By Any Other Name Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Dual Stories of Melina and Emilia?

By Any Other Name Quiz

Jodi Picoult’s By Any Other Name weaves together the contemporary story of aspiring playwright Melina Green and the historical narrative of Emilia Bassano, the woman Melina suspects was the true author behind Shakespeare’s works. This 20-question quiz covers the novel’s intricate plot, the motivations driving its dual protagonists, its central themes and symbols, and the connections between its two timelines.

Test your recall and understanding of one of Picoult’s most ambitious novels. The questions span the entire book, from Melina’s disastrous thesis review to her final bow on opening night, and from Emilia’s childhood as a ward to her deathbed vision. An answer key with detailed explanations follows the quiz.

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

1. Multiple Choice. What action by her roommate, Andre, first sets the modern-day theatrical deception in motion?

A) He convinces a producer to read Melina’s play by pretending he wrote it. B) He submits Melina’s play to a fringe festival under the male-sounding name “Mel Green.” C) He posts Melina’s script online where Jasper Tolle discovers it. D) He forges a recommendation letter from Professor Bufort for a grant application.

2. Multiple Choice. What event exposes Emilia’s pregnancy and ends her decade-long arrangement with Lord Hunsdon?

A) A servant discovers a letter from Southampton and informs the Queen. B) She faints at court during a performance of one of her plays. C) The plague sweeps London, and a doctor discovers she is pregnant during a pre-departure examination. D) Lord Hunsdon sees her visibly pregnant at the Rose Theatre.

3. Short Answer. After Melina’s play is accepted by the Village Fringe Festival, what lie does she tell Jasper Tolle about her own identity, enabling the deception to continue?

4. Multiple Choice. What is the tragic fate of Emilia’s infant daughter, Odyllia, which later channels her grief into the creation of Hamlet?

A) The baby is taken by her husband, Alphonso, and sent away to the country. B) The baby is stillborn after a violent altercation with Alphonso. C) The baby dies of plague while the theaters are shut. D) The baby dies in infancy.

5. Short Answer. What specific event at Bard College destroys Melina’s confidence and leads to Professor Bufort giving her thesis a C+?

6. Multiple Choice. After the scandal caused by the misleading newspaper column, Melina retreats from New York. Nearly three years later, what development pulls her back to the theater?

A) Andre’s new play becomes a Broadway hit and he asks her to co-write the sequel. B) She receives an email from Katherine Marsh of the Athena Playhouse asking to produce her play. C) Jasper publishes a full retraction and sponsors a contest for female playwrights. D) Her father convinces her to submit the play to a community theater in Connecticut.

7. Short Answer. What life-changing discovery about her ancestry does Melina find in a genealogy packet sent by her father, and how does it reignite her determination to write?

8. Multiple Choice. In the final chapter, on opening night at the Athena Playhouse, what startling vision does Melina encounter in the wings before stepping onstage to take her bow?

A) A spectral version of Shakespeare, nodding in approval. B) A vision of her mother, wearing the dress from her hospice escape. C) A period-costumed actress with silver eyes who shoves her into the light. D) Professor Bufort, applauding from the wings.

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

9. Short Answer. Why does Andre agree to keep posing as “Mel Green” for an extended period, even after the initial festival acceptance, and what eventually drives him to quit the deception publicly during rehearsals?

10. Multiple Choice. What primary motivation drives Emilia to begin selling her plays to William Shakespeare?

A) She wants revenge on Lord Hunsdon for casting her aside. B) She seeks only the money, having no interest in public recognition. C) She yearns to see her words performed and believes Shakespeare offers the only viable outlet for a woman’s writing. D) Southampton dares her to see if the plays can fool the Master of the Revels.

11. Multiple Choice. What causes Melina’s romantic view of Jasper Tolle to fracture after they sleep together and he pledges to help her?

A) She discovers he is already married and has been hiding his family. B) A miscommunication with his editor results in a column that paints Melina as a white woman exploiting a Black man. C) He confesses that he knew her true identity all along and was using her for a story. D) He gives her play a negative review in a rival publication under a pseudonym.

12. Short Answer. What motivates Jasper to leave his career as a prominent theater critic and become the artistic director of the Athena Playhouse, a venue dedicated to women and nonbinary writers?

13. Multiple Choice. After her husband Alphonso’s death, Emilia learns that Southampton has always known the truth about her authorship. What specific play does she realize he recognized as being written for him?

A) Titus Andronicus B) The Taming of a Shrew C) Romeo and Juliet D) The Winter’s Tale

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

14. Short Answer. The novel’s title, By Any Other Name, directly quotes Juliet’s speech from Romeo and Juliet. Explain how this line functions as a thematic symbol for both Emilia’s and Melina’s struggles throughout the narrative.

15. Multiple Choice. Throughout the novel, the image of a supernova appears at key moments in Emilia’s life. What does this symbol represent?

A) The explosive, destructive power of male jealousy. B) The end of an era and the subsequent rebirth of artistic expression under a new identity. C) The moment a hidden truth becomes brilliantly, publicly visible, often linked to female rage and legacy. D) The scientific proof of Shakespeare’s astronomical references, confirming Emilia’s authorship.

16. Multiple Choice. What larger point is Picoult making by having Melina’s success depend on initially hiding behind a male name, while Andre’s rewritten ending emphasizes being named and taking credit?

A) That true art can only flourish under conditions of anonymity and freedom from ego. B) That the commercial theater industry is fundamentally corrupt and values only scandal over craft. C) That women’s creative work has been systematically erased or attributed to men, and reclaiming authorship is both an act of personal integrity and historical justice. D) That collaboration between male and female writers always produces the most successful plays.

17. Short Answer. The epilogue of Melina’s college play Reputation mirrors Professor Bufort’s inappropriate shoulder massages, but she appends it secretly. What theme does this act introduce that resonates through both timelines?

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

18. Short Answer. Compare the specific ways both Emilia and Melina use a form of disguise or performance to gain access to spaces from which they are otherwise excluded. How does this pattern reinforce the novel’s central argument about female authorship?

19. Multiple Choice. Both Melina and Emilia experience a critical betrayal by a male ally who edits or distorts their words: Jasper’s editor rewrites his column, and Ben Jonson (in the fictionalized account) reveals Shakespeare called Emilia his “golden goose” while acting as gatekeeper. What does this parallel suggest about the novel’s view of the relationship between women writers and the men who control the means of publication?

A) That male allies, however well-intentioned, are always secretly working to undermine women’s success. B) That women’s stories are perpetually vulnerable to being reframed or exploited by others, even after a personal bond is formed. C) That editors and fellow writers are universally corrupt and should not be trusted with original manuscripts. D) That the only safe publication method for a woman is posthumous release.

20. Short Answer. The novel ends with Melina stepping into the light onstage, while the final lines of her play state, “There was a story, whether or not others ever chose to listen.” How does this dual ending synthesize the book’s argument about legacy, visibility, and the enduring power of women’s words?

Answer Key

1. B. He submits Melina’s play to a fringe festival under the male-sounding name “Mel Green.” In Chapter 8, Andre confesses that while drunk, he changed Melina’s name to “Mel” on the application to impress Artistic Director Felix Dubonnet, whom he knew was sexist. The other options are plausible Andre-like actions but do not occur in the novel.

2. C. The plague sweeps London, and a doctor discovers she is pregnant during a pre-departure examination. Chapter 11 details how Emilia falls critically ill. A plague doctor summoned to examine her diagnoses not contagion but pregnancy. Lord Hunsdon then informs her she will not accompany him to court, ending their arrangement.

3. Melina introduces herself to Jasper as “Andrea Washington,” pretending to be Mel Green’s assistant. This occurs in Chapter 10 after the workshop performance. She gives Jasper her own contact details under this false name, allowing her to interact with him and the production without revealing her identity as the actual playwright.

4. D. The baby dies in infancy. Chapter 15 states that after giving birth to Odyllia, the child dies in infancy. This grief is then channeled into writing Hamlet, creating the character of Ophelia. The other options describe tragedies that befall other characters or are invented.

5. At the New Vintage competition, New York Times critic Jasper Tolle dismisses her highly personal play Reputation as “TYA” (theater for young audiences) and tells her to avoid personal subjects. Professor Bufort, whose inappropriate behavior she had secretly dramatized in an epilogue, retaliates by grading her thesis a C+ with the comment, “Requires too much suspension of disbelief.”

6. B. She receives an email from Katherine Marsh of the Athena Playhouse asking to produce her play. Chapter 18 describes Melina living quietly in Connecticut in June 2027 when this email arrives. Andre visits to share his own success, but it is the Athena Playhouse’s outreach that offers Melina a specific path back to the stage.

7. She discovers a direct genealogical link to Emilia Bassano, described as the first published female poet in England (1611) and the “dark lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The discovery makes Melina realize she is “not the first in her family to struggle to find her place as a writer,” bridging her own silencing at Bard with centuries of suppressed female voices and reigniting her creative determination.

8. C. A period-costumed actress with silver eyes who shoves her into the light. Chapter 20 describes this spectral figure blocking Melina’s way in the wings. The woman has silver eyes—described as silver like Melina’s own—and vanishes immediately after pushing Melina onto the stage, echoing Emilia Bassano’s legacy.

9. Andre initially participates out of loyalty and a belief that the deception will allow the play to be judged fairly. However, he grows increasingly uncomfortable, especially when actress Daya questions Emilia’s motivations during rehearsals. In Chapter 14, after a furious public argument, he quits as the supposed playwright because he feels used and because he rewrote the play’s ending to emphasize being named, an act that violates Melina’s artistic integrity and forces the deception into the open.

10. C. She yearns to see her words performed and believes Shakespeare offers the only viable outlet for a woman’s writing. From Chapter 9 onward, Emilia’s fascination with theater and her conviction that she could write better than the plays she sees drives her. Shakespeare is presented as a business front—a man willing to put her work on stage for a fee, giving her the performance venue otherwise denied to her.

11. B. A miscommunication with his editor results in a column that paints Melina as a white woman exploiting a Black man. Chapter 16 details how a subway text miscommunication with editor Don causes the published article to radically distort Jasper’s intended defense of Melina. The column’s framing devastates her and shatters the trust they had just built.

12. Jasper’s motivation is rooted in guilt and a desire for genuine change. After the column debacle destroys his relationship with Melina and exposes the systemic gender discrimination in theater, he re-evaluates his career. By becoming artistic director of a playhouse dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices, he moves from critiquing the system from the outside to actively building a space where the kind of erasure Melina suffered cannot happen again.

13. D. The Winter’s Tale. In Chapter 17, after her husband’s death, Emilia encounters Southampton, who helps her with a legal matter. He reveals he has always known she wrote for Shakespeare and that he recognized The Winter’s Tale—a play about a wronged queen, lost child, and redemption after sixteen years—as being written for him, validating her hidden authorship.

14. The quote questions whether a name changes the essence of a thing. For Emilia, it reflects how her works retained their power even when attributed to “William Shakespeare.” For Melina, it underscores the bitter irony that her play succeeded when submitted under a male name (“Mel Green”) but was dismissed when associated with her. The line symbolizes the central argument that women’s words have intrinsic value regardless of whose name is on the title page, challenging the injustice of anonymity and pseudonymity forced by gender bias.

15. C. The moment a hidden truth becomes brilliantly, publicly visible, often linked to female rage and legacy. In Chapter 5, young Emilia witnesses a supernova with Tycho Brahe, and the image recurs at moments of transformation or rage—such as when she recognizes her own “unquenchable inner light” in Chapter 15. It symbolizes an eruption of concealed power that cannot be ignored, much like the truth of female authorship.

16. C. That women’s creative work has been systematically erased or attributed to men, and reclaiming authorship is both an act of personal integrity and historical justice. Melina’s initial success via a male pseudonym mirrors Emilia’s use of Shakespeare’s name. Andre’s revised ending insists on being named, reinforcing the theme that credit is owed and that holding oneself accountable for one’s words is essential. Together, the arcs argue for a historical correction to centuries of erasure.

17. The act of appending the epilogue secretly introduces the theme of covert resistance and hidden truth, resonating through both timelines. Melina cannot openly accuse Bufort but encodes her experience in the play. Emilia cannot publicly claim her scripts but embeds her life, pain, and perspective into Shakespeare’s plays. Both women find ways to speak their truth under conditions of silencing, using their art as a concealed weapon.

18. Emilia disguises herself as a mute boy to observe Marlowe and Shakespeare navigating London’s theater world (Chapter 9), allowing her to enter the professional sphere forbidden to women. Melina poses as “Andrea Washington,” Mel’s assistant, inserting herself into production meetings and building a relationship with Jasper that would have been impossible if her identity were known (Chapter 10). Both performances grant them access to male-dominated spaces. This pattern reinforces the argument that women writers throughout history have had to adopt disguises or pseudonyms to practice their craft, making the act of female authorship inherently performative and concealed.

19. B. That women’s stories are perpetually vulnerable to being reframed or exploited by others, even after a personal bond is formed. Jasper intends to write a supportive column, but his editor’s interference reframes Melina’s story into a damaging racial narrative. Ben Jonson, friendly with Emilia, still reveals Shakespeare’s exploitative nickname. Both incidents demonstrate that once a woman’s words enter male-controlled channels, her control over the narrative is fragile, and the gatekeepers can distort her meaning regardless of personal intentions.

20. The dual ending synthesizes the argument that while systemic erasure may silence or obscure women’s voices for a time, the work itself endures. Melina finally receives public acclaim under her own name, achieving the visibility denied to Emilia in life. Yet the play’s final line insists the story exists “whether or not others ever chose to listen,” honoring Emilia’s legacy—her words survived centuries of anonymity because their power did not depend on acknowledgment. Visibility is a gift, the ending suggests, but the act of creation is itself a form of permanence.