William Shakespeare’s
Sonnet 129
1. What does Sonnet 129 primarily depict? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, DSSSB, CUET)
A) a) The joy of love
B) b) The destructive nature of lust
C) c) The beauty of nature
D) d) The passage of time
Ans: Answer: b) The destructive nature of lust
2. What phrase begins Sonnet 129? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, NET)
A) a) “Shall I compare thee”
B) b) “Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame”
C) c) “When in disgrace”
D) d) “Let me not to the marriage”
Ans: Answer: b) “Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame”
3. How does Shakespeare describe lust before it's acted upon? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, DSSSB)
A) a) Gentle and kind
B) b) Perjured, murderous, bloody
C) c) Pure and sacred
D) d) Innocent and cold
Ans: Answer: b) Perjured, murderous, bloody
4. Which word is NOT used in the description of lust in the first quatrain? (PGTRB, DSSSB, CUET)
A) a) Savage
B) b) Rude
C) c) Cruel
D) d) Graceful
Ans: Answer: d) Graceful
5. What happens "no sooner had" lust than... (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, NET)
A) a) It is celebrated
B) b) It is despised
C) c) It is forgotten
D) d) It is praised
Ans: Answer: b) It is despised
6. What metaphor likens lust to something deadly? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, CUET)
A) a) A flame
B) b) A swallowed bait
C) c) A rising tide
D) d) A morning dew
Ans: Answer: b) A swallowed bait
7. What does "Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had / Past reason hated..." illustrate? (PGTRB, DSSSB, NET)
A) a) Rational desire
B) b) Lust beyond reason
C) c) Calm reflection
D) d) Maternal instinct
Ans: Answer: b) Lust beyond reason
8. The phrases “Had, having, and in quest to have” emphasize what? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC)
A) a) Contentment
B) b) Repetition and obsession
C) c) Fear
D) d) Peace
Ans: Answer: b) Repetition and obsession
9. What contrast does the line “A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe” convey? (UPSC, PGTRB, DSSSB)
A) a) Joy of youth versus age
B) b) Pleasure becomes pain
C) c) Friendship turned betrayal
D) d) Hope versus despair
Ans: Answer: b) Pleasure becomes pain
10. How does the poet refer to lust before action? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, CUET)
A) a) Savage and untrustworthy
B) b) Beautiful and gentle
C) c) Free and pure
D) d) Reliable and comforting
Ans: Answer: a) Savage and untrustworthy
11. What does "before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream" suggest? (PGTRB, DSSSB, NET)
A) a) Lust is predictable
B) b) Anticipation precedes a fleeting and insubstantial outcome
C) c) Dreams are fulfilled by lust
D) d) Reality is better than dreams
Ans: Answer: b) Anticipation precedes a fleeting and insubstantial outcome
12. Which tone does the sonnet mostly use? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, CUET)
A) a) Romantic and hopeful
B) b) Reflective and regretful
C) c) Joyous and celebratory
D) d) Angry and rebellious
Ans: Answer: b) Reflective and regretful
13. What kind of point of view does the sonnet adopt by addressing lust impersonally? (UPSC, PGTRB, DSSSB)
A) a) First-person anecdotal
B) b) Detached, almost objective
C) c) Third-person omniscient narrator
D) d) Direct moral sermon
Ans: Answer: b) Detached, almost objective
14. The final couplet “All this the world well knows; yet none knows well / To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell” highlights what paradox? (PGTRB, TNPSC, NET)
A) a) Beauty is painful
B) b) People avoid hell by seeking heaven, yet they fail to shun lust
C) c) Heaven and hell are the same
D) d) Everyone understands the danger of lust
Ans: Answer: b) People avoid hell by seeking heaven, yet they fail to shun lust
15. Which rhyme scheme does Sonnet 129 follow? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, CUET)
A) a) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
B) b) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
C) c) AABB CCDD EEFF GG
D) d) ABC ABC DEF DEF GG
Ans: Answer: b) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
16. In which poetic metre is Sonnet 129 written? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, DSSSB)
A) a) Trochaic tetrameter
B) b) Iambic pentameter
C) c) Dactylic hexameter
D) d) Free verse
Ans: Answer: b) Iambic pentameter
17. How many quatrains does the sonnet contain before its couplet? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC)
A) a) One
B) b) Two
C) c) Three
D) d) Four
Ans: Answer: c) Three
18. What is the sonnet number of “Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame”? (UPSC, PGTRB, NET, CUET)
A) a) Sonnet 126
B) b) Sonnet 129
C) c) Sonnet 132
D) d) Sonnet 134
Ans: Answer: b) Sonnet 129
19. What kind of thematic structure does the poem exhibit? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, DSSSB)
A) a) A three-stage psychological cycle—lust before, during, and after
B) b) A praise of enduring love
C) c) A religious allegory
D) d) A political critique
Ans: Answer: a) A three-stage psychological cycle—lust before, during, and after
20. Which line best expresses regret after lust? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, NET)
A) a) “A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe”
B) b) “Before, a joy proposed”
C) c) “Mad in pursuit, and in possession so”
D) d) “Till action, lust”
Ans: Answer: a) “A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe”
21. What literary device is used in “Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme”? (PGTRB, DSSSB)
A) a) Metaphor
B) b) Anaphora
C) c) Onomatopoeia
D) d) Synecdoche
Ans: Answer: b) Anaphora
22. What opposing emotions are tightly wedded in the sonnet? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, CUET)
A) a) Love and hate
B) b) Joy and despair
C) c) Courage and fear
D) d) Hope and nothing
Ans: Answer: b) Joy and despair
23. What structural device marks the shift in tone at line 9? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, NET)
A) a) Enjambment
B) b) Caesura
C) c) Shift to couplet
D) d) Use of archaic language
Ans: Answer: c) Shift to couplet
24. Which image in Sonnet 129 likens lust to a trap? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, DSSSB)
A) a) Savage, extreme
B) b) Swallowed bait
C) c) Expensive spirit
D) d) Dream
Ans: Answer: b) Swallowed bait
25. What is the speaker’s final understanding about lust? (UPSC, PGTRB, TNPSC, CUET)
A) a) It is avoidable
B) b) It is pleasurable forever
C) c) People cannot resist despite known consequences
D) d) It leads to spiritual fulfillment
Ans: Answer: c) People cannot resist despite known consequences
26. Which line summarizes the sonnet’s moral? (UPSC, PGTRB, DSSSB)
A) a) “Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame”
B) b) “Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had, / Past reason hated”
C) c) “All this the world well knows; yet none knows well / To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell”
D) d) “Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme”
Ans: Answer: c) “All this the world well knows; yet none knows well / To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell”
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