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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) 154
C) 160
D) 126
  • 2. Which play by Shakespeare includes a prologue written as a sonnet?
A) Love's Labour's Lost
B) Henry V
C) Romeo and Juliet
D) Much Ado About Nothing
  • 3. Who is the 'Fair Youth' in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) William Hughes, a young actor
B) A fictional character with no historical basis
C) An unnamed young man addressed by the poet
D) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
  • 4. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespearean sonnets?
A) ABC ABC DEF DEF GG
B) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
C) AABB CCDD EEFF GG
D) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
  • 5. Which character in Shakespeare's sonnets is described as having black hair and 'dun' skin?
A) The Dark Lady
B) The Fair Youth
C) The Rival Poet
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) John Davies of Hereford
B) Francis Davison
C) Ben Jonson
D) A composite of several poets
  • 8. What is the primary theme of the 'Fair Youth' sonnets?
A) Infidelity and betrayal
B) Rejection and independence
C) Lust and homoeroticism
D) Admiration for the youth's beauty and a plea to marry and have children
  • 9. Which sonnet sequence is considered a continuation of the Renaissance tradition?
A) Leaves of Grass
B) Shakespeare's Sonnets
C) The Canterbury Tales
D) Paradise Lost
  • 10. What does the 'volta' in a sonnet typically signify?
A) The beginning of the poem
B) A turn or shift in thought or mood
C) The end of the poem
D) A repetition of ideas
  • 11. Which play features sonnets written by characters as part of a comedic narrative?
A) Much Ado About Nothing
B) Love's Labour's Lost
C) Romeo and Juliet
D) Henry V
  • 12. What is the significance of the dedication to 'Mr. W.H.' in Shakespeare's Sonnets?
A) It identifies him as the Fair Youth
B) It confirms Mr. W.H. as the author
C) It reveals him to be the Dark Lady
D) It is a subject of speculation regarding his identity
  • 13. Which sonnet form does Shakespeare's Sonnets follow?
A) Free verse
B) Petrarchan sonnet
C) Spenserian sonnet
D) English or Shakespearean sonnet
  • 14. What is the primary focus of 'A Lover's Complaint'?
A) The triumphs of love
B) The adventures of a knight
C) The misery of a woman victimized by male desire
D) The beauty of nature
  • 15. Which play includes a sonnet at the end of its epilogue?
A) Henry V
B) Much Ado About Nothing
C) Romeo and Juliet
D) Love's Labour's Lost
  • 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 written in rhyme royal
C) They follow the Shakespearean sonnet form
D) They are free verse
  • 17. Which historical figure is often speculated to be the Fair Youth?
A) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
B) Edward Alleyn
C) William Hughes
D) Ben Jonson
  • 18. What is the primary theme of the sonnets addressed to the Dark Lady?
A) Praise for her beauty
B) Overt sexuality and a defiant departure from traditional themes
C) Admiration for her intelligence
D) Rejection of her advances
  • 19. What is the primary meter used in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Anapestic trimeter
B) Iambic pentameter
C) Trochaic tetrameter
D) Dactylic hexameter
  • 20. Which play features a partial sonnet read aloud?
A) Romeo and Juliet
B) Much Ado About Nothing
C) All’s Well that Ends Well
D) Henry V
  • 21. Who bought a copy of the 1609 quarto for one shilling in June 1609?
A) William Shakespeare
B) Edward Alleyn
C) George Eld
D) Thomas Thorpe
  • 22. What is the title of the poem following the sonnets in the 1609 quarto?
A) The Rape of Lucrece
B) A Lover's Complaint
C) Venus and Adonis
D) The Phoenix and the Turtle
  • 23. How many sonnets in the 1609 quarto are addressed to a woman?
A) 40
B) 126
C) 28
D) 14
  • 24. Who entered Shakespeare's sonnets in the Stationers' Register?
A) John Wright
B) William Aspley
C) George Eld
D) Thomas Thorpe
  • 25. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespeare's English sonnets?
A) ABABCDCDEFEFGG
B) AABBCCDDEEFFGG
C) ABBAABBACDCDCD
D) ABABBCBCCDCDDC
  • 26. How many copies of the 1609 quarto have survived?
A) Eight
B) Thirteen
C) Five
D) Twenty
  • 27. To whom is Shakespeare's Sonnets dedicated?
A) William Shakespeare
B) Thomas Thorpe
C) Mr. W.H.
D) The Earl of Southampton
  • 28. Which work by Ben Jonson is mentioned as having a dedication to Herbert?
A) Epigrammes (1616)
B) Every Man in His Humour
C) Volpone
D) The Alchemist
  • 29. Which contemporary dramatist is suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?
A) Ben Jonson
B) William Haughton
C) Christopher Marlowe
D) Thomas Kyd
  • 30. Who was Shakespeare's nephew and male heir, suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?
A) Hamnet Shakespeare
B) Richard Burbage
C) William Hart
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) Volta
B) Climax
C) Resolution
D) Denouement
  • 32. Which author proposed that the Fair Youth was William Hughes?
A) Thomas Tyrwhitt
B) Edmund Malone
C) Samuel Johnson
D) Oscar Wilde
  • 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) 30
B) 26
C) 20
D) 15
  • 35. In which year was 'A Lover's Complaint' published as part of a quarto?
A) 1592
B) 1588
C) 1616
D) 1609
  • 36. In which year was 'Romeo and Juliet' published, featuring a prologue in sonnet form?
A) 1612
B) 1598
C) 1609
D) 1597
  • 37. Who mentioned that Shakespeare's sonnets were being circulated privately?
A) Thomas Heywood
B) William Jaggard
C) Edmond Malone
D) Francis Meres
  • 38. In which publication did William Jaggard include four sonnets by Shakespeare?
A) Poems: Written by Wil. Shakespeare Gent
B) Shakespeare's Sonnets
C) Palladis Tamia
D) The Passionate Pilgrime
  • 39. Who was 'much offended' by Jaggard making bold with his name?
A) Shakespeare
B) Edmond Malone
C) John Benson
D) Francis Meres
  • 40. In his plays, how did Shakespeare generally portray sonnets?
A) Indifferently
B) Scornfully
C) Admiringly
D) With great respect
  • 41. What has been over-explored in understanding Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Biographical aspects.
B) Cultural context.
C) Linguistic structure.
D) Literary ambition.
  • 42. Which critical approach focuses on the text itself as a complex structure of language and ideas?
A) Biographical criticism.
B) Historical criticism.
C) Cultural criticism.
D) New Criticism.
  • 43. According to Gerald Hammond, what is essential for the reader of Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Dealing with perplexity on their own.
B) Ignoring abstract meanings.
C) Focusing only on concrete meanings.
D) Having experts simplify double meanings.
  • 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) John Milton.
C) Sir Philip Sidney.
D) Edmund Spenser.
  • 46. How many times have Shakespeare's Sonnets been reprinted?
A) Never.
B) Many times.
C) Twice.
D) Only once.
  • 47. Which character in Love's Labour's Lost expresses love through a hexameter sonnet?
A) Dumaine
B) Lord Longaville
C) Lord Berowne
D) King of Navarre
  • 48. How many sonnets are found in Romeo and Juliet?
A) Three
B) One
C) Two
D) Four
  • 49. Which play features a sonnet by Beatrice and Benedick that are not committed to paper?
A) Love's Labour's Lost
B) Romeo and Juliet
C) Much Ado About Nothing
D) Henry V
  • 50. In what year was the play 'Edward III' first printed?
A) 1588
B) 1596
C) 1612
D) 1601
  • 51. Which phrase from Shakespeare's sonnets is found in 'Edward III'?
A) "scarlet ornaments"
B) "budding of this purple bud"
C) "my love is as a fever longing still"
D) "that time of year thou mayst in me behold"
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