Shakespeare's sonnets

Shakespeare's sonnets - Test

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

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

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

A) Love's Labour's Lost
B) Romeo and Juliet
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) A fictional character with no historical basis
C) An unnamed young man addressed by the poet
D) William Hughes, a young actor

4. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespearean sonnets?

A) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
B) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
C) AABB CCDD EEFF 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 Dark Lady
B) The Rival Poet
C) The Fair Youth
D) The narrator

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A) A repetition of ideas
B) The beginning of the poem
C) The end of the poem
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) Henry V
C) Romeo and Juliet
D) Much Ado About Nothing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

20. Which play features a partial sonnet read aloud?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27. To whom is Shakespeare's Sonnets dedicated?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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) Climax
D) Denouement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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