Francis Bacon – “Of Ambition” – Exam Based MCQs
1. “Of Ambition” is an essay written by: (UGC NET)
A) Joseph Addison
B) Francis Bacon
C) Charles Lamb
D) Thomas Browne
Ans: B) Francis Bacon
2. Francis Bacon belongs mainly to the: (SET)
A) Romantic age
B) Victorian age
C) Modern age
D) Elizabethan/Jacobean age
Ans: D) Elizabethan/Jacobean age
3. “Of Ambition” belongs to Bacon’s collection: (PGTRB)
A) The Spectator
B) Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral
C) The Tatler
D) Table Talk
Ans: B) Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral
4. The central theme of the essay “Of Ambition” is: (UGC NET)
A) Truth and falsehood
B) Friendship and counsel
C) The nature and effects of ambition in public life
D) Love and marriage
Ans: C) The nature and effects of ambition in public life
5. Bacon says ambition is like: (SET)
A) A peaceful river
B) Choler (an active, restless humour)
C) A gentle breeze
D) A silent prayer
Ans: B) Choler (an active, restless humour)
6. According to Bacon, ambitious men are useful if they are: (PGTRB)
A) Left entirely free
B) Controlled and properly managed
C) Avoided altogether
D) Made kings immediately
Ans: B) Controlled and properly managed
7. Bacon believes ambition becomes dangerous when: (UGC NET)
A) It is absent
B) It is joined with ability and freedom without restraint
C) It is hidden in private life
D) It is directed to study
Ans: B) It is joined with ability and freedom without restraint
8. In the essay, Bacon is mainly concerned with ambition in: (SET)
A) Family life only
B) Religious ceremonies only
C) Political and court life
D) Rural farming life
Ans: C) Political and court life
9. Bacon says princes should deal with ambitious men by: (PGTRB)
A) Trusting them completely
B) Keeping them poor always
C) Using, balancing, and limiting them
D) Exiling them all
Ans: C) Using, balancing, and limiting them
10. Bacon’s attitude toward ambition is: (UGC NET)
A) Entirely approving
B) Entirely sentimental
C) Practical and cautionary
D) Purely comic
Ans: C) Practical and cautionary
11. Bacon suggests that ambitious men are often: (SET)
A) Easy to satisfy
B) Restless and troublesome
C) Always wise
D) Naturally humble
Ans: B) Restless and troublesome
12. According to Bacon, ambition is least harmful when it is found in: (PGTRB)
A) A prince with no counsellors
B) A person without means to execute it
C) A military commander in war
D) A scholar with influence
Ans: B) A person without means to execute it
13. Bacon says ambitious men are less dangerous when they are: (UGC NET)
A) Proud and isolated
B) Of mean birth or newly raised
C) Naturally silent
D) Learned poets
Ans: B) Of mean birth or newly raised
14. Bacon thinks ambitious men of high birth may be more dangerous because: (SET)
A) They lack courage
B) They think themselves equal to princes
C) They are too poor
D) They dislike honour
Ans: B) They think themselves equal to princes
15. In Bacon’s view, a prince should especially watch ambitious men who are: (PGTRB)
A) Idle and unlearned
B) Capable, popular, and discontented
C) Physically weak
D) Entirely obedient
Ans: B) Capable, popular, and discontented
16. Bacon’s essay “Of Ambition” is mainly a: (UGC NET)
A) Dramatic monologue
B) Reflective prose essay
C) Lyric poem
D) Historical chronicle
Ans: B) Reflective prose essay
17. Bacon’s prose style is known for being: (SET)
A) Rambling and emotional
B) Aphoristic and concise
C) Fully dramatic
D) Musical and lyrical
Ans: B) Aphoristic and concise
18. Bacon thinks princes may employ ambitious men because: (PGTRB)
A) They are always loyal
B) They are energetic and eager to achieve
C) They dislike action
D) They avoid honour
Ans: B) They are energetic and eager to achieve
19. Bacon says one way to check ambition is to: (UGC NET)
A) Leave one man all power
B) Balance one ambitious man against another
C) Ignore court politics
D) Reward all equally
Ans: B) Balance one ambitious man against another
20. Bacon’s treatment of ambition is mainly: (SET)
A) Moral and political
B) Religious and mystical only
C) Comic and playful
D) Entirely personal
Ans: A) Moral and political
21. According to Bacon, ambitious men are often difficult because they: (PGTRB)
A) Prefer peace and retirement
B) Seek their own rise beyond proper limits
C) Refuse all honour
D) Distrust themselves
Ans: B) Seek their own rise beyond proper limits
22. Bacon values ambition only when it is: (UGC NET)
A) Left without control
B) Directed into useful public service
C) Hidden in private resentment
D) Joined with revenge
Ans: B) Directed into useful public service
23. Bacon says it is safer when ambition is found in men who: (SET)
A) Have much to lose
B) Are humble and tied by dependence
C) Are equal to the ruler in status
D) Possess armies of their own
Ans: B) Are humble and tied by dependence
24. The essay implies that unchecked ambition may lead to: (PGTRB)
A) Stability always
B) Disorder and danger in the state
C) Poetry and art
D) Religious reform only
Ans: B) Disorder and danger in the state
25. Bacon’s essay suggests that rulers should: (UGC NET)
A) Destroy all ambitious persons
B) Understand and regulate ambitious personalities
C) Reward ambition without question
D) Ignore ability
Ans: B) Understand and regulate ambitious personalities
26. Bacon is often called the father of the: (SET)
A) English novel
B) English essay
C) English drama
D) English epic
Ans: B) English essay
27. Bacon’s essays are admired for their: (PGTRB)
A) Long narratives
B) Brevity, wisdom, and practicality
C) Dramatic suspense only
D) Musical quality only
Ans: B) Brevity, wisdom, and practicality
28. Bacon uses “choler” as a metaphor to emphasize ambition’s: (UGC NET)
A) Calmness
B) Passive nature
C) Heat, activity, and disturbance
D) Spiritual peace
Ans: C) Heat, activity, and disturbance
29. The essay “Of Ambition” reflects Bacon’s interest in: (SET)
A) Courtly love
B) Human conduct and statecraft
C) Rural simplicity only
D) Mythological fantasy
Ans: B) Human conduct and statecraft
30. Bacon implies that rulers need ambitious men because they: (PGTRB)
A) Are always harmless
B) Provide energy for action and enterprise
C) Reject honour
D) Avoid public work
Ans: B) Provide energy for action and enterprise
31. Bacon’s overall view of ambition is that it is: (UGC NET)
A) Always evil
B) Always noble
C) Potentially useful but dangerous if unregulated
D) Entirely personal and harmless
Ans: C) Potentially useful but dangerous if unregulated
32. Bacon’s method in this essay is to: (SET)
A) Tell a long story
B) Argue through maxims, observations, and examples
C) Use dramatic dialogue
D) Write in verse
Ans: B) Argue through maxims, observations, and examples
33. Bacon thinks one should especially suspect ambitious men who are: (PGTRB)
A) Quiet and modest
B) Highly capable and unable to rest content
C) Entirely poor and unknown
D) Devoted only to books
Ans: B) Highly capable and unable to rest content
34. The essay implies that ambition is safer in subordinates when they are: (UGC NET)
A) Entirely independent
B) Easily removable or dependent on favor
C) Equal in power to the prince
D) Supported by the army alone
Ans: B) Easily removable or dependent on favor
35. Bacon’s essay is ultimately useful as: (SET)
A) A romantic confession
B) Practical advice for rulers and statesmen
C) A poetic meditation on nature
D) A comic sketch of court life
Ans: B) Practical advice for rulers and statesmen
36. Bacon’s concern in “Of Ambition” is mainly with ambition as it affects: (PGTRB)
A) Private romance
B) Public order and political power
C) Religious ritual
D) Literary taste
Ans: B) Public order and political power
37. Bacon’s essays remain memorable because of their: (UGC NET)
A) Lengthy descriptions
B) Precision, wit, and wisdom
C) Dramatic plot
D) Sentimental style
Ans: B) Precision, wit, and wisdom
38. Which statement best fits Bacon’s thought? (SET)
A) Ambition should always be crushed
B) Ambition should always be rewarded
C) Ambition must be used with caution and political judgment
D) Ambition is irrelevant to government
Ans: C) Ambition must be used with caution
39. Bacon’s tone in “Of Ambition” is: (PGTRB)
A) Humorous
B) Romantic
C) Practical and analytical
D) Emotional and lyrical
Ans: C) Practical and analytical
40. Bacon’s treatment of ambition shows him as a writer of: (UGC NET)
A) Moral philosophy and statecraft
B) Emotional fantasy
C) Pastoral romance
D) Purely religious meditation
Ans: A) Moral philosophy and statecraft
41. In Bacon’s view, ambition without check may result in: (SET)
A) Better poetry
B) Public mischief
C) Family harmony
D) Religious peace
Ans: B) Public mischief
42. Bacon’s essay finally teaches that ambition should be: (PGTRB)
A) Blindly followed
B) Wisely managed
C) Entirely ignored
D) Praised in everyone equally
Ans: B) Wisely managed
43. The essay is important because it explores: (UGC NET)
A) The beauty of ambition
B) The political uses and dangers of ambition
C) The uselessness of action
D) The pleasures of private life only
Ans: B) Political uses and dangers of ambition
44. Bacon’s essay reflects Renaissance thinking because it values: (SET)
A) Human judgment and practical wisdom
B) Blind fortune only
C) Myth and superstition
D) Emotional excess only
Ans: A) Human judgment and practical wisdom
45. Bacon suggests ambitious men may be tolerated if they are: (PGTRB)
A) Entirely inactive
B) Useful to the state and not too powerful
C) Equal to the ruler
D) Free from all oversight
Ans: B) Useful and not too powerful
46. Bacon’s “Of Ambition” is best read as: (UGC NET)
A) A practical warning about political character
B) A love poem
C) A satire on scholars
D) A religious confession
Ans: A) A practical warning about political character
47. Bacon shows that ambition is not simply good or bad, but: (SET)
A) Entirely evil
B) Entirely noble
C) Dependent on how it is directed and restrained
D) Meaningless in politics
Ans: C) Dependent on how it is directed and restrained
48. The best summary of Bacon’s “Of Ambition” is: (PGTRB)
A) Ambition should rule the state
B) Ambition is a restless force that must be politically controlled
C) Ambition belongs only to kings
D) Ambition destroys all ability
Ans: B) Ambition is a restless force
49. Bacon’s essays continue to be valued for their: (UGC NET)
A) Emotional storytelling
B) Wisdom, relevance, and compact expression
C) Musical lyricism
D) Dramatic realism
Ans: B) Wisdom, relevance, and compact expression
50. “Of Ambition” finally upholds: (SET)
A) Passion over reason
B) Political prudence and control over dangerous impulses
C) Blind trust in favourites
D) Equality of all ambition
Ans: B) Political prudence and control over dangerous impulses
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