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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) 126
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) Much Ado About Nothing
D) Henry V
  • 3. Who is the 'Fair Youth' in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) An unnamed young man addressed by the poet
B) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
C) A fictional character with no historical basis
D) William Hughes, a young actor
  • 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 Rival Poet
B) The Fair Youth
C) The narrator
D) The Dark Lady
  • 6. What is the form of 'A Lover's Complaint'?
A) An epic poem
B) 154 sonnets
C) Three quatrains and a final couplet
D) 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal
  • 7. Who is often speculated to be the 'Rival Poet' in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) John Davies of Hereford
B) A composite of several poets
C) Francis Davison
D) Ben Jonson
  • 8. What is the primary theme of the 'Fair Youth' sonnets?
A) Rejection and independence
B) Admiration for the youth's beauty and a plea to marry and have children
C) Infidelity and betrayal
D) Lust and homoeroticism
  • 9. Which sonnet sequence is considered a continuation of the Renaissance tradition?
A) Shakespeare's Sonnets
B) The Canterbury Tales
C) Paradise Lost
D) Leaves of Grass
  • 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) Henry V
B) Much Ado About Nothing
C) Romeo and Juliet
D) Love's Labour's Lost
  • 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) English or Shakespearean sonnet
B) Petrarchan sonnet
C) Free verse
D) Spenserian 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) Love's Labour's Lost
C) Much Ado About Nothing
D) Henry V
  • 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) Edward Alleyn
B) Ben Jonson
C) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
D) William Hughes
  • 18. What is the primary theme of the sonnets addressed to the Dark Lady?
A) Rejection of her advances
B) Overt sexuality and a defiant departure from traditional themes
C) Praise for her beauty
D) Admiration for her intelligence
  • 19. What is the primary meter used in Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Dactylic hexameter
B) Anapestic trimeter
C) Iambic pentameter
D) Trochaic tetrameter
  • 20. Which play features a partial sonnet read aloud?
A) Romeo and Juliet
B) All’s Well that Ends Well
C) Much Ado About Nothing
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) Venus and Adonis
B) The Phoenix and the Turtle
C) A Lover's Complaint
D) The Rape of Lucrece
  • 23. How many sonnets in the 1609 quarto are addressed to a woman?
A) 40
B) 14
C) 126
D) 28
  • 24. Who entered Shakespeare's sonnets in the Stationers' Register?
A) William Aspley
B) Thomas Thorpe
C) John Wright
D) George Eld
  • 25. What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespeare's English sonnets?
A) AABBCCDDEEFFGG
B) ABABBCBCCDCDDC
C) ABBAABBACDCDCD
D) ABABCDCDEFEFGG
  • 26. How many copies of the 1609 quarto have survived?
A) Five
B) Eight
C) Thirteen
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) The Alchemist
C) Volpone
D) Epigrammes (1616)
  • 29. Which contemporary dramatist is suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?
A) William Haughton
B) Ben Jonson
C) Christopher Marlowe
D) Thomas Kyd
  • 30. Who was Shakespeare's nephew and male heir, suggested as 'Mr. W.H.'?
A) Richard Burbage
B) William Hart
C) Edward Alleyn
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) Oscar Wilde
B) Samuel Johnson
C) Edmund Malone
D) Thomas Tyrwhitt
  • 33. What role did William Hughes play in Shakespeare's plays?
A) Female roles
B) Male lead roles
C) Villainous roles
D) Comedic roles
  • 34. How many sonnets are in the Dark Lady sequence?
A) 20
B) 30
C) 26
D) 15
  • 35. In which year was 'A Lover's Complaint' published as part of a quarto?
A) 1609
B) 1588
C) 1592
D) 1616
  • 36. In which year was 'Romeo and Juliet' published, featuring a prologue in sonnet form?
A) 1597
B) 1612
C) 1598
D) 1609
  • 37. Who mentioned that Shakespeare's sonnets were being circulated privately?
A) Francis Meres
B) Thomas Heywood
C) William Jaggard
D) Edmond Malone
  • 38. In which publication did William Jaggard include four sonnets by Shakespeare?
A) The Passionate Pilgrime
B) Poems: Written by Wil. Shakespeare Gent
C) Shakespeare's Sonnets
D) Palladis Tamia
  • 39. Who was 'much offended' by Jaggard making bold with his name?
A) Edmond Malone
B) Shakespeare
C) John Benson
D) Francis Meres
  • 40. In his plays, how did Shakespeare generally portray sonnets?
A) Admiringly
B) With great respect
C) Indifferently
D) Scornfully
  • 41. What has been over-explored in understanding Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Cultural context.
B) Literary ambition.
C) Linguistic structure.
D) Biographical aspects.
  • 42. Which critical approach focuses on the text itself as a complex structure of language and ideas?
A) Cultural criticism.
B) New Criticism.
C) Historical criticism.
D) Biographical criticism.
  • 43. According to Gerald Hammond, what is essential for the reader of Shakespeare's sonnets?
A) Dealing with perplexity on their own.
B) Focusing only on concrete meanings.
C) Ignoring abstract meanings.
D) Having experts simplify double meanings.
  • 44. How was The Sonnets' reputation in England during the eighteenth century?
A) Relatively low.
B) Widely celebrated.
C) Unknown.
D) Highly esteemed.
  • 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) Never.
D) Only once.
  • 47. Which character in Love's Labour's Lost expresses love through a hexameter sonnet?
A) Lord Longaville
B) Dumaine
C) Lord Berowne
D) King of Navarre
  • 48. How many sonnets are found in Romeo and Juliet?
A) Three
B) Two
C) Four
D) One
  • 49. Which play features a sonnet by Beatrice and Benedick that are not committed to paper?
A) Romeo and Juliet
B) Much Ado About Nothing
C) Henry V
D) Love's Labour's Lost
  • 50. In what year was the play 'Edward III' first printed?
A) 1596
B) 1588
C) 1601
D) 1612
  • 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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