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Shakespeare's sonnets - Test
Contributed by: Bennett
  • 1. How many sonnets are contained in the quarto published in 1609?
A) 200
B) 160
C) 126
D) 154
  • 2. Which play by Shakespeare includes a prologue written as a sonnet?
A) Much Ado About Nothing
B) Romeo and Juliet
C) Henry V
D) Love's Labour's Lost
  • 3. Who is the 'Fair Youth' in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) A fictional character with no historical basis
B) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
C) William Hughes, a young actor
D) An unnamed young man addressed by the poet
  • 4. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespearean sonnets?
A) ABC ABC DEF DEF GG
B) AABB CCDD EEFF GG
C) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
D) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
  • 5. Which character in Shakespeare's sonnets is described as having black hair and 'dun' skin?
A) The Fair Youth
B) The Dark Lady
C) The narrator
D) The Rival Poet
  • 6. What is the form of 'A Lover's Complaint'?
A) An epic poem
B) 154 sonnets
C) 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal
D) Three quatrains and a final couplet
  • 7. Who is often speculated to be the 'Rival Poet' in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Francis Davison
B) John Davies of Hereford
C) A composite of several poets
D) Ben Jonson
  • 8. What is the primary theme of the 'Fair Youth' sonnets?
A) Infidelity and betrayal
B) Lust and homoeroticism
C) Admiration for the youth's beauty and a plea to marry and have children
D) Rejection and independence
  • 9. Which sonnet sequence is considered a continuation of the Renaissance tradition?
A) Shakespeare's Sonnets
B) Paradise Lost
C) Leaves of Grass
D) The Canterbury Tales
  • 10. What does the 'volta' in a sonnet typically signify?
A) A turn or shift in thought or mood
B) The beginning of the poem
C) A repetition of ideas
D) The end of the poem
  • 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 reveals him to be the Dark Lady
C) It is a subject of speculation regarding his identity
D) It identifies him as the Fair Youth
  • 13. Which sonnet form does Shakespeare's Sonnets follow?
A) Free verse
B) English or Shakespearean sonnet
C) Spenserian sonnet
D) Petrarchan sonnet
  • 14. What is the primary focus of 'A Lover's Complaint'?
A) The beauty of nature
B) The misery of a woman victimized by male desire
C) The adventures of a knight
D) The triumphs of love
  • 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 consist of three quatrains and a couplet
B) They are free verse
C) They are written in rhyme royal
D) They follow the Shakespearean sonnet form
  • 17. Which historical figure is often speculated to be the Fair Youth?
A) Ben Jonson
B) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
C) William Hughes
D) Edward Alleyn
  • 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) Admiration for her intelligence
C) Praise for her beauty
D) Rejection of her advances
  • 19. What is the primary meter used in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Trochaic tetrameter
B) Dactylic hexameter
C) Iambic pentameter
D) Anapestic trimeter
  • 20. Which play features a partial sonnet read aloud?
A) Henry V
B) Romeo and Juliet
C) Much Ado About Nothing
D) All’s Well that Ends Well
  • 21. Who bought a copy of the 1609 quarto for one shilling in June 1609?
A) William Shakespeare
B) George Eld
C) Edward Alleyn
D) Thomas Thorpe
  • 22. What is the title of the poem following the sonnets in the 1609 quarto?
A) The Rape of Lucrece
B) Venus and Adonis
C) The Phoenix and the Turtle
D) A Lover's Complaint
  • 23. How many sonnets in the 1609 quarto are addressed to a woman?
A) 40
B) 126
C) 14
D) 28
  • 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) ABABCDCDEFEFGG
B) AABBCCDDEEFFGG
C) ABABBCBCCDCDDC
D) ABBAABBACDCDCD
  • 26. How many copies of the 1609 quarto have survived?
A) Five
B) Twenty
C) Thirteen
D) Eight
  • 27. To whom is Shakespeare's Sonnets dedicated?
A) Thomas Thorpe
B) The Earl of Southampton
C) Mr. W.H.
D) William Shakespeare
  • 28. Which work by Ben Jonson is mentioned as having a dedication to Herbert?
A) Every Man in His Humour
B) The Alchemist
C) Volpone
D) Epigrammes (1616)
  • 29. Which contemporary dramatist is suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?
A) Ben Jonson
B) Christopher Marlowe
C) Thomas Kyd
D) William Haughton
  • 30. Who was Shakespeare's nephew and male heir, suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?
A) Edward Alleyn
B) William Hart
C) Richard Burbage
D) Hamnet Shakespeare
  • 31. What is the term for the shift in mood or thought at the end of a sonnet's third quatrain?
A) Climax
B) Volta
C) Denouement
D) Resolution
  • 32. Which author proposed that the Fair Youth was William Hughes?
A) Samuel Johnson
B) Edmund Malone
C) Oscar Wilde
D) Thomas Tyrwhitt
  • 33. What role did William Hughes play in Shakespeare's plays?
A) Male lead roles
B) Comedic roles
C) Villainous roles
D) Female roles
  • 34. How many sonnets are in the Dark Lady sequence?
A) 26
B) 20
C) 15
D) 30
  • 35. In which year was 'A Lover's Complaint' published as part of a quarto?
A) 1588
B) 1616
C) 1609
D) 1592
  • 36. In which year was 'Romeo and Juliet' published, featuring a prologue in sonnet form?
A) 1612
B) 1609
C) 1597
D) 1598
  • 37. Who mentioned that Shakespeare's sonnets were being circulated privately?
A) Edmond Malone
B) William Jaggard
C) Thomas Heywood
D) Francis Meres
  • 38. In which publication did William Jaggard include four sonnets by Shakespeare?
A) Palladis Tamia
B) Shakespeare's Sonnets
C) Poems: Written by Wil. Shakespeare Gent
D) The Passionate Pilgrime
  • 39. Who was 'much offended' by Jaggard making bold with his name?
A) Shakespeare
B) Francis Meres
C) Edmond Malone
D) John Benson
  • 40. In his plays, how did Shakespeare generally portray sonnets?
A) Admiringly
B) Indifferently
C) Scornfully
D) With great respect
  • 41. What has been over-explored in understanding Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Literary ambition.
B) Biographical aspects.
C) Cultural context.
D) Linguistic structure.
  • 42. Which critical approach focuses on the text itself as a complex structure of language and ideas?
A) New Criticism.
B) Biographical criticism.
C) Historical 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) Having experts simplify double meanings.
C) Ignoring abstract meanings.
D) Dealing with perplexity on their own.
  • 44. How was The Sonnets' reputation in England during the eighteenth century?
A) Widely celebrated.
B) Unknown.
C) Relatively low.
D) Highly esteemed.
  • 45. Who did The Critical Review credit with perfecting the English sonnet in 1805?
A) Edmund Spenser.
B) Sir Philip Sidney.
C) William Shakespeare.
D) John Milton.
  • 46. How many times have Shakespeare's Sonnets been reprinted?
A) Only once.
B) Twice.
C) Many times.
D) Never.
  • 47. Which character in Love's Labour's Lost expresses love through a hexameter sonnet?
A) Dumaine
B) King of Navarre
C) Lord Longaville
D) Lord Berowne
  • 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) Love's Labour's Lost
D) Romeo and Juliet
  • 50. In what year was the play 'Edward III' first printed?
A) 1612
B) 1596
C) 1588
D) 1601
  • 51. Which phrase from Shakespeare's sonnets is found in 'Edward III'?
A) "my love is as a fever longing still"
B) "that time of year thou mayst in me behold"
C) "budding of this purple bud"
D) "scarlet ornaments"
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