Shakespeare's sonnets

Shakespeare's sonnets - Quiz

1. How many sonnets are contained in the quarto published in 1609?

A) 200
B) 126
C) 154
D) 160

2. Which play by Shakespeare includes a prologue written as a sonnet?

A) Romeo and Juliet
B) Love's Labour's Lost
C) Henry V
D) Much Ado About Nothing

3. Who is the 'Fair Youth' in Shakespeare's sonnets?

A) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
B) An unnamed young man addressed by the poet
C) William Hughes, a young actor
D) A fictional character with no historical basis

4. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespearean sonnets?

A) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
B) AABB CCDD EEFF GG
C) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
D) ABC ABC DEF DEF GG

5. Which character in Shakespeare's sonnets is described as having black hair and 'dun' skin?

A) The narrator
B) The Rival Poet
C) The Dark Lady
D) The Fair Youth

6. What is the form of 'A Lover's Complaint'?

A) 154 sonnets
B) 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal
C) An epic poem
D) Three quatrains and a final couplet

7. Who is often speculated to be the 'Rival Poet' in Shakespeare's sonnets?

A) John Davies of Hereford
B) Ben Jonson
C) A composite of several poets
D) Francis Davison

8. What is the primary theme of the 'Fair Youth' sonnets?

A) Lust and homoeroticism
B) Admiration for the youth's beauty and a plea to marry and have children
C) Infidelity and betrayal
D) Rejection and independence

9. Which sonnet sequence is considered a continuation of the Renaissance tradition?

A) The Canterbury Tales
B) Leaves of Grass
C) Paradise Lost
D) Shakespeare's Sonnets

10. What does the 'volta' in a sonnet typically signify?

A) The end of the poem
B) The beginning of the poem
C) A repetition of ideas
D) A turn or shift in thought or mood

11. Which play features sonnets written by characters as part of a comedic narrative?

A) Love's Labour's Lost
B) Romeo and Juliet
C) Henry V
D) Much Ado About Nothing

12. What is the significance of the dedication to 'Mr. W.H.' in Shakespeare's Sonnets?

A) It confirms Mr. W.H. as the author
B) It identifies him as the Fair Youth
C) It is a subject of speculation regarding his identity
D) It reveals him to be the Dark Lady

13. Which sonnet form does Shakespeare's Sonnets follow?

A) Spenserian sonnet
B) Free verse
C) English or Shakespearean sonnet
D) Petrarchan sonnet

14. What is the primary focus of 'A Lover's Complaint'?

A) The beauty of nature
B) The adventures of a knight
C) The misery of a woman victimized by male desire
D) The triumphs of love

15. Which play includes a sonnet at the end of its epilogue?

A) Much Ado About Nothing
B) Love's Labour's Lost
C) Henry V
D) Romeo and Juliet

16. What is a notable feature of the sonnets in 'A Lover's Complaint'?

A) They follow the Shakespearean sonnet form
B) They consist of three quatrains and a couplet
C) They are free verse
D) They are written in rhyme royal

17. Which historical figure is often speculated to be the Fair Youth?

A) William Hughes
B) Edward Alleyn
C) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
D) Ben Jonson

18. What is the primary theme of the sonnets addressed to the Dark Lady?

A) Praise for her beauty
B) Rejection of her advances
C) Admiration for her intelligence
D) Overt sexuality and a defiant departure from traditional themes

19. What is the primary meter used in Shakespeare's sonnets?

A) Anapestic trimeter
B) Dactylic hexameter
C) Trochaic tetrameter
D) Iambic pentameter

20. Which play features a partial sonnet read aloud?

A) Romeo and Juliet
B) Much Ado About Nothing
C) Henry V
D) All’s Well that Ends Well

21. Who bought a copy of the 1609 quarto for one shilling in June 1609?

A) Thomas Thorpe
B) William Shakespeare
C) George Eld
D) Edward Alleyn

22. What is the title of the poem following the sonnets in the 1609 quarto?

A) A Lover's Complaint
B) Venus and Adonis
C) The Rape of Lucrece
D) The Phoenix and the Turtle

23. How many sonnets in the 1609 quarto are addressed to a woman?

A) 28
B) 14
C) 40
D) 126

24. Who entered Shakespeare's sonnets in the Stationers' Register?

A) William Aspley
B) John Wright
C) George Eld
D) Thomas Thorpe

25. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespeare's English sonnets?

A) AABBCCDDEEFFGG
B) ABABBCBCCDCDDC
C) ABABCDCDEFEFGG
D) ABBAABBACDCDCD

26. How many copies of the 1609 quarto have survived?

A) Five
B) Thirteen
C) Eight
D) Twenty

27. To whom is Shakespeare's Sonnets dedicated?

A) Mr. W.H.
B) The Earl of Southampton
C) Thomas Thorpe
D) William Shakespeare

28. Which work by Ben Jonson is mentioned as having a dedication to Herbert?

A) The Alchemist
B) Every Man in His Humour
C) Epigrammes (1616)
D) Volpone

29. Which contemporary dramatist is suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?

A) Thomas Kyd
B) William Haughton
C) Christopher Marlowe
D) Ben Jonson

30. Who was Shakespeare's nephew and male heir, suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?

A) William Hart
B) Hamnet Shakespeare
C) Richard Burbage
D) Edward Alleyn

31. What is the term for the shift in mood or thought at the end of a sonnet's third quatrain?

A) Resolution
B) Volta
C) Denouement
D) Climax

32. Which author proposed that the Fair Youth was William Hughes?

A) Thomas Tyrwhitt
B) Samuel Johnson
C) Oscar Wilde
D) Edmund Malone

33. What role did William Hughes play in Shakespeare's plays?

A) Male lead roles
B) Female roles
C) Villainous roles
D) Comedic roles

34. How many sonnets are in the Dark Lady sequence?

A) 26
B) 15
C) 30
D) 20

35. In which year was 'A Lover's Complaint' published as part of a quarto?

A) 1588
B) 1609
C) 1592
D) 1616

36. In which year was 'Romeo and Juliet' published, featuring a prologue in sonnet form?

A) 1609
B) 1612
C) 1598
D) 1597

37. Who mentioned that Shakespeare's sonnets were being circulated privately?

A) William Jaggard
B) Francis Meres
C) Thomas Heywood
D) Edmond Malone

38. In which publication did William Jaggard include four sonnets by Shakespeare?

A) Shakespeare's Sonnets
B) The Passionate Pilgrime
C) Poems: Written by Wil. Shakespeare Gent
D) Palladis Tamia

39. Who was 'much offended' by Jaggard making bold with his name?

A) Edmond Malone
B) Francis Meres
C) John Benson
D) Shakespeare

40. In his plays, how did Shakespeare generally portray sonnets?

A) Scornfully
B) Admiringly
C) With great respect
D) Indifferently

41. What has been over-explored in understanding Shakespeare's sonnets?

A) Linguistic structure.
B) Biographical aspects.
C) Literary ambition.
D) Cultural context.

42. Which critical approach focuses on the text itself as a complex structure of language and ideas?

A) Biographical criticism.
B) Historical criticism.
C) New Criticism.
D) Cultural criticism.

43. According to Gerald Hammond, what is essential for the reader of Shakespeare's sonnets?

A) Focusing only on concrete meanings.
B) Ignoring abstract meanings.
C) Having experts simplify double meanings.
D) Dealing with perplexity on their own.

44. How was The Sonnets' reputation in England during the eighteenth century?

A) Unknown.
B) Relatively low.
C) Widely celebrated.
D) Highly esteemed.

45. Who did The Critical Review credit with perfecting the English sonnet in 1805?

A) William Shakespeare.
B) John Milton.
C) Sir Philip Sidney.
D) Edmund Spenser.

46. How many times have Shakespeare's Sonnets been reprinted?

A) Many times.
B) Never.
C) Twice.
D) Only once.

47. Which character in Love's Labour's Lost expresses love through a hexameter sonnet?

A) King of Navarre
B) Lord Longaville
C) Dumaine
D) Lord Berowne

48. How many sonnets are found in Romeo and Juliet?

A) One
B) Two
C) Four
D) Three

49. Which play features a sonnet by Beatrice and Benedick that are not committed to paper?

A) Romeo and Juliet
B) Henry V
C) Much Ado About Nothing
D) Love's Labour's Lost

50. In what year was the play 'Edward III' first printed?

A) 1588
B) 1601
C) 1612
D) 1596

51. Which phrase from Shakespeare's sonnets is found in 'Edward III'?

A) "scarlet ornaments"
B) "my love is as a fever longing still"
C) "budding of this purple bud"
D) "that time of year thou mayst in me behold"

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