UP TGT English 125 Shakespeare poetry MCQs - 02
1. Who is the author of Venus and Adonis?
A) Geoffrey Chaucer
B) William Shakespeare ✅
C) Christopher Marlowe
D) John Milton
2. When was Venus and Adonis first published?
A) 1588
B) 1593 ✅
C) 1600
D) 1616
3. Venus and Adonis is classified as what type of poem?
A) Sonnet
B) Epic
C) Narrative Poem ✅
D) Lyric
4. Which goddess is the central character in the poem?
A) Diana
B) Venus ✅
C) Juno
D) Minerva
5. Who is Adonis in the poem?
A) A king
B) A mortal youth ✅
C) A demigod
D) A Roman soldier
6. What is Venus’ primary desire in the poem?
A) To seek revenge
B) To make Adonis fall in love with her ✅
C) To punish mortals
D) To rule over Olympus
7. What is Adonis' main passion?
A) Hunting ✅
B) Singing
C) Writing poetry
D) Warfare
8. How does Adonis feel about Venus' advances?
A) He welcomes them
B) He is indifferent
C) He resists and rejects her ✅
D) He is deeply in love with her
9. What does Venus warn Adonis about?
A) The dangers of love
B) The dangers of hunting wild boars ✅
C) The wrath of the gods
D) His mortality
10. What ultimately happens to Adonis?
A) He becomes a god
B) He falls in love with Venus
C) He is killed by a wild boar ✅
D) He marries another woman
11. What transformation does Venus claim happens to Adonis after his death?
A) He becomes a river
B) He is turned into a flower ✅
C) He is resurrected
D) He is sent to the underworld
12. Which literary technique is most prevalent in Venus and Adonis?
A) Allegory
B) Satire
C) Extended metaphor ✅
D) Blank verse
13. What poetic meter is used in Venus and Adonis?
A) Iambic pentameter
B) Heroic couplets
C) Six-line stanza (Venus and Adonis stanza) ✅
D) Free verse
14. Who was Venus and Adonis dedicated to?
A) Queen Elizabeth I
B) The Earl of Southampton ✅
C) The Duke of Norfolk
D) King James I
15. How does Venus react to Adonis' rejection?
A) She curses him
B) She weeps and laments ✅
C) She disappears in anger
D) She turns him into a deer
16. What does the wild boar symbolize in the poem?
A) Love’s destructive power ✅
B) Adonis’ bravery
C) Venus’ anger
D) Fate’s inevitability
17. What is a key theme of Venus and Adonis?
A) The conflict between love and lust ✅
B) The power of fate
C) The corruption of power
D) The beauty of nature
18. Which Roman poet inspired Venus and Adonis?
A) Horace
B) Virgil
C) Ovid ✅
D) Catullus
19. How does Venus first try to seduce Adonis?
A) By offering him immortality
B) By praising his beauty ✅
C) By casting a spell
D) By promising him wealth
20. What does Venus compare love to in the poem?
A) A storm
B) A fire ✅
C) A garden
D) A battlefield
21. What does Adonis' resistance to Venus suggest about his character?
A) He is foolish
B) He is innocent and uninterested in love ✅
C) He is angry and violent
D) He is a manipulator
22. What moral lesson does Venus and Adonis convey?
A) Love is always triumphant
B) Lust can lead to destruction ✅
C) The gods control human fate
D) Power is the ultimate goal
23. What effect does Adonis' death have on Venus?
A) She curses love itself ✅
B) She vows revenge
C) She falls in love with another
D) She returns to Olympus
24. What literary movement does Venus and Adonis belong to?
A) Medieval Literature
B) Elizabethan Renaissance ✅
C) Romanticism
D) Victorian Literature
25. Which of the following best describes the tone of Venus and Adonis?
A) Comedic and lighthearted
B) Melancholic and tragic ✅
C) Heroic and adventurous
D) Dark and gothic
26. Who is the protagonist in The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Tarquin
B) Lucrece ✅
C) Collatinus
D) Brutus
27. What is the primary theme of The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Romantic love
B) Political conspiracy
C) The consequences of sexual violence ✅
D) The downfall of monarchy
28. Who is responsible for Lucrece’s downfall?
A) Collatinus
B) Tarquin ✅
C) Brutus
D) Tiberius
29. The Rape of Lucrece is based on historical accounts from which Roman historian?
A) Tacitus
B) Livy ✅
C) Plutarch
D) Suetonius
30. In what poetic form is The Rape of Lucrece written?
A) Sonnet
B) Heroic couplets
C) Rhyme royal ✅
D) Blank verse
31. Who is Lucrece’s husband in the poem?
A) Tarquin
B) Collatinus ✅
C) Brutus
D) Cassius
32. What is the significance of Lucrece’s death?
A) It marks the end of the Roman monarchy ✅
B) It causes Tarquin’s exile but not the monarchy’s fall
C) It is a personal tragedy with no political consequences
D) It leads to a civil war
33. How does Tarquin enter Lucrece’s chamber?
A) He bribes a servant
B) He breaks in through a window
C) He forces his way in at night ✅
D) He disguises himself as her husband
34. What does Lucrece do after the assault?
A) She seeks revenge against Tarquin
B) She confesses to her husband and takes her own life ✅
C) She flees Rome in disgrace
D) She remains silent and lives in sorrow
35. What major historical event did The Rape of Lucrece inspire in Rome?
A) The assassination of Julius Caesar
B) The overthrow of the Tarquin monarchy ✅
C) The fall of the Roman Republic
D) The establishment of the Roman Empire
36. What emotion does Tarquin struggle with before committing the crime?
A) Fear of punishment ✅
B) Remorse over previous sins
C) Hatred for Collatinus
D) Love for Lucrece
37. Which of the following best describes the tone of The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Light-hearted and playful
B) Dark and tragic ✅
C) Satirical and ironic
D) Optimistic and hopeful
38. Who avenges Lucrece’s death?
A) Collatinus
B) Brutus ✅
C) Tarquin’s son
D) Tiberius
39. How does Shakespeare portray Lucrece’s internal conflict after the crime?
A) Through intense soliloquies and monologues ✅
B) Through a series of dialogues with her husband
C) By depicting her as a passive victim
D) By making her seek revenge
40. How does Lucrece reveal Tarquin’s crime?
A) She writes a letter to the king
B) She tells her husband and Brutus before dying ✅
C) She carves it on a stone
D) She remains silent about it
41. What role does honor play in the poem?
A) It is a burden that leads to Lucrece’s death ✅
B) It is a reward for virtuous characters
C) It is ignored in favor of love
D) It is a theme only relevant to male characters
42. What poetic device does Shakespeare frequently use to describe Lucrece’s suffering?
A) Similes and metaphors ✅
B) Satire
C) Irony
D) Allegory
43. How is Tarquin punished in the poem?
A) He is executed
B) He is exiled and loses his throne ✅
C) He is imprisoned for life
D) He is publicly humiliated but remains in power
44. What is one major difference between Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece?
A) One is a tragedy, the other a comedy
B) One is about unfulfilled love, the other about sexual violence ✅
C) One is written in sonnets, the other in free verse
D) Both are based on Roman mythology
45. How does Shakespeare depict Lucrece’s death?
A) As a symbol of female weakness
B) As a tragic but honorable act ✅
C) As an act of cowardice
D) As a divine punishment
46. What literary device is used in the following passage from The Rape of Lucrece: "With twisted metal amorous folds she tied, / And made it captive in a knit of steel"?
A) Alliteration
B) Metaphor ✅
C) Personification
D) Hyperbole
47. What lesson does The Rape of Lucrece teach about power and morality?
A) Absolute power leads to moral corruption ✅
B) Power is always just
C) Morality is irrelevant in politics
D) Love can overcome any crime
48. Why did Shakespeare dedicate The Rape of Lucrece to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton?
A) He was a patron of the arts ✅
B) He was a descendant of Lucrece
C) He was a close friend of Queen Elizabeth I
D) He requested Shakespeare to write about Roman history
49. Which of the following lines from the poem best reflects Lucrece’s sense of shame?
A) "My honor lost, my soul is filled with grief." ✅
B) "Love is a fire that burns the heart to ashes."
C) "Fate guides the hands of those who wield the sword."
D) "The gods shall see the truth of this sorrow."
50. Why is The Rape of Lucrece considered politically significant?
A) It subtly criticizes the absolute rule of monarchs ✅
B) It promotes the divine right of kings
C) It argues for the return of the Roman monarchy
D) It supports military conquest
51. What type of poem is The Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) Sonnet
b) Narrative poem
c) Allegorical elegy
d) Tragic drama
✅ Answer: c) Allegorical elegy
52. What do the Phoenix and the Turtle symbolize in the poem?
a) Eternal love and unity
b) Power and ambition
c) Betrayal and deceit
d) Life and death cycle
✅ Answer: a) Eternal love and unity
53. Which bird is NOT mentioned in The Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) Eagle
b) Swan
c) Crow
d) Dove
✅ Answer: a) Eagle
54. What is the primary theme of The Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) Political rivalry
b) Love, unity, and sacrifice
c) Religious devotion
d) Nature’s power
✅ Answer: b) Love, unity, and sacrifice
55. The Phoenix in the poem traditionally symbolizes:
a) War and destruction
b) Rebirth and immortality
c) Wisdom and knowledge
d) Evil and chaos
✅ Answer: b) Rebirth and immortality
56. Why is the poem considered an elegy?
a) It mourns the loss of ideal love
b) It celebrates a political victory
c) It describes the triumph of good over evil
d) It tells the story of a heroic warrior
✅ Answer: a) It mourns the loss of ideal love
57. What literary device is prominently used in the poem?
a) Hyperbole
b) Allegory
c) Parody
d) Satire
✅ Answer: b) Allegory
58. What is the "Turtle" in the poem?
a) A literal turtle
b) A dove representing loyalty
c) A crow symbolizing treachery
d) A mythical dragon
✅ Answer: b) A dove representing loyalty
59. What happens to the Phoenix and the Turtle at the end of the poem?
a) They unite and rule a kingdom
b) They separate and live apart
c) They die together as a symbol of perfect love
d) They turn into stars in the sky
✅ Answer: c) They die together as a symbol of perfect love
60. Which of the following best describes the tone of the poem?
a) Joyful and celebratory
b) Somber and mournful
c) Satirical and humorous
d) Romantic and passionate
✅ Answer: b) Somber and mournful
61. The poem was first published in which year?
a) 1594
b) 1601
c) 1611
d) 1623
✅ Answer: b) 1601
62. In which collection was The Phoenix and the Turtle published?
a) The First Folio
b) The Passionate Pilgrim
c) Love’s Labour’s Lost
d) Robert Chester’s Love’s Martyr
✅ Answer: d) Robert Chester’s Love’s Martyr
63. What does the Phoenix represent in the poem’s allegory?
a) A perfect, immortal love
b) Political power and ambition
c) Betrayal and revenge
d) Divine punishment
✅ Answer: a) A perfect, immortal love
64. The phrase “Truth may seem, but cannot be” suggests what theme?
a) The illusion of power
b) The paradox of love and unity
c) The conflict between nature and civilization
d) The unpredictability of fate
✅ Answer: b) The paradox of love and unity
65. What is the "Threnos" section of the poem?
a) A list of moral lessons
b) A celebratory hymn
c) A lamentation for the deceased lovers
d) A prophecy about the future
✅ Answer: c) A lamentation for the deceased lovers
66. How does the poem depict love?
a) As a source of pain and betrayal
b) As an eternal and pure force
c) As something fleeting and superficial
d) As an illusion that leads to destruction
✅ Answer: b) As an eternal and pure force
67. Which of the following words best describes the relationship between the Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) Infatuation
b) Fidelity
c) Deception
d) Competition
✅ Answer: b) Fidelity
68. What is unique about the poetic structure of The Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) It mixes rhymed and unrhymed verses
b) It uses a strict abab rhyme scheme throughout
c) It follows a pattern of short stanzas with controlled rhythm
d) It is written entirely in free verse
✅ Answer: c) It follows a pattern of short stanzas with controlled rhythm
69. What does the Turtle-dove symbolize in the poem?
a) Freedom and exploration
b) Romantic idealism and sacrifice
c) Power and dominance
d) Deception and trickery
✅ Answer: b) Romantic idealism and sacrifice
70. What is the significance of the Phoenix’s fire?
a) It represents divine punishment
b) It signifies the lovers' rebirth through their unity
c) It symbolizes destruction and chaos
d) It reflects the suffering caused by unfulfilled love
✅ Answer: b) It signifies the lovers' rebirth through their unity
71. How is death portrayed in The Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) As a tragic but noble end
b) As a punishment for wrongdoing
c) As a means of achieving immortality
d) As a necessary transition for new beginnings
✅ Answer: a) As a tragic but noble end
72. What makes The Phoenix and the Turtle different from Shakespeare’s other poems?
a) It lacks any dramatic characters
b) It is entirely written in Old English
c) It is purely allegorical and symbolic
d) It is one of his longest poems
✅ Answer: c) It is purely allegorical and symbolic
73. Which literary movement does the poem align with?
a) Romanticism
b) Elizabethan poetry
c) Modernism
d) Gothic literature
✅ Answer: b) Elizabethan poetry
74. The term "bird of loudest lay" in the opening lines refers to:
a) The crow
b) The swan
c) The Phoenix
d) The nightingale
✅ Answer: c) The Phoenix
75. What is the ultimate fate of the Phoenix and the Turtle?
a) They are reunited in heaven
b) They are burned together in an act of love
c) They separate and go their own ways
d) They transform into two new creatures
✅ Answer: b) They are burned together in an act of love
76. In which year was A Lover’s Complaint first published?
A) 1589
B) 1593
C) 1609 ✅
D) 1616
77. A Lover’s Complaint was published alongside which of Shakespeare’s works?
A) Venus and Adonis
B) Sonnets ✅
C) The Rape of Lucrece
D) The Tempest
78. What type of poem is A Lover’s Complaint?
A) Sonnet
B) Elegy
C) Narrative Complaint Poem ✅
D) Epic
79. Who is the narrator of A Lover’s Complaint?
A) A betrayed knight
B) An abandoned woman ✅
C) A wise philosopher
D) A jealous husband
80. What is the primary theme of A Lover’s Complaint?
A) Revenge
B) Betrayal in love ✅
C) War and peace
D) Divine intervention
81. How does the woman in the poem express her grief?
A) By writing letters
B) By telling her story to a stranger ✅
C) By seeking revenge
D) By praying to the gods
82. What poetic form is A Lover’s Complaint written in?
A) Blank verse
B) Rhyme royal ✅
C) Free verse
D) Heroic couplets
83. What is the structure of A Lover’s Complaint?
A) Quatrains
B) Ottava rima
C) Seven-line stanzas (Rhyme royal) ✅
D) Terza rima
84. Which of the following best describes the young man in the poem?
A) Loyal and devoted
B) Cunning and deceitful ✅
C) Brave and honorable
D) Humble and poor
85. How does the young man in the poem seduce the woman?
A) Through magic
B) By showcasing his wealth
C) Through eloquent words and charm ✅
D) By writing love letters
86. What does the woman regret in A Lover’s Complaint?
A) Rejecting her suitor
B) Losing her beauty
C) Falling for the young man’s deception ✅
D) Not getting married
87. Which literary device is commonly used in A Lover’s Complaint?
A) Simile
B) Allegory
C) Imagery and metaphor ✅
D) Satire
88. What natural imagery is often used in the poem?
A) Storms and fire
B) Rivers and flowing water ✅
C) Deserts and dry land
D) Mountains and caves
89. What is the emotional tone of the poem?
A) Joyful
B) Nostalgic
C) Melancholic and regretful ✅
D) Hopeful
90. Who is believed to have influenced Shakespeare’s A Lover’s Complaint?
A) Geoffrey Chaucer ✅
B) Christopher Marlowe
C) Edmund Spenser
D) John Donne
91. Which moral lesson does A Lover’s Complaint convey?
A) Love is eternal
B) Wisdom comes from experience ✅
C) True love never fades
D) Revenge is necessary
92. What role does deception play in the poem?
A) It is minor and insignificant
B) It highlights the cunning nature of the young man ✅
C) It leads to a tragic death
D) It is used as comic relief
93. What does the woman do at the end of the poem?
A) She forgives the young man
B) She seeks revenge
C) She reflects on her suffering ✅
D) She finds new love
94. What is unique about the male character in A Lover’s Complaint?
A) He is a powerful king
B) He is genuinely in love
C) He uses manipulation and charm ✅
D) He sacrifices himself
95. What emotion dominates the poem?
A) Hatred
B) Regret ✅
C) Revenge
D) Indifference
96. Which of the following is a common motif in the poem?
A) Stars and fate
B) Flowers and spring
C) Tears and sorrow ✅
D) Battle and glory
97. What does the title A Lover’s Complaint suggest?
A) A celebration of love
B) A tragic war story
C) A sorrowful tale of lost love ✅
D) A philosophical reflection on life
98. How is the young man described physically?
A) Old and wise
B) Handsome and youthful ✅
C) Poor and rugged
D) Dark and mysterious
99. How does Shakespeare portray the young man’s speech?
A) Simple and direct
B) Long and persuasive ✅
C) Aggressive and loud
D) Filled with remorse
100. What makes A Lover’s Complaint different from Shakespeare’s sonnets?
A) It focuses on philosophy
B) It lacks a rhyme scheme
C) It tells a narrative of betrayal in poetic form ✅
D) It does not involve love at all
Here are 25 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) numbered 101 to 125 from Shakespeare's four major narrative poems, crafted at a UPSC exam level:
101. Which of the following is considered Shakespeare’s first published poem?
A) The Phoenix and the Turtle
B) A Lover’s Complaint
C) Venus and Adonis ✅
D) The Rape of Lucrece
102. Venus and Adonis is based on which classical source?
A) Homer’s Iliad
B) Ovid’s Metamorphoses ✅
C) Virgil’s Aeneid
D) Dante’s Inferno
103. What is the primary theme of The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Love and devotion
B) Political upheaval and justice ✅
C) The power of magic
D) Religious salvation
104. Who is the perpetrator of the crime in The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Collatinus
B) Tarquin ✅
C) Brutus
D) Julius Caesar
105. What happens to Adonis at the end of Venus and Adonis?
A) He marries Venus
B) He is transformed into a river
C) He is killed by a wild boar ✅
D) He ascends to Olympus
106. The Phoenix and the Turtle is an allegorical poem symbolizing what?
A) The fall of the Roman Empire
B) The ideal of spiritual and pure love ✅
C) The cycle of life and death in nature
D) The downfall of a tragic hero
107. The poem A Lover’s Complaint is included in the 1609 publication of which of Shakespeare’s works?
A) The First Folio
B) The Sonnets ✅
C) The Rape of Lucrece
D) Venus and Adonis
108. What literary device is most prominent in The Phoenix and the Turtle?
A) Satire
B) Personification ✅
C) Hyperbole
D) Paradox
109. Which of the following themes is not central to Venus and Adonis?
A) Unrequited love
B) The tragedy of mortality
C) Political justice ✅
D) Desire vs. resistance
110. What is the key moral dilemma in The Rape of Lucrece?
A) The conflict between love and duty
B) The loss of innocence due to power abuse ✅
C) The betrayal of friendship
D) The role of divine justice
111. Which Roman historian’s work is a source for The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Tacitus
B) Livy ✅
C) Plutarch
D) Suetonius
112. In Venus and Adonis, what is Venus’s reaction to Adonis’s rejection?
A) She curses him
B) She turns him into a flower
C) She warns him of future danger ✅
D) She gives him immortality
113. What animal is central to the tragic climax of Venus and Adonis?
A) A lion
B) A wild boar ✅
C) A serpent
D) A wolf
114. What is the main focus of The Phoenix and the Turtle?
A) A battle between mythical creatures
B) The ideal of spiritual love and unity ✅
C) The tragic downfall of a kingdom
D) The rebirth of the Phoenix
115. In A Lover’s Complaint, how does the seducer manipulate the woman?
A) With gifts and wealth
B) By using poetry and flattery ✅
C) Through force and power
D) By faking his own death
116. What poetic form is Venus and Adonis written in?
A) Blank verse
B) Rhyme royal
C) Six-line stanzas (Venus and Adonis stanza) ✅
D) Heroic couplets
117. What is the significance of Lucrece’s death in The Rape of Lucrece?
A) It symbolizes the downfall of a dynasty ✅
B) It marks the beginning of Roman imperial rule
C) It leads to the return of monarchy in Rome
D) It serves as a divine punishment
118. What is a unique feature of The Phoenix and the Turtle compared to Shakespeare’s other poems?
A) It has a tragic ending
B) It is written in allegorical form ✅
C) It is a narrative poem
D) It is a love story
119. How does Venus and Adonis portray the nature of love?
A) As a divine blessing
B) As a destructive and obsessive force ✅
C) As an illusion created by mortals
D) As an eternal and unchanging power
120. In A Lover’s Complaint, what does the woman lament the most?
A) The loss of her honor ✅
B) The death of her lover
C) The hardships of life
D) The betrayal of a friend
121. How does The Phoenix and the Turtle depict the unity of love?
A) Through metaphors of fire and rebirth
B) Through the inseparable bond of the two birds ✅
C) Through the tragic ending of the birds
D) Through the resurrection of the Phoenix
122. What role does nature play in Venus and Adonis?
A) It serves as a divine force guiding the lovers
B) It acts as a silent observer of human emotions ✅
C) It represents the will of the gods
D) It punishes Venus for her desires
123. Which poetic device is used in The Rape of Lucrece to intensify the emotional turmoil?
A) Soliloquy
B) Personification ✅
C) Irony
D) Hyperbole
124. What historical event is linked to The Rape of Lucrece?
A) The fall of the Roman Republic ✅
B) The assassination of Julius Caesar
C) The founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus
D) The First Punic War
125. Which of the following best describes the relationship between Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece?
A) Both are about divine punishment
B) Both explore themes of love and power ✅
C) Both portray the tragic fate of Roman rulers
D) Both are comedies with dark undertones
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