spanish Tragedy
- C Ben Jonson, the classicist satirist and poet
- D Thomas Nashe, Greene's close friend and defender
Correct answer: Thomas Nashe, Greene's close friend and defender
Thomas Nashe was Greene's close companion and collaborator in the London literary scene. When the scholar Gabriel Harvey published a vicious attack on Greene's character immediately after his death, Nashe launched a multi-year pamphlet war against Harvey to defend his late friend's reputation. This conflict generated some of the most dynamic, innovative satirical prose of the Elizabethan era.
What is the ultimate fate of Friar Bacon's magical career at the conclusion of Robert Greene's *Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay*?
- A He is carried off to hell by a pack of roaring devils once his time on earth expires.
- B He becomes the official Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry the Third's rule.
- C He renounces magic, breaks his glass, and repents after his art causes a fatal duel.
- D He accidentally turns himself into a stone statue during a royal wedding feast.
Correct answer: He renounces magic, breaks his glass, and repents after his art causes a fatal duel.
After watching two young Oxford students stab each other to death because they witnessed their fathers fighting through his magical 'prospective glass,' a remorseful Friar Bacon breaks his mirror and vows to abandon necromancy. He declares that he will spend his remaining days sorrowing for his sins and focusing on his faith. This moral turn provides a stark contrast to Marlowe's unrepentant Doctor Faustus.
In *The Scottish History of James IV*, what clever stratagem does Queen Dorothea employ to survive after fleeing her husband's murderous court?
- A She hides inside a large wine barrel shipped to her father's court in London.
- B She pretends to be a blind beggar woman operating on the streets of Edinburgh.
- C She disguises herself as a male knight and adopts the name Squire Garinter.
- D She takes refuge with Oberon in the underground fairy kingdom.
Correct answer: She disguises herself as a male knight and adopts the name Squire Garinter.
To escape her husband's assassins, Queen Dorothea cuts her hair, wears male clothing, and assumes the persona of a young squire named Garinter. Even when wounded by the killer Jaques, her resilience and virtue win over local defenders, eventually allowing her to intervene and stop a war between her husband and her father. This dynamic use of female cross-dressing became an incredibly popular device on the Elizabethan stage.
Which printing house or literary figure edited and published *Greene's Groat's-Worth of Wit* after Greene's death, facing immediate accusations that he had forged the entire manuscript himself?
- A William Jaggard
- B Philip Henslowe
- C Henry Chettle
- D Thomas Thorpe
Correct answer: Henry Chettle
Henry Chettle entered the text into the Stationers' Register and edited Greene's chaotic manuscript for publication. Because of the explosive nature of the attacks within the pamphlet, Chettle faced public backlash and later published an apology in his own work *Kind-Heart's Dream*, where he praised Shakespeare's civil demeanor and theatrical skill while distancing himself from Greene's bitter tone.
What academic status did Robert Greene frequently boast about on the title pages of his printed books and plays, distinguishing his intellectual authority from commercial writers?
- A He claimed to serve as the personal private secretary to Queen Elizabeth the First.
- B He identified himself as a sitting judge within the greatly feared Court of Star Chamber.
- C He held a Master of Arts from Oxford and Cambridge (*Utriusque Academiae Magister*).
- D He announced himself as a fully ordained bishop within the Church of England itself.
Correct answer: He held a Master of Arts from Oxford and Cambridge (*Utriusque Academiae Magister*).
Greene took immense pride in his formal education, having earned his BA and MA at St John's College, Cambridge, and later receiving an incorporation of his degree from Oxford. He frequently appended the Latin tag designating him a Master of Arts of both universities to his publications to assert his superiority over non-university actors and writers like Shakespeare. This academic self-fashioning is what defined the identity of the University Wits.
In *A Looking Glass for London and England*, what bizarre, spectacular event happens to the corruption-ridden counselor Radagon on stage, acting as a vivid demonstration of divine judgment?
- A He turns into a raven and flies away out through the theater's own open windows.
- B He sinks slowly beneath the stage into a giant bubbling vat of boiling molten gold.
- C He is completely consumed by a sudden flash of bright lightning from the heavens.
- D He is swallowed whole by a large mechanical stage whale wheeled onto the platform.
Correct answer: He is completely consumed by a sudden flash of bright lightning from the heavens.
Radagon, a deeply unnatural son who refuses to help his starving, impoverished parents despite his immense court wealth, is struck dead by lightning on stage as a visible manifestation of God's wrath. This shocking visual effect was intended to terrify the London audience into immediate moral reform. The production leveraged these striking theatrical illusions to maximize its moral and didactic impact.
Robert Greene’s early prose romances, such as *Mamillia*, were heavily structured in imitation of which famous writer's rhetorical style?
- A Sir Philip Sidney's *Arcadia*, the prose romance of pastoral chivalry
- B Geoffrey Chaucer's *Canterbury Tales*, the medieval pilgrimage narrative
- C John Lyly's *Euphues* and its balanced, highly ornamental prose style
- D Thomas More's *Utopia*, the satirical vision of an ideal commonwealth
Correct answer: John Lyly's *Euphues* and its balanced, highly ornamental prose style
Greene began his literary career by capitalizing on the massive popularity of John Lyly's ornate prose style, known as Euphuism. His early romance *Mamillia* replicates Lyly's signature balance of sentences, elaborate antitheses, and constant references to classical mythology and natural history. This apprentice phase in complex rhetoric laid the foundation for the versatile verbal style he later brought to his dramatic scripts.