Shakespeare's sonnets

Shakespeare's sonnets - Quiz

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

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

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) A fictional character with no historical basis
B) Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
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) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
B) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
C) ABC ABC DEF DEF GG
D) AABB CCDD EEFF GG

5. Which character in Shakespeare's sonnets is described as having black hair and 'dun' skin?

A) The Fair Youth
B) The narrator
C) The Rival Poet
D) The Dark Lady

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

A) 154 sonnets
B) 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal
C) An epic poem
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) Ben Jonson
D) A composite of several poets

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

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

A) The end of the poem
B) A turn or shift in thought or mood
C) A repetition of ideas
D) The beginning of the poem

11. Which play features sonnets written by characters as part of a comedic narrative?

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

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 reveals him to be the Dark Lady
D) It confirms Mr. W.H. as the author

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

20. Which play features a partial sonnet read aloud?

A) Much Ado About Nothing
B) Romeo and Juliet
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) George Eld
B) William Shakespeare
C) Thomas Thorpe
D) Edward Alleyn

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) 126
B) 14
C) 28
D) 40

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

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

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

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

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

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

27. To whom is Shakespeare's Sonnets dedicated?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31. What is the term for the shift in mood or thought at the end of a sonnet's third quatrain?

A) Resolution
B) Denouement
C) Climax
D) Volta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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) Linguistic structure.
B) Literary ambition.
C) Biographical aspects.
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) 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) Highly esteemed.
B) Relatively low.
C) Unknown.
D) Widely celebrated.

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

A) Sir Philip Sidney.
B) William Shakespeare.
C) John Milton.
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) King of Navarre
B) Lord Berowne
C) Dumaine
D) Lord Longaville

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

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

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

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

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) "that time of year thou mayst in me behold"
D) "scarlet ornaments"

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