P. B. Shelley – Adonais – Exam Based MCQs
1. Adonais is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) John Keats
B) Lord Byron
C) Percy Bysshe Shelley
D) William Blake
Ans: C) Percy Bysshe Shelley
2. Adonais is primarily an elegy on the death of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) John Keats
B) Samuel Johnson
C) John Milton
D) William Wordsworth
Ans: A) John Keats
3. Adonais was written and published in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1798
B) 1800
C) 1815
D) 1821
Ans: D) 1821
4. The poem is best classified as a: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Mock epic
B) Pastoral elegy
C) Dramatic monologue
D) Ballad
Ans: B) Pastoral elegy
5. Adonais is written in: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Spenserian stanzas
B) Heroic couplets
C) Blank verse only
D) Free verse
Ans: A) Spenserian stanzas
6. Adonais contains how many Spenserian stanzas? (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) 44
B) 60
C) 55
D) 14
Ans: C) 55
7. The total number of lines in Adonais is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 154
B) 365
C) 500
D) 495
Ans: D) 495
8. A Spenserian stanza has: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) 7 lines
B) 9 lines
C) 10 lines
D) 12 lines
Ans: B) 9 lines
9. The rhyme scheme of the Spenserian stanza is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) ABABBCBCC
B) ABABABCC
C) AABBCCDD
D) ABCABCABC
Ans: A) ABABBCBCC
10. In a Spenserian stanza, the final line is an: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Octosyllabic line
B) Trochaic line
C) Alexandrine (iambic hexameter)
D) Spondee line
Ans: C) Alexandrine (iambic hexameter)
11. The title Adonais refers to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) A Roman emperor
B) An English king
C) A biblical prophet
D) Adonis (a figure of myth linked with death and rebirth)
Ans: D) Adonis (a figure of myth linked with death and rebirth)
12. The poem belongs mainly to the: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Victorian Age
B) Romantic Age
C) Metaphysical Age
D) Restoration Age
Ans: B) Romantic Age
13. Adonais is often compared with Milton’s: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Lycidas
B) Paradise Regained
C) Comus
D) Samson Agonistes
Ans: A) Lycidas
14. The opening mood of Adonais is primarily: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Comic
B) Satirical
C) Grief and lamentation
D) Celebration of war
Ans: C) Grief and lamentation
15. The poem later moves towards: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Pure cynicism
B) Comic relief only
C) Political propaganda
D) Consolation and spiritual affirmation
Ans: D) Consolation and spiritual affirmation
16. “Urania” in the poem is invoked as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A river goddess
B) A muse/figure associated with heavenly inspiration
C) A warrior queen
D) A sea monster
Ans: B) A muse/figure associated with heavenly inspiration
17. A key theme of Adonais is the idea that: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) The poet’s fame survives death
B) Nature is meaningless
C) Love is impossible
D) History repeats mechanically
Ans: A) The poet’s fame survives death
18. The phrase “The One remains, the many change” expresses: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Darwinian evolution
B) Pure skepticism
C) A Platonic/idealistic view of eternal reality
D) Medieval feudalism
Ans: C) A Platonic/idealistic view of eternal reality
19. The image “dome of many-colour’d glass” is used to suggest: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A palace festival
B) A scientific telescope
C) A literal cathedral dome
D) Mortal life distorting eternal truth
Ans: D) Mortal life distorting eternal truth
20. The poem attacks the destructive power of: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Pastoral music
B) Harsh literary criticism (hostile reviewers)
C) Astronomy
D) Mythology
Ans: B) Harsh literary criticism (hostile reviewers)
21. In pastoral elegy tradition, the dead poet is often idealized as a: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Shepherd/beautiful youth
B) Soldier
C) Merchant
D) Judge
Ans: A) Shepherd/beautiful youth
22. The mourners in the poem include personifications of: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Only kings and queens
B) Only soldiers
C) Only farmers
D) Thoughts, feelings, and poetic powers
Ans: D) Thoughts, feelings, and poetic powers
23. The poem’s final vision presents Adonais as: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Forgotten forever
B) Condemned by gods
C) United with immortal beauty/light
D) A political ruler
Ans: C) United with immortal beauty/light
24. Keats is the author of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Endymion
B) Queen Mab
C) Childe Harold
D) In Memoriam
Ans: A) Endymion
25. The “Pilgrim of Eternity” in the poem refers to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Coleridge
B) Pope
C) Dryden
D) Lord Byron
Ans: D) Lord Byron
26. The poem is famous for blending grief with: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Detective suspense
B) Philosophy and idealism
C) Comic parody
D) Scientific experiments
Ans: B) Philosophy and idealism
27. Adonais is considered a major example of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Restoration comedy
B) Satirical epic
C) Romantic elegy
D) Medieval romance
Ans: C) Romantic elegy
28. In structure, the poem typically moves from mourning to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Transcendence/immortality
B) Legal judgment
C) Comic wedding
D) Military victory
Ans: A) Transcendence/immortality
29. The poem’s mythic method helps Shelley to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Avoid emotion completely
B) Write a newspaper report
C) Explain science
D) Universalize Keats’s death through symbolic figures
Ans: D) Universalize Keats’s death through symbolic figures
30. The poem suggests that hostile critics are like: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Helpful teachers
B) Poisonous “serpents” / destructive forces
C) Loyal friends
D) Angels
Ans: B) Poisonous “serpents” / destructive forces
31. The poem’s dominant imagery frequently involves: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Light and darkness
B) Factories only
C) Sports arenas
D) Courtroom trials
Ans: A) Light and darkness
32. The poem’s final consolation argues that death is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) A total end of meaning
B) A political punishment
C) A release into a higher reality
D) A comic trick
Ans: C) A release into a higher reality
33. The poem’s speaker finally turns from grief to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Revenge
B) Mockery
C) Indifference
D) Acceptance and aspiration
Ans: D) Acceptance and aspiration
34. The poem includes many references to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Accounting terms
B) Classical mythology
C) Computer science
D) Medieval trade laws
Ans: B) Classical mythology
35. The poem is important in Shelley’s career because it is often seen as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) One of his finest and best-known works
B) His first comedy
C) A political speech
D) A children’s rhyme
Ans: A) One of his finest and best-known works
36. The “fame after death” theme makes Adonais especially close to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Gothic horror
B) Detective fiction
C) Elegiac tradition
D) Travel writing
Ans: C) Elegiac tradition
37. The poem’s setting is not a single real place; it is mainly a: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Courtroom
B) Battlefield
C) Market street
D) Symbolic pastoral/ideal landscape
Ans: D) Symbolic pastoral/ideal landscape
38. Shelley’s elegy transforms Keats (Adonais) into a figure of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Political tyranny
B) Eternal beauty and poetic spirit
C) Comic trickery
D) Economic power
Ans: B) Eternal beauty and poetic spirit
39. The poem’s philosophical tone is often linked with: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Platonism/idealism
B) Naturalism only
C) Pure empiricism only
D) Medieval scholasticism only
Ans: A) Platonism/idealism
40. A key idea in the poem is that: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Poetry ends with death
B) Nature is always cruel
C) The poet becomes part of the “eternal”
D) Language is useless
Ans: C) The poet becomes part of the “eternal”
41. Which work is NOT by Shelley? (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Ode to the West Wind
B) Prometheus Unbound
C) To a Skylark
D) In Memoriam
Ans: D) In Memoriam
42. The poem’s method of calling on a “mighty Mother” figure is typical of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Detective stories
B) Classical/pastoral elegy conventions
C) Realist novels
D) Modern newspaper writing
Ans: B) Classical/pastoral elegy conventions
43. The poem’s long stanzas and linked rhyme scheme create a sense of: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Continuous musical flow
B) Broken fragments only
C) Pure dialogue
D) Comic speed
Ans: A) Continuous musical flow
44. In the elegiac tradition, a common final move is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) A detective reveal
B) A comic marriage
C) A turn to consolation and immortality
D) A political speech
Ans: C) A turn to consolation and immortality
45. Adonais is especially useful for studying Shelley’s: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Humour writing
B) Short-story craft
C) Stage dialogue
D) Elegiac imagination and philosophical lyricism
Ans: D) Elegiac imagination and philosophical lyricism
46. The poem implies that envy and criticism can: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Harm sensitive genius
B) Always improve literature
C) Have no effect at all
D) Create immortality instantly
Ans: A) Harm sensitive genius
47. The poem’s “light” imagery mainly symbolizes: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Money
B) Government
C) Spiritual/poetic immortality
D) Agriculture
Ans: C) Spiritual/poetic immortality
48. The poem’s central “Adonais” figure is best understood as a: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Real shepherd of Greece
B) Mythic name for Keats as the ideal poet
C) Roman senator
D) Naval commander
Ans: B) Mythic name for Keats as the ideal poet
49. Spenserian stanza was invented by: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Geoffrey Chaucer
B) John Donne
C) Alexander Pope
D) Edmund Spenser
Ans: D) Edmund Spenser
50. Which statement is TRUE about Adonais? (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) It is a pastoral elegy in 55 Spenserian stanzas on Keats
B) It is a satire on the French Revolution
C) It is a one-act play
D) It is a collection of sonnets
Ans: A) It is a pastoral elegy in 55 Spenserian stanzas on Keats
Let me know your doubts