History of English Literature – The Age of Shakespeare – Important MCQs (UGC NET / SET / PGTRB)

History of English Literature – The Age of Shakespeare – Exam Based MCQs

1. The Age of Shakespeare roughly covers: (UGC NET / SET / PGTRB)

A) Late 16th and early 17th centuries

B) 14th century only

C) 18th century only

D) 20th century only

Ans: A) Late 16th and early 17th centuries

2. The Age of Shakespeare is chiefly associated with the: (SET)

A) Restoration period

B) Romantic period

C) Elizabethan and early Jacobean age

D) Victorian age

Ans: C) Elizabethan and early Jacobean age

3. William Shakespeare is primarily known as: (UGC NET)

A) A satirist only

B) A dramatist and poet

C) A novelist only

D) A philosopher only

Ans: B) A dramatist and poet

4. Shakespeare is often called the: (PGTRB)

A) Father of English prose

B) Father of English criticism

C) National poet of England

D) First English novelist

Ans: C) National poet of England

5. The age is called “The Age of Shakespeare” because: (SET)

A) He was the only writer of the period

B) He dominated the literary glory of the period

C) He was a king

D) He wrote only sonnets

Ans: B) He dominated the literary glory of the period

6. The literary movement behind the age was the: (UGC NET)

A) Medieval movement

B) Puritan movement

C) Renaissance

D) Modernist movement

Ans: C) Renaissance

7. The Renaissance emphasized: (PGTRB)

A) Humanism and classical learning

B) Industrial machinery

C) Pure religious withdrawal only

D) Scientific fiction only

Ans: A) Humanism and classical learning

8. The ruler most associated with the flowering of Shakespearean literature is: (SET)

A) Queen Anne

B) Queen Victoria

C) Queen Elizabeth I

D) Mary Tudor only

Ans: C) Queen Elizabeth I

9. The Age of Shakespeare is especially famous for the development of: (UGC NET)

A) Novel

B) Drama

C) Short story

D) Essay only

Ans: B) Drama

10. The public theatre associated with Shakespeare is: (PGTRB)

A) The Globe

B) Drury Lane

C) The Haymarket

D) Covent Garden

Ans: A) The Globe

11. Shakespeare was associated with the acting company called: (SET)

A) King’s Men

B) Admiral’s Men only

C) Oxford Players

D) Royal Poets

Ans: A) King’s Men

12. Shakespeare’s plays are generally divided into: (UGC NET)

A) Epics and ballads

B) Comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances

C) Sonnets and odes

D) Essays and allegories

Ans: B) Comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances

13. Which of the following is a Shakespearean tragedy? (PGTRB)

A) As You Like It

B) Twelfth Night

C) Hamlet

D) The Tempest

Ans: C) Hamlet

14. Which of the following is a Shakespearean comedy? (SET)

A) Macbeth

B) King Lear

C) Othello

D) Twelfth Night

Ans: D) Twelfth Night

15. Which of the following is a Shakespearean history play? (UGC NET)

A) Henry IV

B) Antony and Cleopatra

C) Measure for Measure

D) Cymbeline

Ans: A) Henry IV

16. Shakespeare’s later plays like The Tempest are often called: (PGTRB)

A) Miracle plays

B) Romances

C) Morality plays

D) Interludes

Ans: B) Romances

17. Shakespeare’s non-dramatic poetic work includes: (SET)

A) Sonnets

B) Only prose pamphlets

C) Scientific treatises

D) Epic novels

Ans: A) Sonnets

18. Shakespeare wrote: (UGC NET)

A) 14 sonnets

B) 54 sonnets

C) 154 sonnets

D) 254 sonnets

Ans: C) 154 sonnets

19. Shakespeare’s sonnets are written mainly in: (PGTRB)

A) Petrarchan form only

B) Spenserian form

C) Shakespearean sonnet form

D) Blank verse form

Ans: C) Shakespearean sonnet form

20. A Shakespearean sonnet has: (SET)

A) Two quatrains and one sestet

B) Three quatrains and a couplet

C) One octave and one sestet only

D) Four couplets

Ans: B) Three quatrains and a couplet

21. The chief meter used in Shakespeare’s plays is: (UGC NET)

A) Heroic couplet

B) Blank verse

C) Free verse

D) Ballad meter

Ans: B) Blank verse

22. Blank verse means: (PGTRB)

A) Rhymed iambic pentameter

B) Unrhymed iambic pentameter

C) Free rhythm without meter

D) Rhymed tetrameter

Ans: B) Unrhymed iambic pentameter

23. Shakespeare’s greatness lies especially in his: (SET)

A) Scientific objectivity only

B) Characterization and universal insight

C) Strict classical rules only

D) Religious preaching only

Ans: B) Characterization and universal insight

24. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are memorable because they: (UGC NET)

A) Are perfectly flat figures

B) Combine greatness with fatal flaws

C) Never change

D) Are purely comic

Ans: B) Combine greatness with fatal flaws

25. “Hamartia” in Shakespearean tragedy means: (PGTRB)

A) Comic relief

B) Chorus

C) Fatal flaw or error

D) Happy ending

Ans: C) Fatal flaw or error

26. Another major dramatist of the age was: (SET)

A) John Donne

B) Christopher Marlowe

C) John Milton

D) Thomas Gray

Ans: B) Christopher Marlowe

27. Christopher Marlowe wrote: (UGC NET)

A) Volpone

B) Doctor Faustus

C) The Alchemist

D) Every Man in His Humour

Ans: B) Doctor Faustus

28. Marlowe is famous for introducing the “mighty line,” meaning: (PGTRB)

A) Heroic couplet

B) Powerful blank verse

C) Free verse prose

D) Rhymed lyric stanza

Ans: B) Powerful blank verse

29. Another important dramatist of the age was: (SET)

A) Ben Jonson

B) William Wordsworth

C) Alexander Pope

D) Thomas Hardy

Ans: A) Ben Jonson

30. Ben Jonson is known especially for his: (UGC NET)

A) Metaphysical lyrics

B) Comedy of humours

C) Epic romances

D) Pastoral elegies

Ans: B) Comedy of humours

31. Which of the following is by Ben Jonson? (PGTRB)

A) The Duchess of Malfi

B) Volpone

C) The White Devil

D) Doctor Faustus

Ans: B) Volpone

32. The prose of the age is represented by writers like: (SET)

A) Francis Bacon

B) John Keats

C) P.B. Shelley

D) Samuel Johnson

Ans: A) Francis Bacon

33. Francis Bacon is chiefly known for his: (UGC NET)

A) Sonnets

B) Essays

C) Ballads

D) Histories only

Ans: B) Essays

34. The Age of Shakespeare also saw the growth of: (PGTRB)

A) The essay form

B) The detective novel

C) The Gothic novel

D) The modern short story

Ans: A) The essay form

35. Edmund Spenser belongs broadly to the: (SET)

A) Shakespearean age

B) Augustan age

C) Victorian age

D) Romantic age

Ans: A) Shakespearean age

36. Edmund Spenser wrote: (UGC NET)

A) The Faerie Queene

B) Samson Agonistes

C) Paradise Regained

D) Lycidas

Ans: A) The Faerie Queene

37. The Faerie Queene is important as: (PGTRB)

A) A mock-epic

B) A romantic-allegorical epic

C) A tragedy

D) A prose satire

Ans: B) A romantic-allegorical epic

38. The Shakespearean age is often called a golden age because of its: (SET)

A) Political democracy only

B) Extraordinary literary fertility

C) Absence of drama

D) Pure religious writing

Ans: B) Extraordinary literary fertility

39. The age is characterized by: (UGC NET)

A) National confidence and creative energy

B) Complete pessimism only

C) Industrial realism only

D) Anti-humanism

Ans: A) National confidence and creative energy

40. Which pair is correctly matched? (PGTRB)

A) Marlowe — Doctor Faustus

B) Bacon — Paradise Lost

C) Ben Jonson — Hamlet

D) Shakespeare — Volpone

Ans: A) Marlowe — Doctor Faustus

41. Shakespeare’s comedies often end with: (SET)

A) Multiple deaths

B) Reconciliation and marriage

C) Political execution

D) Complete destruction

Ans: B) Reconciliation and marriage

42. Shakespeare’s histories mainly deal with: (UGC NET)

A) Roman mythology only

B) English kings and national history

C) Biblical saints

D) Scientific discoveries

Ans: B) English kings and national history

43. The Age of Shakespeare also encouraged the development of: (PGTRB)

A) Public theatres

B) The Victorian novel

C) Free verse lyric

D) Modern criticism only

Ans: A) Public theatres

44. A major difference between medieval and Shakespearean literature is the rise of: (SET)

A) Human-centered outlook

B) Feudal allegory only

C) Monastic Latin only

D) Religious mystery plays only

Ans: A) Human-centered outlook

45. Shakespeare’s literary importance lies in his: (UGC NET)

A) Limited subject matter

B) Universality and mastery over language

C) Pure imitation only

D) Rejection of poetry

Ans: B) Universality and mastery over language

46. Which statement is TRUE about the Age of Shakespeare? (PGTRB)

A) It is mainly an age of novels

B) It is marked by the flowering of drama, poetry, and prose

C) It rejected Renaissance influence

D) It has no prose writers of note

Ans: B) It is marked by the flowering of drama, poetry, and prose

47. The age is significant because it shaped: (SET)

A) The future of English drama and poetry

B) Only religious prose

C) Only scientific writing

D) Only satire

Ans: A) The future of English drama and poetry

48. The Shakespearean age belongs broadly to: (UGC NET)

A) Medieval English literature

B) Renaissance English literature

C) Augustan English literature

D) Modern English literature

Ans: B) Renaissance English literature

49. Which statement best suits Shakespeare’s age? (PGTRB)

A) It is an age of literary poverty

B) It is an age dominated by industrial prose

C) It is a brilliant age of drama, humanism, and creative expansion

D) It is mainly a satirical age

Ans: C) It is a brilliant age of drama, humanism, and creative expansion

50. Which statement best describes The Age of Shakespeare? (UGC NET)

A) It is the age of Middle English dream allegory

B) It is the Renaissance age centered on Shakespeare, drama, poetry, prose, and humanism

C) It is the age of Victorian realism

D) It is purely a religious age with no theatre

Ans: B) It is the Renaissance age centered on Shakespeare, drama, poetry, prose, and humanism