Quiz All's Well Mona Awad

All's Well Quiz – 20 Questions on Mona Awad's Novel

This quiz spans Mona Awad's All's Well from Miranda Fitch's opening pain to the strange, blurred finale. Mixing multiple-choice and short-answer questions, it tests plot sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. After the quiz, the answer key explains each response using evidence from the novel.

Questions

Plot and Sequence (8 Questions)

  1. Multiple Choice – In Chapter 1, where does Miranda Fitch lie while watching a drug commercial?
    A) Her office floor
    B) The stage of the theater
    C) The back seat of her car
    D) A booth at the Canny Man

  2. Short Answer – What play do Miranda's students demand to perform instead of All's Well That Ends Well?

  3. Multiple Choice – In Chapter 3, who offers Miranda a golden drink that brings temporary relief?
    A) The bartender at the Canny Man
    B) Three mysterious men in suits
    C) Her ex-husband Paul
    D) Grace

  4. Multiple Choice – In Chapter 6, what does Hugo reveal he has been building in his workshop?
    A) A maquette for a production of Macbeth
    B) A scale model of Edinburgh Castle
    C) A set for a healing bath ritual
    D) A new stage for the spring show

  5. Short Answer – In Chapter 10, who announces an anonymous donation that saves Miranda's production of All's Well?

  6. Multiple Choice – In Chapter 14, after Mark collapses at SpineWorks, where does Miranda drive?
    A) The Canny Man
    B) Home to her apartment
    C) The dean's office
    D) Hugo's workshop

  7. Multiple Choice – In Chapter 27, what condition does Miranda find Briana in backstage on opening night?
    A) Collapsed and ill
    B) Perfectly healthy and rehearsing
    C) Dressed in costume, ready to perform
    D) Arguing with Fauve about the script

  8. Short Answer – What physically happens to Miranda at the very end of Chapter 29?

Character Motivation (5 Questions)

  1. Multiple Choice – Why does Miranda initially resist her students' demand to change the play to Macbeth?
    A) She believes All's Well is a far more compelling play
    B) She thinks Macbeth is too short
    C) She fears the three men from the bar
    D) She wants to spite the dean personally

  2. Short Answer – According to Chapter 3, why does Miranda feel shame when doctors tell her there is “nothing to cut”?

  3. Multiple Choice – In Chapter 12, why does Ellie cast a spell in the restorative bath she makes for Miranda?
    A) To heal Miranda's chronic pain
    B) To harm Briana
    C) To make Trevor fall in love with her
    D) To secure the lead role for herself

  4. Short Answer – In Chapter 17, why does Miranda offer Ellie the lead role of Helen?

  5. Multiple Choice – Why does Grace confront Miranda in Chapter 16?
    A) Because Miranda added an unscripted kiss to the final scene
    B) Because Miranda canceled the rehearsal
    C) Because Miranda is dating Hugo
    D) Because Miranda changed the play to Macbeth

Theme and Symbol (4 Questions)

  1. Multiple Choice – What does the golden remedy primarily symbolize in the novel?
    A) False hope and a dangerous Faustian bargain
    B) True, lasting physical healing
    C) The power of friendship
    D) Artistic ambition

  2. Short Answer – In Chapter 26, Miranda's wound sings with pleasure in the ocean. What does this moment represent about her relationship with pain?

  3. Multiple Choice – The three mysterious men (the Weird Brethren) most closely parallel which group from Shakespeare?
    A) The three witches in Macbeth
    B) The three daughters in King Lear
    C) The three conspirators in Julius Caesar
    D) The three lords in All's Well That Ends Well

  4. Short Answer – In Chapter 30, Ellie claims she “fixed everything” through her herbal baths. What does she say she fixed?

Synthesis (3 Questions)

  1. Short Answer – How does Mona Awad use the play All's Well That Ends Well as a metaphor for Miranda's own life?

  2. Multiple Choice – Which other Shakespeare play is repeatedly referenced as a contrasting production that Miranda refuses to direct?
    A) Macbeth
    B) Hamlet
    C) The Tempest
    D) Romeo and Juliet

  3. Short Answer – In the final chapter (31), what does Miranda see in the cracked mirror of the Canny Man that makes her smile?

Answer Key

  1. A – Her office floor – Chapter 1 opens with Miranda lying on her office floor, watching a drug commercial, establishing her physical pain and isolation.

  2. Macbeth (the "Scottish Play") – In Chapter 2, the students, led by Trevor and Briana, demand to switch to Macbeth; Miranda later resists this pressure.

  3. B – Three mysterious men in suits – In Chapter 3, the middle man quotes All's Well and offers a golden drink that briefly relieves Miranda's pain.

  4. A – A maquette for a production of Macbeth – Hugo reveals in Chapter 6 that Fauve informed him the play had been changed, so he built a Macbeth model.

  5. The dean (Dean Puffy Nips) – In Chapter 10, the dean announces an anonymous donation from three businessmen who demand All's Well and praise Miranda.

  6. A – The Canny Man – After Mark collapses when Miranda grips his arm, she flees SpineWorks and drives to the Canny Man to find the three men.

  7. A – Collapsed and ill – In Chapter 27, backstage on opening night, Briana is found collapsed and ill but refuses to be replaced.

  8. She falls off the stage – Chapter 29 ends with Miranda backing away, falling off the stage, and watching stars fade to black.

  9. A – She believes All's Well is a far more compelling play – In Chapter 2, Miranda calls it "an equally wonderful but far more compelling play" and a "problem play" that is neither tragedy nor comedy.

  10. Her pain is dismissed as psychosomatic; she feels medical gaslighting – Chapter 3 reveals she was told her pain was "nothing to cut," echoing the theme of invisible pain.

  11. A – To heal Miranda's chronic pain – In Chapter 12, Ellie confesses she cast a spell on the bath to restore Miranda; later she admits she also wished Briana ill.

  12. To replace Briana and exert control over the production – In Chapter 17, Miranda tells Ellie that Briana is still sick and offers her the role; she also gives Ellie bath salts, hinting at manipulation.

  13. A – Because Miranda added an unscripted kiss – Grace points out the kiss and questions Briana's absence; Miranda deflects.

  14. A – False hope and a dangerous Faustian bargain – The golden remedy is delivered by the Weird Brethren, who later demand a good show; relief comes with a dark cost.

  15. The transformation of pain into something desirable; numbness and loss of sensation – Miranda's wound sings with pleasure, showing she now experiences pain as a gift rather than suffering.

  16. A – The three witches in Macbeth – The three men mirror the witches in both number and function: they grant wishes, manipulate outcomes, and foreshadow doom.

  17. Everything – Briana's illness and the production's success – In Chapter 30, Ellie says she fixed it all through her baths, though the reality remains ambiguous.

  18. Both are "problem plays" blending comedy and tragedy; Miranda's struggle mirrors Helen's pursuit of justice – The play's themes of pain, resilience, and manipulation reflect Miranda's own journey. She identifies with Helen's cunning and endurance.

  19. A – Macbeth – Macbeth is the students' first choice and later appears in allusions (e.g., the dean's "break a leg," Paul reciting Macbeth soliloquy).

  20. Her own face that has known both joy and pain – The cracked mirror shows a face that has endured; she smiles in acceptance of her complex identity.

For deeper discussion, see the full summary, questions and answers, and the ending explained.