Alfred Lord Tennyson – Ulysses – Exam Based MCQs
1. Ulysses is a poem written by: (UGC NET / SET / PGTRB)
A) Robert Browning
B) Alfred Lord Tennyson
C) Matthew Arnold
D) W.B. Yeats
Ans: B) Alfred Lord Tennyson
2. The poem Ulysses was published in: (SET / PGTRB)
A) 1798
B) 1805
C) 1855
D) 1842
Ans: D) 1842
3. Ulysses appeared in Tennyson’s volume titled: (UGC NET)
A) Poems (1842)
B) Men and Women (1855)
C) Poems (1853)
D) Lyrical Ballads (1798)
Ans: A) Poems (1842)
4. Ulysses is best described as a: (UGC NET / SET)
A) Sonnet
B) Ballad
C) Dramatic monologue
D) Epic
Ans: C) Dramatic monologue
5. Ulysses is another name for: (PGTRB)
A) Achilles
B) Odysseus
C) Hector
D) Aeneas
Ans: B) Odysseus
6. The poem begins with Ulysses complaining about: (UGC NET)
A) A dull, inactive life at home
B) A storm at sea
C) A court trial
D) A battle in Troy
Ans: A) A dull, inactive life at home
7. Ulysses is the king of: (SET)
A) Sparta
B) Thebes
C) Troy
D) Ithaca
Ans: D) Ithaca
8. In the poem, Ulysses calls his people: (UGC NET / SET)
A) Brave philosophers
B) Warriors of Troy
C) “A savage race”
D) “Children of light”
Ans: C) “A savage race”
9. The poem shows Ulysses longing mainly for: (UGC NET)
A) Farming
B) Travel and adventure
C) Political office
D) Wealth and trade
Ans: B) Travel and adventure
10. Telemachus is: (PGTRB)
A) Ulysses’ son and heir
B) Ulysses’ enemy
C) Ulysses’ ship
D) A Trojan prince
Ans: A) Ulysses’ son and heir
11. Ulysses describes Telemachus as: (SET)
A) Wild and reckless
B) Cowardly and weak
C) Greedy and cruel
D) Prudent, patient, and suited to rule
Ans: D) Prudent, patient, and suited to rule
12. The poem’s main theme is: (UGC NET / SET)
A) Revenge on enemies
B) Comedy of marriage
C) The spirit of striving beyond old age
D) Religious conversion
Ans: C) The spirit of striving beyond old age
13. Ulysses feels it is “vile” to: (UGC NET)
A) Stop seeking knowledge and experience
B) Sail with his mariners
C) Fight in Troy
D) Speak to his son
Ans: A) Stop seeking knowledge and experience
14. “I am become a name” suggests Ulysses is: (SET)
A) Unknown to the world
B) Famous because of his adventures
C) A monk in hiding
D) A poet in exile
Ans: B) Famous because of his adventures
15. The poem suggests life should be lived as: (UGC NET)
A) Complete silence
B) Only obedience
C) Only comfort
D) Continuous quest and experience
Ans: D) Continuous quest and experience
16. The phrase “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” is from: (UGC NET / SET)
A) Dover Beach
B) My Last Duchess
C) Ulysses
D) The Scholar-Gipsy
Ans: C) Ulysses
17. Ulysses speaks to “my mariners” at the end, showing: (SET / PGTRB)
A) Leadership and persuasion
B) Fear of travel
C) Hatred of the sea
D) Desire to resign forever
Ans: A) Leadership and persuasion
18. The tone of the poem is mainly: (UGC NET)
A) Only comic
B) Only tragic
C) Only religious
D) Resolute, reflective, inspirational
Ans: D) Resolute, reflective, inspirational
19. The poem belongs to the period called: (UGC NET)
A) Elizabethan
B) Victorian
C) Modernist
D) Restoration
Ans: B) Victorian
20. Ulysses’ problem at the start is that he is: (PGTRB)
A) A young warrior
B) A sailor without a ship
C) An aging king dissatisfied with rest
D) A prisoner of war
Ans: C) An aging king dissatisfied with rest
21. The poem emphasizes that “experience” is: (UGC NET)
A) Like an arch through which we see more
B) A trap to avoid
C) Only for the young
D) Always harmful
Ans: A) Like an arch through which we see more
22. Ulysses’ attitude toward “old age” is: (SET)
A) Old age means total defeat
B) Old age should end all action
C) Old age should only sleep
D) Old age still has “honour and work”
Ans: D) Old age still has “honour and work”
23. The poem uses the classical world mainly from: (UGC NET / SET)
A) Roman comedy
B) Greek epic tradition (Odyssey legend)
C) Norse sagas
D) Indian epics only
Ans: B) Greek epic tradition (Odyssey legend)
24. The poem is mainly written in: (UGC NET)
A) Couplets
B) Spenserian stanza
C) Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)
D) Limerick form
Ans: C) Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)
25. Telemachus is described as “centered in the sphere of”: (SET)
A) “common duties”
B) “wild battles”
C) “sea storms”
D) “royal revenge”
Ans: A) “common duties”
26. Ulysses’ desire to travel again suggests: (UGC NET)
A) Fear of risk
B) Love of domestic comfort only
C) Desire to avoid knowledge
D) Unquenchable curiosity and will
Ans: D) Unquenchable curiosity and will
27. The poem’s structure has three main parts: (PGTRB)
A) War, victory, marriage
B) Complaint at home, praise of Telemachus, call to mariners
C) Prayer, sermon, hymn
D) Trial, verdict, punishment
Ans: B) Complaint at home, praise of Telemachus, call to mariners
28. The poem celebrates the idea of: (UGC NET / SET)
A) Giving up early
B) Hating adventure
C) Perseverance and heroic resolve
D) Avoiding effort always
Ans: C) Perseverance and heroic resolve
29. The line “Life piled on life” suggests: (SET)
A) Rich accumulation of experiences
B) Only sadness
C) Only laziness
D) Only fear
Ans: A) Rich accumulation of experiences
30. The poem is NOT mainly about: (UGC NET)
A) Heroic aspiration
B) Old age and purpose
C) Desire for exploration
D) A detailed love story of Ulysses and Penelope
Ans: D) A detailed love story of Ulysses and Penelope
31. “To rust unburnish’d” is used as a metaphor for: (SET)
A) Proud victory
B) Wasting life in inactivity
C) Religious prayer
D) Farming routine
Ans: B) Wasting life in inactivity
32. Ulysses believes that to live fully is to: (UGC NET)
A) Sleep and forget
B) Stay forever at home
C) “Drink life to the lees” (live intensely)
D) Avoid all risks
Ans: C) “Drink life to the lees” (live intensely)
33. The mariners are described as men who have: (PGTRB)
A) “toiled” and “wrought” with Ulysses
B) never travelled
C) refused the sea
D) lived only in palaces
Ans: A) “toiled” and “wrought” with Ulysses
34. Ulysses’ final aim is to sail beyond: (SET)
A) London
B) Troy
C) Rome
D) The sunset and the baths of all the western stars
Ans: D) The sunset and the baths of all the western stars
35. The poem shows a conflict between: (UGC NET)
A) Science and superstition
B) Domestic duty and personal desire for adventure
C) Comedy and tragedy
D) City and industry
Ans: B) Domestic duty and personal desire for adventure
36. Ulysses respects Telemachus because he can: (SET)
A) win Trojan wars
B) sail faster than all
C) govern wisely and civilize the people
D) defeat Poseidon
Ans: C) govern wisely and civilize the people
37. The poem is often interpreted as celebrating: (UGC NET / SET)
A) The human will to continue striving
B) Total surrender to fate
C) Laziness as wisdom
D) Only romantic love
Ans: A) The human will to continue striving
38. “It may be that the gulfs will wash us down” suggests: (PGTRB)
A) Guaranteed success
B) No danger at all
C) Only comfort and peace
D) Awareness of risk and possible death
Ans: D) Awareness of risk and possible death
39. The poem’s speaker is: (UGC NET)
A) Telemachus
B) Ulysses himself
C) Penelope
D) A Trojan soldier
Ans: B) Ulysses himself
40. The poem suggests that knowledge should be: (SET)
A) avoided
B) limited to books only
C) pursued through experience and travel
D) stopped after youth
Ans: C) pursued through experience and travel
41. “Little remains: but every hour is saved” means: (UGC NET)
A) Even limited time should be used well
B) Time is meaningless
C) Rest is always best
D) Adventure is useless
Ans: A) Even limited time should be used well
42. In the poem, Telemachus is associated mainly with: (SET)
A) reckless adventure
B) sea storms
C) war glory
D) duty, order, and “slow prudence”
Ans: D) duty, order, and “slow prudence”
43. The poem ends with a call that is: (UGC NET)
A) weak and uncertain
B) bold and motivational
C) comic and playful
D) purely religious
Ans: B) bold and motivational
44. One major symbol in the poem is the: (PGTRB)
A) courtroom
B) factory
C) sea/voyage (life as journey)
D) library catalogue
Ans: C) sea/voyage (life as journey)
45. The poem suggests that greatness involves: (SET)
A) Continuing effort even in decline
B) stopping all action after youth
C) refusing knowledge
D) living only for comfort
Ans: A) Continuing effort even in decline
46. The poem Ulysses mainly highlights: (UGC NET / SET)
A) rural farming techniques
B) courtly romance only
C) detective mystery
D) heroic aspiration and restless spirit
Ans: D) heroic aspiration and restless spirit
47. A key feature of dramatic monologue is: (UGC NET)
A) many speakers share equal lines
B) one speaker reveals inner mind while addressing a listener
C) only rhyme scheme matters
D) no character is revealed
Ans: B) one speaker reveals inner mind while addressing a listener
48. Ulysses’ dissatisfaction is strongest because he: (PGTRB)
A) hates the sea
B) fears knowledge
C) cannot accept a life without action
D) refuses to lead
Ans: C) cannot accept a life without action
49. The poem presents Ulysses as: (UGC NET)
A) a restless seeker of experience
B) a completely satisfied ruler
C) a silent observer
D) a comic fool
Ans: A) a restless seeker of experience
50. Ulysses is most useful for exams because it illustrates: (UGC NET / SET / PGTRB)
A) only nature imagery
B) only rhyme patterns
C) only comic satire
D) dramatic monologue + theme of striving
Ans: D) dramatic monologue + theme of striving
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