1. Which play is classified as a “problem play”?
A. Much Ado About Nothing
B. Measure for Measure
C. The Merchant of Venice
D. As You Like It
2. Which is generally considered Shakespeare’s earliest comedy?
A. The Comedy of Errors
B. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
C. Love’s Labour’s Lost
D. The Taming of the Shrew
3. "Troilus and Cressida" was first published in:
A. 1598
B. 1602
C. 1609
D. 1623
4. The Chorus appears most prominently in:
A. Julius Caesar
B. Henry V
C. Richard III
D. King John
5. Which tragedy is based on an Italian novella by Cinthio?
A. King Lear
B. Othello
C. Macbeth
D. Romeo and Juliet
6. The Tempest is often regarded as:
A. Shakespeare’s first tragedy
B. Shakespeare's last complete play
C. A collaborative history play
D. A Roman tragedy
7. Which play was NOT printed in quarto during Shakespeare’s lifetime?
A. Hamlet
B. King Lear
C. Macbeth
D. Romeo and Juliet
8. The character Falstaff appears in all EXCEPT:
A. Henry IV Part I
B. Henry IV Part II
C. The Merry Wives of Windsor
D. Henry V
9. Which play contains the line “All the world’s a stage”?
A. Twelfth Night
B. As You Like It
C. Much Ado About Nothing
D. The Winter’s Tale
10. Shakespeare’s Roman plays include:
A. Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus
B. Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Hamlet
C. Coriolanus, Henry V, Antony and Cleopatra
D. Timon of Athens, Othello, Julius Caesar
11. The so-called “dark lady” sonnets are numbered:
A. 1–17
B. 18–54
C. 55–126
D. 127–152
12. Which play marks the transition from comedies to tragedies?
A. Twelfth Night
B. Much Ado About Nothing
C. All’s Well That Ends Well
D. Julius Caesar
13. Sidney’s "Astrophil and Stella" is significant because it:
A. Introduced blank verse to English sonnets
B. Is the first English sonnet sequence
C. Rejects Petrarchan conventions entirely
D. Uses Spenserian stanza throughout
14. The prose romance Arcadia primarily belongs to the tradition of:
A. Epic
B. Pastoral romance
C. Satirical allegory
D. Morality play
15. "Pericles" is unique among Shakespeare’s plays because it:
A. Is entirely in prose
B. Was excluded from the First Folio
C. Has no tragic ending
D. Lacks a chorus
16. "Henry VIII" is notable because it:
A. Is entirely written by Shakespeare
B. Was staged at the Globe theatre when it burned down
C. Has a tragic ending
D. Is in the First Quarto
17. Shakespeare’s collaborative play with John Fletcher is:
A. Pericles
B. Henry VIII
C. Timon of Athens
D. Cymbeline
18. The First Folio of Shakespeare was compiled and edited by:
A. Ben Jonson and John Heminges
B. John Heminges and Henry Condell
C. Edward Blount and Isaac Jaggard
D. William Jaggard and Thomas Thorpe
19. Which of the following plays was printed for the FIRST time in the First Folio?
A. Romeo and Juliet
B. Hamlet
C. Macbeth
D. King Lear
20. Which play is NOT included in the First Folio?
A. Pericles
B. The Tempest
C. Twelfth Night
D. Julius Caesar
21. Ben Jonson’s famous tribute in the First Folio begins with:
A. “To the Memory of My Beloved…”
B. “He was not of an age, but for all time”
C. “Sweet Swan of Avon”
D. “Soul of the Age”
22. Which of the following quartos is believed to be a “bad quarto”?
A. Hamlet (1604)
B. Hamlet (1603)
C. Othello (1622)
D. King Lear (1608)
23. The famous engraving of Shakespeare in the First Folio was made by:
A. Hans Holbein
B. Martin Droeshout
C. Ben Jonson
D. John Taylor
24. Which play by Ben Jonson was first performed in 1598?
A. Volpone
B. Every Man in His Humour
C. The Alchemist
D. Bartholomew Fair
25. Which of the following was NOT written by Ben Jonson?
A. Volpone
B. The Alchemist
C. The Duchess of Malfi
D. Every Man Out of His Humour
26. Ben Jonson famously described Shakespeare as:
A. “A lord of language”
B. “Soul of the age”
C. “An upstart crow”
D. “Sweet Swan of Avon”
27. Which of the following plays is a satire on greed and avarice set in Venice?
A. The Alchemist
B. Volpone
C. Every Man Out of His Humour
D. The Duchess of Malfi
28. "The Duchess of Malfi" belongs to which dramatic genre?
A. Romantic tragedy
B. Revenge tragedy
C. Comedy of manners
D. History play
29. Which play established blank verse as the dominant medium of English drama?
A. The Duchess of Malfi
B. Tamburlaine the Great
C. The Changeling
D. Edward II
30. Thomas Middleton collaborated with William Rowley on ______________ work:
A. Volpone
B. The Changeling
C. Doctor Faustus
D. The White Devil
31. Which Keats poem reflects his concept of “negative capability”?
A. Ode on a Grecian Urn
B. Hyperion
C. Endymion
D. Isabella
32. John Webster is best known for his portrayal of:
A. Courtly love
B. Pastoral innocence
C. Psychological horror and violence
D. Classical heroism
33. Which play by Christopher Marlowe deals with overreaching ambition and knowledge?
A. Edward II
B. Doctor Faustus
C. The Jew of Malta
D. Dido, Queen of Carthage
34. "The White Devil" is written by:
A. Thomas Middleton
B. John Webster
C. Christopher Marlowe
D. Ben Jonson
35. Keats’s Hyperion is modeled on:
A. Dante’s Inferno
B. Milton’s "Paradise Lost"
C. Homer’s Odyssey
D. Virgil’s Aeneid
36. Faustus first rejects traditional disciplines in the opening soliloquy in the order of:
A. Logic → Medicine → Law → Divinity
B. Law → Logic → Divinity → Medicine
C. Medicine → Law → Logic → Divinity
D. Logic → Law → Medicine → Divinity
37. The pact between Faustus and Lucifer is sealed for a period of:
A. 12 years
B. 18 years
C. 24 years
D. 30 years
38. Which genre is MOST closely associated with heroic ideals, invocation of the Muse, and elevated style?
A. Epic
B. Pastoral romance
C. Satirical allegory
D. Morality play
39. Which genre primarily uses fictional journeys or imaginary societies to critique real social institutions?
A. Epic
B. Pastoral romance
C. Satirical allegory
D. Gothic horror
40. Which of the following pairs is correctly matched with both genre AND century?
A. Everyman — Satirical allegory — 16th century
B. Gulliver’s Travels — Morality play — 18th century
C. Rosalynde — Pastoral romance — 16th century
D. The Faerie Queene — Pastoral romance — 17th century
41. Which sequence correctly aligns genre → work → date?
A. Satirical allegory → Gulliver’s Travels → 1726
B. Epic → Paradise Lost → 1667
C. Pastoral romance → Arcadia → 1590
D. All of the above
42. Which genre–period combination is INCORRECT?
A. Morality play — Late Medieval
B. Pastoral romance — Elizabethan
C. Satirical allegory — Augustan
D. Epic — Victorian
43. Which genre became dominant during the early 18th century and is best represented by Swift?
A. Epic
B. Pastoral romance
C. Satirical allegory
D. Morality play
44. The dominant genre of the Augustan Age is best represented by:
A. Epic — Milton
B. Pastoral romance — Sidney
C. Satirical allegory — Swift
D. Morality play — Anonymous
45. Which genre primarily reflects the Neoclassical emphasis on reason and social criticism?
A. Epic
B. Pastoral romance
C. Satirical allegory
D. Romantic lyric
46. Which author is most closely associated with adapting classical epic conventions to English Protestant ideology?
A. Edmund Spenser
B. John Milton
C. Jonathan Swift
D. Geoffrey Chaucer
47. Charles Dickens was born in:
A. 1809
B. 1812
C. 1815
D. 1820
48. Charles Lamb was born in the same year as:
A. Wordsworth
B. Coleridge
C. Southey
D. Byron
49. The tragic event that deeply affected Charles Lamb’s life occurred in:
A. 1792
B. 1794
C. 1796
D. 1798
50. John Milton lost his eyesight completely by:
A. 1642
B. 1646
C. 1652
D. 1660