English Literature MCQs

Learn and get important English literature MCQs with answers. These are very important and crafted from English Literature lessons. This is an online quiz platform.

1. The oldest period in the history of English literature?

(A) Romantic Period

(B) Anglo-Saxon Period

(D) Victorian age

2. The Year of Norman Conquest?

(A) 1066

(B) 1077

(D) 1026

3. Which people started their invasion and conquest of south-western Britain around 450?

(A) The Normans

(B) The Geats

(D) The Anglo-Saxon

4. Words from which language began enter English vocabulary around the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066?

(A) French

(B) Norwegian

(D) Hungarian

5. Who would be said the English Homer and father of English poetry?

(A) Bede

(B) Sir Thomas Malory

(C) Geoffrey Chaucer

(D) Caedmon

6. Who was the first English Christian king?

(A) Alfred

(B) Richard III

(D) Ethelbert 391

7. In the heroic poetry of Anglo-Saxons, what do you say that the fate of those who fail to observe the sacred duty of blood vengeance?

(A) Banishment to Asia

(B) Everlasting shame

(D) Mild melancholia

8. Tick a language that did not coexist in Anglo-Norman England?

(A) Latin

(B) Dutch

(D) Celtic

9. Which 12fth-century poet or poets were indebted (obliged) to Breton storytellers for their narratives?

(A) Geoffrey Chaucer

(B) Marie de France

(D) b and c only

10. In addition to Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland, the “flowering” of Middle English literature is apparent in the works of which of the following writers?

(A) Geoffrey of Monmouth

(B) the Gawain poet

(D) Chrétien de Troyes

11. The literary form, developed in the 15th century, personified vices and virtues?

(A) The short story

(B) The heroic epic

(C) The morality play

(D) The romance

12. Which of the following authors is considered a devotee to chivalry, as it is personified in Sir Lancelot?

(A) Julian of Norwich

(B) Margery Kemp

(D) Sir Thomas Malo

13. What is the earliest surviving European poem?

(A) The Homeric epic

(B) The Gilgamesh epic

(C) The Deluge epic

(D) The Hasidic ode

14. Which one of the following is not a poetic tradition?

(A) The Epic

(B) The Comic

(C) The Occult

(D) The Tragic

15. Who wrote Canterbury Tales?

(A) Geoffrey Chaucer

(B) Dick Whittington

(D) King Richard II

16. Difference between a simile and a metaphor?

(A) No difference. Two different ways of referring to the same thing.

(B) A smile is more descriptive.

(C) A simile uses as or like to make a comparison and a metaphor doesn’t.

(D) A simile must use animals in making comparisons.

17. Which is not poetry form?

(A) Epic

(B) Tale

(D) Sonnet

18. Which of the following is not a poet?

(A) William Shakespeare

(B) Terry Saylor

(D) Emily Dickinson

19. What is a sonnet?

(A) A poem of 6 lines

(B) A poem of 8 lines

(D) A poem of 14 lines

20. Which is not an English poet from England?

(A) Victor Hugo

(B) Alexander Pope

(D) S. T. Coleridge

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21. How many children Chaucer had?

(A) 4

(B) 1

(D) 2

22. Identify the writer who first used blank verse in English poetry?

(A) Sir Thomas Wyatt

(B) William Shakespeare

(C) Earl of Surrey

(D) John Milton

23. A verse form using a stanza of eight lines with 11 eleven syllables?

(A) Spenserian Stanza

(B) Ballad

(C) Ottava Rima

(D) Rhyme Royal

24. Geoffrey Chaucer served which king?

(A) Richard III

(B) James 1

(C) Edward III

(D) Henry II

25. The dominant feature of Chaucer’s humor is its:

(A) Urbanity

(B) Crudity

(D) Sanctity

26. What was the occupation of Chaucer’s father?

(A) Leather merchant

(B) Civil servant

(C) A vintner

(D) None of these

27. What was the duration of a hundred year’s war?

(A) 1300 to 1350

(B) 1337 to 1453

(C) 1302 to 1343

(D) None of these

English literature MCQs

28. Chaucer was released from legal action by … … … ……. In a deed of May 1, 1380 from rape and abduction?

(A) Miss Cecily Chaumpaigne

(B) Philippa de Roet of Flanders

(D) None of these

29. Chaucer became a Member of Parliament in…….?

(A) 1386

(B) 1300

(D) None of these

30. “Renaissance” is a:

(A). French word

(B) Italian word

(D) Spanish word

31. What is the meaning of “Renaissance?”

(A) Rebirth, revival, and re-awaking

(B) Reveal, revel and reverie

(D) None of these

32. Renaissance first came to the:

(A) France

(B) Italy

(D) Romeo

33. Which century is known as the Dawn of Renaissance?

(A) 14th

(B) 15th

(D) 14th and 16th

34. He was not a Renaissance writer.

(A) William Shakespeare

(B) Sir Philip Sidney

(D) Sir Thomas Malory

35. The period of maturation, intellectual growth, and social graces during the Renaissance is called the:

(A) Aristocracy

(B) New age

(D) Enlightenment

36. Utopia was written by:

(A) Cervantes

(B) Machiavelli

(D) Thomas More

37. The northern Renaissance differed from the Italian Renaissance:

(A) Growth of religious activity among common/general people

(B) Earlier occurrence

(D) Decline in the use of Latin

38. Utopia was first printed in:

(A) 1615

(B) 1516

(D) 1518 0

39. Philip Sidney was born on 30th November:

(A) 1553

(B) 1554

(D) 1550

40. Who wrote “Holy Sonnets”?

(A) Edmund Spenser

(B) John Donne

(D) John Milton

41. “On his blindness”, a collection of sonnets is produced by:

(A) Edmund Spencer

(B) John Milton

(D) Sir Philip Sidney

42. Spencer got married on June 11, 1594. To whom did he get married?

(A) Elizabeth Wilton Daughter Of Lord Grey De Wilton

(B) Elizabeth Raleigh Daughter Of Walter Raleigh

(C) Elizabeth Boyle Daughter Of James Boyle

(D) Elizabeth Boyle Daughter Of Richard Boyle

43. John Donne’s “The Anniversaries” is a:

(A) An elegy in two parties

(B) An epic in three parts

(D) None of these

44. What are the beginning and ending dates of the Elizabethan era?

(A) 1558-1603

(B) 1500-1520

(D) 1575-1600

45. Who was the mother of Elizabeth I?

(A) Catherine of Aragon

(B) Jane Seymour

(D) Anne Boleyn

46. In what year did England and Spain fight a famous sea battle?

(A) 1500

(B) 1588

(D) 1575

47. Which relative did Elizabeth I have executed?

(A) Anne Boleyn

(B) Mary I

(C) Mary, Queen of Scots

(D) Catherine of Aragon

48. Elizabeth had many occupational choices such as apothecary, clerk, physician, or even court jester. Although it seemed to be a myriad of careers to choose from, most people still finished up being very poor. In order to survive what illegal activity did a large number of citizens pursue?

(A) Begging

(B) Money lending

(D) Wine bottling

49. Elizabethans were notoriously superstitious. They (Elizabethans) were afraid of witches, supposed in magical animals, and sought good luck charms. What “science” did (Elizabethans) use in trying to forecast and control the future?

(A) Alchemy

(B) Metallurgy

(D) Astrology

50. Which of the following was the Tower of London used for in the Elizabethan age?

(A) As an astronomical observation deck

(B) As a storage place for grain

(C) As a prison

(D) As a school for the royal children

51. Who issued an interdict against Elizabeth?

(A) Pope Pius V

(B) Pope Innocent III

(D) Pope Boniface

52. Which of the following is a ceremony in which a sovereign is officially crowned?

(A) Investiture

(B) Invocation

(D) Coronation

53. Who was Edmund Spenser’s patron?

(A) The Earl of Leicestera

(B) Elizabeth

(D) Francis Bacon

54. What was a favourite entertainment in Elizabeth’s court?

(A) Swimming

(B) Gambling

(C) Jousting

(D) Backgammon

55. Which of the following disciplines most fascinated Elizabeth?

(A) Philology biz

(B) Alchemy

(D) Astrology

56. What was Elizabeth’s nickname for Sir Walter Raleigh?

(A) Waldimor

(B) Water

(D) Winter

57. The complex ranking system that Elizabethans believed ordered every single every single thing in the universe was known as:

(A) The Great Order of Life

(B) The Great Chain of Being OSD

(D) The Great Sonnet Symbolism Maker

58. What is the name for a shift in tone or meaning of a sonnet?

(A) Octave

(B) Volta

(D) Petrarchan

59. The origin of English drama is attributed to ………..

(A) The ballad
(B) The Chaucer School

(C) The lituogy (a religious ceremony of the church)
(D) The royal clowns

60. Who among the following is best known as the creator of an genre, the Picaresque novel?

(A) Lily
(B) Greene

61. Bacon had Barrowed the term Essay from the French writer………?

(A) De Meung
(B) Goethe

(C) Montiague
(D) De Loris

62. Bacon published the first edition of this Essay’s in………?

(A) 1589

(B) 1597

63. Who was the first great stylist in English prose?

(A) Lyly
(B) Sidney

(C) Bacon
(D) Dryden

64. Which of the following is not one of the satirical works of Ben Jonson?

(A) Every man in his Humour

(B) Every man out of his Humour

65. How many tales were actually planned by Chaucer for his Canterbury Tales, but how many could be complete? (A) 120 planned 20 completed

(B) 124 planned 24 completed

66. Name the longest Tale in the Canterbury Tales.
(A) The Wife of Bath’s

(B) The Franklin’s

(C) The knights

(D) The Cook’s

67. Who of the Following is considered the founder of English prose?

(A) King Arthur
(B) King Alfred

68. Into how many periods can we divide Chaucer’s works?
(A) 2 – French and English

(B) 3 – French and Italian

(C) 4 – French, English, Italian, and Latin
(D) 1-English only

69. Who wrote the Introductory Sonnets to Spencer’s Faerie Queen?

(A) Spenser’s himself

(B) Leicester
(C) Sir Philip Sidney

(D) Sir Walter Raleigha

70. Thomas Browne, the greatest prose writer of the puritan age, was by profession.

(A) A cobbler
(B) A doctor

71. Poetry in the Restoration period was
predominantly……?

(A) Lyrical
(B) Satirical

(D) Philosophical

72. John Milton was born in………?

(A) 1607
(B) 1608

73. How many books are contained in Paradise?

(A) 10
(B) 4

74. Marlowe born in ……..

(A) 1562
(B) 1563

(C) 1564
(D) 1565

75. One of Marlowe’s earliest published works was his translation of the epic poem ‘Pharsalia’, written by which Roman poet?

(A) Ovid

(B) Lucan

76. How many years of happiness was Dr Faustus promised by the Devil?

(A) 16

(B) 20

(C) 24

(D) 28

77. In Marlowe’s play, what was the name of the Jew of Malta?

(A) Lazarus

(B) Solomon

(C) Barabbas

(D) Shylock

78. The play written by Marlowe named ‘Tamburlaine’ the Great’ was based loosely on the life of an Asian ruler, name the rule.

(A) Zhu Yuanzhang

(B) Genghis Khan

(C) Timur

(D) Kubla Khan

79. What is Christopher Marlowe’s Nationality?

(A) British

(B) German

(D) American

80. The occupation of Christopher Marlowe’s father?

(A) Carpenter

(B) Civil servant

(C) Cobbler

(D) Farmer

81. From where Christopher Marlowe received his early education?

(A) Corpus Christ college

(B) Cambridge

(D) Wittenberg

82. Marlow died which disease of?

(A) Illness

(B) Stabbing

(D) Hanged

83. Which was Marlowe’s first play?

(A) Dr. Faustus

(B) Tamburlaine

(D) The Jew of Malta

84. In what country is ‘Dr Faustus’ based? (A) England

(B) Italy

(D) Germany

85. Which powerful figure does Faustus ridicule with his new-found powers?

(A) The Pope

(B) The Roman Emperor

(D) The King of France

86. At the end of the play, Faustus is dragged down to hell, begging to repent.

(A) True

(B) False

87. William Shakespeare born in:

(A) 26 April 1567

(B) 26 April 1566

(D) 26 April 1564

88. William Shakespeare was……child of john and Mary:

(A) Second

(B) Fourth

(D) Fifth

89. He married to the Anne Hathaway at the age of… in…

(A) 18, 1582

(B) 17, 1581

(D) 15, 1579

90. Ann Hathaway was… …years older than Shakespeare:

(A) 7

(B) 8

(D) 10

91. Shakespeare is buried inside the:

(A) Westminster Abbey

(B) Trinity Church

(D) None of above

92. By…… Shakespeare had established himself in London as an actor and dramatist:

(A) 1590

(B) 1591

(C) 1592

(D) 1593

93. In which town was Shakespeare born?

(A) London

(B) Cambridge

(C) Stratford

(D) Oxford

94. How many children did Shakespeare have?

(A) 3

(B) 5

(D) 12

95. How many plays did William Shakespeare write?

(A) 36

(B) 37

(D) 39

96. What was Shakespeare’s first play? (A) King Lear
(B) Henry VI

(D) Romeo and Juliet

97. How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write?

(A) 110

(B) 154

98. Shakespeare died on?

(A) 23rd April 1616

(B) 25th April 1616
(C) 28th April 1616

(D) 30th April 1616

99. Shakespeare died at the age of

(A) 48
(B) 52

100. Suicide occurs in Shakespeare’s plays?

(A) 7 times
(B) 9 times

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English literature MCQs

English literature MCQs

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