John Osborne – “Look Back in Anger” – Exam Based MCQs
1. Look Back in Anger is written by: (UGC NET)
A) Harold Pinter
B) Samuel Beckett
C) John Osborne
D) Tom Stoppard
Ans: C) John Osborne
2. The play was first performed in: (SET)
A) 1956
B) 1945
C) 1968
D) 1939
Ans: A) 1956
3. The protagonist of the play is: (PGTRB)
A) Cliff Lewis
B) Colonel Redfern
C) Helena Charles
D) Jimmy Porter
Ans: D) Jimmy Porter
4. The play is commonly associated with the movement called: (UGC NET)
A) Theatre of the Absurd
B) Angry Young Men
C) Symbolist Drama
D) Restoration Comedy
Ans: B) Angry Young Men
5. The play’s setting is primarily: (SET)
A) A palace
B) A school
C) A one-room attic flat
D) A battlefield
Ans: C) A one-room attic flat
6. Jimmy and Alison belong to different social classes; Alison is from: (PGTRB)
A) Upper-middle/upper class background
B) Working-class dockworkers
C) Peasant farming family
D) Royal lineage
Ans: A) Upper-middle/upper class background
7. Jimmy’s occupation in the play is: (UGC NET)
A) Lawyer
B) Doctor
C) Factory owner
D) Running a sweet-stall (candy stall)
Ans: D) Running a sweet-stall (candy stall)
8. Cliff Lewis is best described as: (SET)
A) Jimmy’s enemy
B) Jimmy’s friend and lodger
C) Alison’s father
D) A police officer
Ans: B) Jimmy’s friend and lodger
9. Helena Charles arrives as: (PGTRB)
A) A nurse
B) A cook
C) Alison’s actress friend
D) A journalist
Ans: C) Alison’s actress friend
10. Colonel Redfern is: (UGC NET)
A) Alison’s father
B) Jimmy’s boss
C) Cliff’s uncle
D) Helena’s agent
Ans: A) Alison’s father
11. The central conflict of the play mainly concerns: (SET)
A) A murder mystery
B) A royal succession
C) A court trial
D) Class tension and emotional alienation in marriage
Ans: D) Class tension and emotional alienation in marriage
12. The play is also described as an example of: (UGC NET)
A) Masque
B) Kitchen sink realism
C) Morality play
D) Classical tragedy
Ans: B) Kitchen sink realism
13. Jimmy’s long speeches are often called: (SET)
A) Rants/monologues expressing anger and frustration
B) Sonnets
C) Choral odes
D) Fairy tales
Ans: A) Rants/monologues expressing anger
14. Jimmy’s anger is largely directed at: (PGTRB)
A) Only foreign countries
B) Only his mother
C) The complacency of post-war British society and class privilege
D) Nature and weather
Ans: C) Post-war society and class privilege
15. Alison is often portrayed as: (UGC NET)
A) Loud and aggressive always
B) Comic trickster
C) Power-hungry politician
D) Quiet, passive, and emotionally withdrawn
Ans: D) Quiet, passive, and emotionally withdrawn
16. The play opens with Jimmy and Cliff doing: (SET)
A) Reading newspapers
B) Fighting a duel
C) Preparing a feast
D) Performing on stage
Ans: A) Reading newspapers
17. Jimmy often mocks “posh” culture and: (PGTRB)
A) Folk songs only
B) Science textbooks
C) The church, the press, and the establishment
D) Farming methods
Ans: C) The church, the press, and the establishment
18. The “bear and squirrel” game represents: (UGC NET)
A) A political campaign
B) An escape into affectionate fantasy from harsh reality
C) A courtroom argument
D) A religious ritual
Ans: B) Escape into affectionate fantasy
19. Helena’s attitude toward Jimmy at first is: (SET)
A) Completely loving
B) Worshipful
C) Indifferent
D) Critical and morally judgmental
Ans: D) Critical and morally judgmental
20. Helena persuades Alison to: (PGTRB)
A) Leave Jimmy and return to her parents
B) Start a business
C) Join the army
D) Become a singer
Ans: A) Leave Jimmy and return to her parents
21. After Alison leaves, Helena and Jimmy: (UGC NET)
A) Become enemies forever
B) Leave England
C) Begin a romantic/sexual relationship
D) Go to prison
Ans: C) Begin a romantic/sexual relationship
22. The play’s title suggests: (SET)
A) Nostalgia for medieval times only
B) A backward glance at frustration and lost ideals
C) Pure comedy
D) A detective looking back at clues
Ans: B) Backward glance at frustration and lost ideals
23. Cliff’s role in the household is mainly to: (PGTRB)
A) Create conflicts
B) Promote war
C) Be the villain
D) Act as a peacemaker and emotional buffer
Ans: D) Peacemaker and emotional buffer
24. The trumpet sound in the play often symbolizes: (UGC NET)
A) Jimmy’s restless energy and aggressive expression
B) Nature’s calmness
C) Royal ceremony
D) Village folk dance
Ans: A) Jimmy’s restless energy
25. Alison reveals she has: (SET)
A) Won a prize
B) Bought a house
C) Lost the baby (miscarriage)
D) Become an actress
Ans: C) Lost the baby (miscarriage)
26. Helena eventually decides to: (PGTRB)
A) Marry Jimmy
B) Leave Jimmy due to moral/religious conviction
C) Kill Cliff
D) Become mayor
Ans: B) Leave Jimmy due to moral conviction
27. Colonel Redfern represents: (UGC NET)
A) Revolutionary youth
B) Working-class rage
C) Modern industrial optimism
D) A fading imperial/colonial past and old values
Ans: D) Fading imperial/colonial past
28. The play is typically classified as: (SET)
A) Social realist drama
B) Gothic tragedy
C) Metaphysical comedy
D) Pastoral romance
Ans: A) Social realist drama
29. Jimmy’s bitterness partly stems from: (PGTRB)
A) Royal inheritance
B) Winning a war medal
C) Feeling socially blocked despite education/intelligence
D) Being a successful businessman
Ans: C) Feeling socially blocked
30. Alison’s “withdrawal” in marriage is often interpreted as: (UGC NET)
A) Heroic victory
B) A defense against Jimmy’s verbal violence
C) A political strategy
D) Pure comedy
Ans: B) Defense against Jimmy’s verbal violence
31. The play reflects post-war Britain’s: (SET)
A) Only religious prosperity
B) Only medieval chivalry
C) Only rural farming life
D) Disillusionment, class friction, and loss of purpose
Ans: D) Disillusionment, class friction, loss of purpose
32. Hugh Tanner is significant mainly as: (PGTRB)
A) A symbol of shallow upper-class privilege in Jimmy’s view
B) A war hero
C) A revolutionary leader
D) A poor farmer
Ans: A) Symbol of shallow privilege
33. Jimmy’s anger is sometimes described as: (UGC NET)
A) Completely meaningless noise
B) Purely religious devotion
C) A search for authenticity in a complacent world
D) Only romantic jealousy
Ans: C) Search for authenticity
34. The relationship triangle in the play involves: (SET)
A) Jimmy–Cliff–Colonel
B) Jimmy–Alison–Helena
C) Alison–Cliff–Colonel
D) Helena–Hugh–Cliff
Ans: B) Jimmy–Alison–Helena
35. Cliff’s decision near the end is to: (PGTRB)
A) Become mayor
B) Join the army
C) Marry Helena
D) Leave the flat and move away
Ans: D) Leave the flat and move away
36. A key feature of the play’s language is: (UGC NET)
A) Colloquial speech mixed with brilliant rhetoric
B) Only heroic couplets
C) Only songs
D) Only Latin prayers
Ans: A) Colloquial speech + rhetoric
37. The play’s realism is enhanced by showing: (SET)
A) Kings and queens
B) Mythic monsters
C) Domestic routine—ironing, tea, clutter
D) Supernatural visions
Ans: C) Domestic routine
38. Jimmy often complains about the lack of “good, brave causes,” meaning: (PGTRB)
A) Too many wars
B) No grand ideals left to fight for in modern society
C) Too much heroism
D) Too much wealth
Ans: B) No grand ideals left
39. Alison’s confession about her feelings indicates: (UGC NET)
A) She never cared
B) She only wanted money
C) She is purely villainous
D) She loved Jimmy but felt emotionally numb/overwhelmed
Ans: D) Loved Jimmy but felt numb/overwhelmed
40. The play ends with Jimmy and Alison returning to: (SET)
A) The “bear and squirrel” fantasy game
B) A royal palace
C) A courtroom
D) A battlefield
Ans: A) “Bear and squirrel” fantasy game
41. Jimmy’s anger can be read as a critique of: (UGC NET)
A) Only farming culture
B) Only ancient Greece
C) Post-war complacency and class hypocrisy
D) Only romantic poetry
Ans: C) Post-war complacency and class hypocrisy
42. Alison’s mother is described by Jimmy as: (PGTRB)
A) A saintly healer
B) A “ghastly” figure representing class prejudice
C) A comic poet
D) A village teacher
Ans: B) A figure representing class prejudice
43. The play is divided into: (SET)
A) One act
B) Five acts
C) Seven scenes
D) Three acts
Ans: D) Three acts
44. Cliff’s affection toward Alison is: (UGC NET)
A) Protective and brotherly, sometimes tender
B) Violently hateful
C) Purely political
D) Completely absent
Ans: A) Protective and brotherly
45. Helena’s turning point comes when: (PGTRB)
A) She becomes mayor
B) She gets a war medal
C) Alison returns and Helena feels morally wrong
D) Cliff buys a house
Ans: C) Alison returns; Helena feels morally wrong
46. The play’s tone often shifts between: (SET)
A) Only horror and fear
B) Bitter satire, realism, and emotional intensity
C) Epic fantasy and magic
D) Only romance
Ans: B) Bitter satire, realism, emotional intensity
47. Jimmy’s suffering is linked to his desire for: (UGC NET)
A) Total silence always
B) Royal titles
C) Colonial power
D) Genuine feeling and meaningful engagement with life
Ans: D) Genuine feeling and meaningful engagement
48. “Anger” in the play is best understood as: (PGTRB)
A) A response to social stagnation and personal frustration
B) Pure happiness
C) Religious ecstasy only
D) A fairy-tale curse
Ans: A) Response to social stagnation and frustration
49. The play became famous for bringing to the stage: (SET)
A) Only kings and nobles
B) Only mythic heroes
C) Ordinary working/lower-middle class life and speech
D) Only religious rituals
Ans: C) Ordinary life and speech
50. Look Back in Anger is often seen as marking a turning point in: (UGC NET)
A) Medieval drama
B) Post-war British theatre
C) Greek tragedy
D) Renaissance court masques
Ans: B) Post-war British theatre
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