Arthur Miller – Death of a Salesman – Exam Based MCQs
1. Death of a Salesman is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Tennessee Williams
B) Eugene O’Neill
C) Arthur Miller
D) Edward Albee
Ans: C) Arthur Miller
2. Death of a Salesman was first produced in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1947
B) 1948
C) 1949
D) 1951
Ans: C) 1949
3. Arthur Miller described the play as one in: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) three acts
B) five scenes
C) two acts and a requiem
D) one act and an epilogue
Ans: C) two acts and a requiem
4. The protagonist of the play is: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Biff Loman
B) Charley
C) Happy Loman
D) Willy Loman
Ans: D) Willy Loman
5. Willy Loman works as a: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) teacher
B) traveling salesman
C) lawyer
D) banker
Ans: B) traveling salesman
6. Willy’s wife is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Linda
B) The Woman
C) Jenny
D) Letta
Ans: A) Linda
7. Willy’s elder son is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Happy
B) Bernard
C) Biff
D) Ben
Ans: C) Biff
8. Willy’s younger son is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Howard
B) Ben
C) Bernard
D) Happy
Ans: D) Happy
9. The play is mainly set in the Loman home in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Chicago
B) Boston
C) Brooklyn
D) Philadelphia
Ans: C) Brooklyn
10. A central theme of the play is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) medieval heroism
B) the American Dream
C) sea voyage
D) religious conversion
Ans: B) the American Dream
11. Willy believes success comes mainly from being: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) well read
B) well liked
C) hardworking only
D) wealthy by inheritance
Ans: B) well liked
12. Willy’s successful neighbor is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Ben
B) Howard
C) Charley
D) Stanley
Ans: C) Charley
13. Charley’s son is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Happy
B) Ben
C) Bernard
D) Howard
Ans: C) Bernard
14. Bernard is important because he becomes: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) a salesman
B) a successful lawyer
C) a farmer
D) an actor
Ans: B) a successful lawyer
15. Willy’s brother Ben represents: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) practical realism
B) sudden wealth and adventurous success
C) academic discipline
D) moral weakness
Ans: B) sudden wealth and adventurous success
16. Ben famously says: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) “Be liked and you will prosper.”
B) “The jungle is dark but full of diamonds.”
C) “Work harder and forget the dream.”
D) “Money is never enough.”
Ans: B) “The jungle is dark but full of diamonds.”
17. Willy loses his job because: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) he steals money
B) Howard dismisses him
C) Charley reports him
D) Biff asks him to resign
Ans: B) Howard dismisses him
18. Howard is Willy’s: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) brother
B) boss
C) cousin
D) landlord
Ans: B) boss
19. Biff’s failure in life is linked strongly to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) illness
B) lack of education alone
C) discovering Willy’s affair in Boston
D) Bernard’s success
Ans: C) discovering Willy’s affair in Boston
20. The woman with whom Willy has an affair is known in the play simply as: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Miss Forsythe
B) Letta
C) The Woman
D) Jenny
Ans: C) The Woman
21. The play’s structure is notable for its use of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) strict chronology only
B) flashbacks and memory scenes
C) letters only
D) chorus and songs
Ans: B) flashbacks and memory scenes
22. Willy’s mental state in the play is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) calm and rational
B) deteriorating and unstable
C) purely comic
D) spiritually serene
Ans: B) deteriorating and unstable
23. Linda is important in the play because she: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) is indifferent to Willy
B) is the emotional center of the family
C) betrays Willy
D) leaves the family early
Ans: B) is the emotional center of the family
24. Linda discovers that Willy is contemplating suicide because: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) he confesses openly
B) she finds the rubber hose and knows about his car attempts
C) Biff tells her immediately
D) Charley warns her first
Ans: B) she finds the rubber hose and knows about his car attempts
25. Willy’s tragedy is often connected to his pursuit of: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) military honor
B) a false version of the American Dream
C) scientific discovery
D) political office
Ans: B) a false version of the American Dream
26. Miller called the play “the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it” in pursuit of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) love
B) the American Dream
C) religion
D) democracy
Ans: B) the American Dream
27. Biff finally realizes that he and Willy are: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) destined for greatness
B) extraordinary men
C) ordinary men, not the heroic figures Willy imagined
D) political victims only
Ans: C) ordinary men, not the heroic figures Willy imagined
28. Happy’s attitude at the end of the play is that he will: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) reject Willy’s dream
B) follow Willy’s dream
C) go west with Biff
D) leave the family
Ans: B) follow Willy’s dream
29. Biff’s attitude at the end is that he wants to: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) become a businessman in New York
B) continue Willy’s dream
C) go back west and live honestly
D) work for Charley
Ans: C) go back west and live honestly
30. Willy commits suicide mainly because he believes: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Linda wants him gone
B) the insurance money will help Biff succeed
C) Charley advises it
D) Howard demands it
Ans: B) the insurance money will help Biff succeed
31. The final section of the play is called: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Epilogue
B) Memorial
C) Requiem
D) Coda
Ans: C) Requiem
32. At Willy’s funeral, Linda says: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) “We are lost.”
B) “We’re free.”
C) “He was a king.”
D) “The dream is over.”
Ans: B) “We’re free.”
33. The funeral is sparsely attended, which emphasizes: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Willy’s true popularity
B) the collapse of Willy’s illusion about being well liked
C) Biff’s success
D) Linda’s indifference
Ans: B) the collapse of Willy’s illusion about being well liked
34. The play is often considered a modern tragedy because it: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) focuses on a common man
B) uses kings and queens
C) avoids moral conflict
D) rejects emotion
Ans: A) focuses on a common man
35. Which statement is TRUE about Death of a Salesman? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It is a 1949 play by Arthur Miller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
B) It is a comedy of manners
C) It is set entirely in a courtroom
D) It has no memory scenes
Ans: A) It is a 1949 play by Arthur Miller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
36. Miller’s dramatic technique in the play especially combines: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) realism and expressionistic memory
B) farce and fantasy only
C) verse and chorus
D) romance and pastoral
Ans: A) realism and expressionistic memory
37. The play is NOT mainly about: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) illusion versus reality
B) family conflict
C) the American Dream
D) medieval knighthood
Ans: D) medieval knighthood
38. Willy’s greatest flaw is his: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) physical weakness only
B) inability to face reality
C) hatred of family
D) lack of speech
Ans: B) inability to face reality
39. Biff’s insight in the play is that: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) success means wealth alone
B) truth is more valuable than Willy’s illusions
C) Bernard has failed
D) Happy is wiser
Ans: B) truth is more valuable than Willy’s illusions
40. Linda’s loyalty to Willy shows: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) cruelty
B) compassion and devotion
C) comic foolishness
D) selfishness
Ans: B) compassion and devotion
41. The play’s treatment of success suggests that: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) charm alone guarantees achievement
B) false ideals can destroy a person
C) business is always noble
D) popularity always equals value
Ans: B) false ideals can destroy a person
42. The best short description of the play is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) a modern tragedy of illusion, failure, and the American Dream
B) a detective mystery
C) a romantic comedy
D) a war drama
Ans: A) a modern tragedy of illusion, failure, and the American Dream
43. The play’s emotional power comes largely from: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) heroic conquest
B) domestic conflict and shattered dreams
C) courtroom suspense
D) comic misunderstanding
Ans: B) domestic conflict and shattered dreams
44. The play belongs most clearly to: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) modern American drama
B) pastoral poetry
C) absurd comedy
D) epic romance
Ans: A) modern American drama
45. Miller uses Willy’s memories mainly to show: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) objective history only
B) how the past shapes present breakdown
C) political events
D) comic nostalgia
Ans: B) how the past shapes present breakdown
46. The conflict between Willy and Biff is fundamentally about: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) inheritance law
B) illusion versus truth
C) religion
D) nationality
Ans: B) illusion versus truth
47. Arthur Miller’s play is especially useful for discussing: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) modern tragedy and the failure of the American Dream
B) pastoral symbolism only
C) mythological heroism
D) comic romance only
Ans: A) modern tragedy and the failure of the American Dream
48. The title Death of a Salesman is significant because it points to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) only Willy’s physical death
B) the collapse of a whole value system
C) a murder mystery
D) a newspaper report
Ans: B) the collapse of a whole value system
49. Which statement is TRUE about Death of a Salesman? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) It centers on Willy Loman, whose illusions about success destroy him and his family’s peace
B) It is set in medieval England
C) It is written in verse
D) It celebrates commercial success without criticism
Ans: A) It centers on Willy Loman, whose illusions about success destroy him and his family’s peace
50. The overall message of the play is that: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) false dreams and denial of reality can lead to personal tragedy
B) popularity always ensures happiness
C) money solves every family problem
D) ordinary people cannot be tragic figures
Ans: A) false dreams and denial of reality can lead to personal tragedy
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