1

IMPORTANT NOTES OF ENGLISH

LITERATTURE

Collected By........ MANEESH SINGH

8953001800
M. AHMAD
9548293184 & Nishant Saini
Special thanks.... DR. VANDNA SHARMA

(1)WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (23 APRIL 1564

- 23 APRIL 1616 ) William
Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and
actor of Elizabethan era widely regarded as the
greatest writer in English language and world's
pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called
England's national poet and "Bard of Avon".
Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon,
Warwickshire on 23 April 1564 and at the age of
18 Shakespeare married 26 year old Anne Hathaway
with whom he had three children named Susanna
Hall, Hamnet Shakespeare and JudethOwney
(twins ) . Sometimes between 1585 and 1592 he
began a successful career as an actor, writer and
 2
a poet owner of a playing company called the Lord
Chamberlain's men later known as the king's men
Shakespeare produced most of his known works
between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were
primarily comedies and histories. He then wrote
mainly tragedies until about 1608 including
Hamlet,
Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. In his last phase
he wrote tragi-Comedies also known as Romance.
 3

 Shakespeare wrote four types of plays tragedy,

comedy, historical and dramatic romances
 Shakespearean Tragedies - Shakespeare wrote
five great tragedies Hamlet, Julius Caesar,
Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. In which Hamlet
is his first tragedy written in 1602 and
Macbeth is the last written in 1606
Question and answer on HAMLET
Q : In what country does Hamlet primarily take
place? Ans.. Denmark
Q : Who do the guards first tell about the ghost
that has appeared before them? Ans. :
Horatio
Q : Who is the Prince of Norway?
Ans. : Fortinbras
Q : Who is Hamlet in love with?
Ans. : Ophelia
Q : How is Claudius related to Hamlet?
Ans. : uncle
Q : How did Claudius kill Hamlet's father, the
king? Ans. : poured poisonin his ear
Q : Who returns as a ghost and tells Hamlet to
kill Claudius? Ans. : Hamlet's Father
Q : Who is Polonius? Ans. :
The Lord Chamberlain
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Q : Who are the two clowns?
Ans. : grave diggers
Q : What does Claudius ask Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to do? Ans. : Take Hamlet to England.
Q : What country does Fortinbras decide to invade
instead of Denmark? Ans. : Poland
Q : What does Polonius initially think caused
Hamlet's madness? Ans. : His love for
OpheliaQ Q: Why does Hamlet decide to stage the
murder of his father? Ans. : To see Claudius'
reaction
Q : Who listens behind a curtain to Hamlet and
Ophelia's meeting? Ans. : the King and
Polonius
Q : "Who says ""To be or not to be..""?"
Ans. : Hamlet.
Q : What does Claudius do when the actor pours
the poison into the king's ear during the play?
Ans. : He got up and left in anger
Q : Why does Hamlet not kill the king while the
king is praying?
Ans. : Because he fears the king would go to
heaven
Q . Who overhears the meeting between Hamlet and
Gertrude? Ans. : Polonius
Q : Who does Hamlet kill when he finds him
spying? Ans. : Polonius
Q : Who vows to avenge Polonius' death?
Ans. : Laertes
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Q : How does Hamlet get rid of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern?
Ans. : He has them executed in England
Q : Who suggests that Laertes provoke Hamlet into
a duel? Ans. : Claudius
Q : How did Ophelia die?
Ans. : Drowned
Q : Why was Hamlet saddened to find Yorick's
skull when talking to the grave diggers?
Ans. : Because Yorick was the fool who amused him
as a child
Q : Why does Hamlet not make it to England?
Ans. : He never left in the first place
Q : How do Laertes and Claudius plan to fix the
duel between Claudius and Hamlet?
Ans. : They will poison Hamlet's drink and
Laertes' sword
Q : Who drinks from the poison goblet that
Claudius gives to Hamlet? Ans. : Gertrude
Q : Who was Reynaldo?
Ans. : A servant to Polonius
Q : Who does not die in the final scene?
Ans. : Horatio
Q : Who ends up ruler of Denmark at the end of
the play? Ans. : Fortinbra

 Shakespeare's Comedies
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Shakespeare wrote two types of comedy
1. Sunny comedy
As you like it, Love's Labour Lost, Much ado About
Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream,Twelfth Night,
Comedy of Errors
2. Dark comedy ( Tragi-Comedy )
Taming of the Shrew, The Marchant of Venice
Chamberlin, Troilus and Cressida, Two gentlemen of
Verona, The Tempest( last play ) The Merry wives
of Windsor, Measure for Measure, All's well that
ends well, Winter's Tale

 Historical play
Henry lV (part 1 ), Henry lV (part 2 ), Henry V,
Henry Vl (part 1,2,3 ) , Henry Vlll, King John,
Richard ll, Richard lll
 Poetry
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and A Lover's
Complant, The Rape of Lucrece, Venus and Adonis,

Questions with Answers on Shakespeare

1 ) When was William Shakespeare born?
Ans.. 23 April 1564
2 ) Where was William Shakespeare born?
Ans.. Stratford on Avon
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3 ) Whom did William Shakespeare marry? Ans..
Anne Hathaway
4 ) By how many years William Shakespeare‘s wife
was older to William Shakespeare Ans..
Eight
5 ) How many plays did William Shakespeare write?
Ans.. 37 play + 1 Uncomplete
6 ) How many Acts are in William Shakespeare’s
plays? ````` Ans.. Five
7 ) Write the name of two contemporary of
Shakespeare.. Ans.. Christopher Marlowe and
Ben Johnson
8 ) Which play has the characters Cordelia,
Goneril and Regan? Ans.. King Lear
9 ) Which is the last play written by William
Shakespeare? Ans.. The Tempest (1611 )
10 ) When did William Shakespeare die?
Ans.. 23 April 1616
11 ) Write the correct chronological sequence of
Shakespeare's tragedies...
Ans.. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth
12 ) Which book is the source of Shakespeare's As
you like it ? Ans.. Rosalynds by Thomas Lodge
13 ) Portia is the female character of
Shakespeare's .. Ans.. Comedy ,The Merchants of
Venice
14 ) Shakespeare's sonnet is divided into...
 8
Ans.. The first twelve lines are divided into
three quatrains with four lines each. In the three
quatrains the poet establishes a theme or problem
and then resolves it in the final two lines,
called the couplet. The rhyme scheme of the
quatrains is ababcdcdefef and of the Couplet is
gg.
15 ) Lodovico is the character of Shakespeare's..
Ans.. Othello
16 ) How did Ophelia die Ans..
Downed
17 ) King Lear was the king of...
Ans.. Britain
18 ) Claudius was the villain of...
Ans.. Hamlet
19 ) Who is known as " The Swan of Avon"
Ans.. William Shakespeare
20 ) Who said " Shakespeare has no heroes only
heroins" Ans.. Ruskin
21 ) "Life is a tale told by an idiot " is uttered
by.. Ans.. Macbeth
22 ) Shakespeare addressed sonnet 1 to 126 to...
Ans.. William Herbert
23 ) Where the first scene of Act 1 is held in
Othello Ans.. In the street of Venice
24 ) Who was the governor of Sypras..?
Ans.. Montano
25 ) Who is the main female character in Othello ?
Ans.. Desdemona
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26 ) "Virtue! a fig! It is in ourselves that we
are thus or thus" who utters the sentence in
Othello?
Ans.. Iago to Roderigo
27 ) Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet is influenced
by... Ans.. Thomos kyd's Spanish Tragedy
28 ) Who says "To be or not to be"
Ans.. Hamlet
29 ) Who returns as a ghost and tells Hamlet to
kill Claudius ? Ans.. Hamlet's father
30 ) In which country did Hamlet primarily take
place ? Ans.. Denmark
31 ) Who is in love with Hamlet ?
Ans.. Ophelia
32 ) Who refers the sentence " Shakespeare knows
small latin and less greek" ? Ans..
Ben Johnson
33 ) Who is Brabantio in Othello ?
Ans.. A Cynator and father of Desdemona
34 ) Who is sayton in Macbeth? Ans..
Lieutenant of Macbeth
35 ) Who is the third daughter of King Lear?
Ans.. Cordelia
36 ) What is the tragic flow of King Lear?
Ans.. Love of flatters
37 ) Who kills Banquo? Ans.. A group
of murderers
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38 ) Macbeth was published in.. Ans..
1623
39 ) How many Acts are in Shakespeare's plays ?
Ans.. Five
40 ) Who kills Macbeth in Macbeth ? Ans..
Macduff
41 ) Why does Hamlet not kill the king while the
king is praying ?
Ans.. Because he fears king would go to heaven
42 ) Who is the father of English drama ?
Ans.. Christopher Marlowe 2. William Shakespeare?
43 ) Whose play are known as the Comedy of
manners ? Ans.. William Congreve
44 ) Shakespeare's Winter's Tale is a..
Ans.. Comedy
45 ) Write the rhyme scheme of Shakespearean
sonnet ... Ans.. abab cbcb efef gg
46 ) What is the unfinished work of Shakespeare ?
Ans.. Henry VIII
47 ) Othello was published in...
Ans.. 1608
48 ) Who is travelling with Macbeth when he was
first encounters the three witches ? Ans..
Banquo
49 ) The king of Scotland murdered by Macbeth ?
Ans.. Yes
50 ) What was the first and last tragedy written
by Shakespeare. ?
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Ans.. First tragedy Hamlet and last Macbeth

(2)GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1540 - 1400 )

 Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 – 25 October 1400),

known as the Father of English Poetry.
 He is widely considered the greatest English
poet of the Middle Age.
 He was the first poet to be buried in Poets'
Corner of Westminster Abbey.
 He is called as Morning Star of Renaissance
 He achieved fame during his lifetime as an
author, philosopher, civil servant and
astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on
the astrolabe for his ten-year-old son Lewis.
 Chaucer also maintained an active career in the
civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and
diplomat.
 Early Life
 Poet Geoffrey Chaucer was born in1340 in
London, England.
 Chaucer‘s father, John, carried on the family
wine business.
 Geoffrey Chaucer is believed to have attended
the St. Paul‘s Cathedral School, where he
probably first became acquainted with the
influential writing of Virgil and Ovid.
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 In 1357, Chaucer became a public servant to
Countess Elizabeth of Ulster, the Duke of
Clarence‘s wife.
 In 1359, the teenage Chaucer went off to fight
in the Hundred Years War in France, and at
Rethel, he was captured for ransom.
 King Edward III helped pay 16 pounds of ransom
to release Chaucer.
 After Chaucer‘s release, he joined the Royal
Service, traveling throughout France, Spain and
Italy on diplomatic missions throughout the
early to mid-1360s.
 For his services, King Edward granted Chaucer a
pension of 20 marks.
 In 1366, Chaucer married Philippa Roet, the
daughter of Sir Payne Roet, and the marriage
conveniently helped further Chaucer‘s career in
the English court.
 By 1368, King Edward III had made Chaucer one
of his esquires.
 From 1370 to 1373, he went abroad again and
fulfilled diplomatic missions in Florence and
Genoa, helping establish an English port in
Genoa.
 He also spent time familiarizing himself with
the work of Italian poets Dante and Petrarch
along the way.
 By the time he returned, he and Philippa were
prospering, and he was rewarded for his
 13
diplomatic activities with an appointment as
Comptroller of Customs, a lucrative position.
 Meanwhile, Philippa and Chaucer were also
granted generous pensions by John of Gaunt, the
first duke of Lancaster.
 In 1377 and 1388, Chaucer engaged in yet more
diplomatic missions, with the objectives of
finding a French wife for Richard II and
securing military aid in Italy.
 During trips to Italy in 1372 and 1378, he
discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio, and
Petrarch—each of which greatly influenced
Chaucer‘s own literary endeavors.
 Busy with his duties, Chaucer had little time
to devote to writing poetry, his true passion.
 Chaucer established residence in Kent, where he
was elected a justice of the peace and a Member
of Parliament in 1386.
 When Philippa passed away in 1387, Chaucer
stopped sharing in her royal annuities and
suffered financial hardship.
Major Work
1. French Period: (1360-1370)
 The Romaunt of the Rose:
 It is based on French work Le Romaunt de la
Rose‘ by Lorris and De Meung.
 It is allegorical, dream poem written in
Octosyllabic Couplet.
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 It begins with an allegorical dream, in which
the narrator receives advice from the god of
love on gaining his lady‘s favour.
 It has three fragments (i.e.) A, B, C.
 The Book of the Duchess: (1369)
 Chaucer's first published work was The Book of
the Duchess, a poem of over 1,300 lines.
 It is an elegy for Blanche, Duchess of
Lancaster, addressed to her widower, the Duke.
 It is called as The Dreame of Chaucer.
The complynt upto pity is the third book of
this period
2.Italian Period: (1370- 1385)
1) The House of Fame (1382)
 It is a poem of around 2,000 lines in dream-
vision form based on ‗Dante‘s Divine Comedy‘.
 It is allegorical poem written in Octosyllabic
Couplet.
 It has the description of temple of Venus.

2) The Legend of Good Women (1385)

 It is based on Boccaccio‘s Mulieribus
 Chaucer introduced the stanza form of iambic
pentameter couplets i.e Heroic Couplet in The
Legend of Good Women, which is seen for the
first time in English.
 It has a prologue and 9 legends.
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 It describes 9 famous women.
3) Troilus and Criseyde
 It was influenced by The Consolation of
Philosophy, which Chaucer himself translated
into English.
 Chaucer took some the plot of Troilus from
Boccaccio's Filostrato.
 Chaucer invented Rhyme Royal i.e. Chaucerian
Stanza (7 lines) in this poem.
 Troilus and Criseyde is a narrative poem of
8,000 lines that retells the tragic love story
of Troilus and Criseyde in the context of the
Trojan War.
4) Anelida and Arcite
 It tells the story of Anelida, queen of Armenia
and Arcite.
 It has some elements of Boccaccio‘s Tessida.
5)Parlement of Foules
 His works included Parlement of Foules, a poem
of 699 lines.
 This work is a dream-vision for St. Valentine's
Day that makes use of the myth that each year
on that day the birds gather before the goddess
Nature to choose their mates.
 This work was heavily influenced by Boccaccio
and Dante.
 16
 It was written in 1380, during marriage
negotiations between Richard and Anne of
Bohemia.
 It had been identified as peppered with Neo-
Platonic ideas inspired by the likes of poets
Cicero and Jean De Meung.
 The poem uses allegory, and incorporates
elements of irony and satire as it points to
the inauthentic quality of courtly love.
6)Translation of Boethius' Consolation
of Philosophy as Boece:
 Boece is Chaucer‘s translation into Middle
English of The Consolation of Philosophy‘ by
Boethius.
 It was originally written in Latin, stressed
the importance of philosophy to everyday life.

3. English Period: (1384 – 1390)

1) The Canterbury Tales
 Chaucer wrote the unfinished work, The
Canterbury Tales.
 The Canterbury Tales is by far Chaucer‘s best
known and most acclaimed work.
 Initially Chaucer had planned for each of his
characters to tell four stories a piece.
 17
 The first two stories would be set as the
character was on his/her way to Canterbury, and
the second two were to take place as the
character was heading home.
 Apparently, Chaucer‘s goal of writing 120
stories was an overly ambitious one.
 In actuality, The Canterbury Tales is made up
of only 24 tales and rather abruptly ends
before its characters even make it to
Canterbury.
 The tales are fragmented and varied in order,
and scholars continue to debate whether the
tales were published in their correct order.
 Despite its erratic qualities, The Canterbury
Tales continues to be acknowledged for the
beautiful rhythm of Chaucer‘s language and his
characteristic use of clever, satirical wit.
2)A Treatise on the Astrolabe:
 A Treatise on the Astrolabe is one of Chaucer‘s
prose works.
 It is an essay about the astrolabe, a tool used
by astronomers and explorers to locate the
positions of the sun, moon and planets.
 Today it is one of the oldest surviving works
that explain how to use a complex scientific
tool, and is thought to do so with admirable
clarity.
 18
 From 1370 to 1373, he went abroad again and
fulfilled diplomatic missions in Florence and
Genoa, helping establish an English port in
Genoa.
 He also spent time familiarizing himself with
the work of Italian poets Dante and Petrarch
along the way.
 By the time he returned, he and Philippa were
prospering, and he was rewarded for his
diplomatic activities with an appointment as
Comptroller of Customs, a lucrative position.
 Meanwhile, Philippa and Chaucer were also
granted generous pensions by John of Gaunt, the
first duke of Lancaster.
 In 1377 and 1388, Chaucer engaged in yet more
diplomatic missions, with the objectives of
finding a French wife for Richard II and
securing military aid in Italy.
 During trips to Italy in 1372 and 1378, he
discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio, and
Petrarch—each of which greatly influenced
Chaucer‘s own literary endeavors.
 Busy with his duties, Chaucer had little time
to devote to writing poetry, his true passion.
 Chaucer established residence in Kent, where he
was elected a justice of the peace and a Member
of Parliament in 1386.
 19
 When Philippa passed away in 1387, Chaucer
stopped sharing in her royal annuities and
suffered financial hardship.
Later Life:
 From 1389 to 1391, after Richard II had
ascended to the throne, Chaucer held a draining
and dangerous position as Clerk of the Works.
 He was robbed by highwaymen twice while on the
job, which only served to further compound his
financial worries.
 To make matters even worse, Chaucer had stopped
receiving his pension.
 Chaucer eventually resigned the position for a
lower but less stressful appointment as sub-
forester, or gardener, at the King‘s park in
Somersetshire.
 When Richard II was deposed in 1399, his cousin
and successor, Henry IV took pity on Chaucer
and reinstated Chaucer‘s former pension.
 With the money, Chaucer was able to lease an
apartment in the garden of St. Mary‗s Chapel in
Westminster, where he lived modestly for the
rest of his days.

Death:
 He died October 25, 1400 in London, England.
 20
 He was the first to be buried in Westminster
Abbey i.e. Poet‘s Corner.

Quotes:
(1) “Chaucer is our well of English undefiled” –
Spenser
(2) “Here is God„s plenty” – John Dryden
(3) “Some of his characters are vicious; and
some virtuous” - John Dryden
(4) “Chaucer is perpetual fountain of good
sense, learned in all sciences” - John Dryden
(5) “Chaucer is the father of English poetry” -
John Dryden
(6) “Chaucer lacks the high seriousness of the
great classics” – Mathew Arnold
(7) “With him, real poetry is born” – Mathew
Arnold
See Also :
1. Chaucer lived during the reigns of – Edward
III, Richard II and Henry IV
2. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was written in –
1385 onwards
3. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales belongs to – 3rd
Period of Chaucer’s literary career
4. Norman Conquest took place in – 1066 (11th
Century)
 21
5. Wyclif’s Bible was published in – 1382
6. William Langland’s The Vision of William
concerning Piers the Plowman was written in –
1362-90
7. The Travels of Sir John Maundeville was
published in - 1400
8. The Hundred Years’ War was begun in – 1338
(14th Century)
9. The Hundred Years’ War was fought between –
England and France
10. Wat Tyler’s Rebellion took place in - 1381
11. The War of Roses was fought between – The
House of York and the House of Lancaster
12. The War of Roses was fought during the period
– 1455-86
13. Thomas Malory’s Morte De Arthur was written in
– 1470 (published in 1485)
14. Caxton’s Printing Press was set up in – 1487
15. Thomas More’s Utopia was published in – 1516
(Latin), 1551 (English)
16. The First English Comedy, Roister Doister was
written in – 1550
17. Roister Doister was written by – Nicholas
Udall
18. The First English Tragedy, Gorboduc was
written in – 1561
 22
19. Gorboduc was written by – Thomas Sackville,
Lord of Buckhurst & Thomas Norton
20. Tottel’s Miscellancy was published in - 1557
21. Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne of England
in – 1558
22. Globe Theatre was built in – 1599
23. The Elizabethan Age covers the period – 1558-
1602

Question and answer on Geoffrey Chaucer

1. Chaucer began to write “The Canter-bury Tales”
in the year---
(B ) 1385
2. Who introduced “The Heroic Couplet into English
Verse?
(D ) Chaucer
3. Chaucer was called, “The earliest of the great
moderns” and was also called. “The morning star of
the Renaissance” who initiated these remarks?
(C ) Albert
4. In which year, “The Owl and The Nightingale”
was published?
(C ) 1250
5. What does medieval Chivalry mean?
 23
(C ) Showy praise of women (a literary and poetic
ideal )
6. In which year the Normans. lost their native
land, Normandy and began to look upon England as
their home?
(C ) 1204
7. “Ah ! freedom is a noble thing.” Who is
composer of this line?
(B ) Barbour
8. Name the poet of the following poems--
(i ) Sir Gawayn and the green Knight
Ans (B ) Anonymous
9. Which of the following is not a contemporary of
Chaucer?
(C ) John Mandeville
10. Which of the following four dialects was to
become the standard English or The King’s English
by the time of Chaucer?
(B ) The East-Midland
11. John Gower was born in the year---
(D ) Unknown
12. In the social Background of the age of
Chaucer, there were there medieval institutions.
Which of the following is not included in them?
(B ) Imperialism
 24
13. Which of the following completed the United
Kingdom? It means. the last conquest of....
(C ) Scotland
14. Which of the four following dialects was “The
London Dialect”?
(C ) The East Midland
15. Chaucer expresses his age---
(C ) As a whole
16. “Chaucer was not in any sense a poet of the
people.” Who says like this?
(C ) Hudson
17. Who has been called the “Prince of
Plagiarists”?
(C ) Chaucer Geoffrey
18. Who was called the first Protestant and the
father of the English-Reformation? He may be
called with equal Justice the father of English
Prose –
(B ) John Wycliffe
19. Which of the following books was written by a
French-Physician, Jean DeBourgone?
(C ) Travels of Sir John Mandeville
20. Who was the first to translate the Bible into
English? He used the Latin version of the Bible.
(B ) John Wycliffe
 25
21. How many characters are there in The Prologue?
(B ) 29
22. Who were “Lollards”?
(C ) The followers of John Wycliffe
23. “It is an encyclopaedia of the art of Love
“Which of the following”?
(C ) Confession Amantis
24. Who is known as the father of English ?
(B ) Chaucer
25. Before English, which language was the
language of court and bobility?
26. Chaucer is known much for his (A )
Realism
27. Chaucer first used his rhyme-royal stanza in
his
(D ) Triolus and Criseyde
28. Which of the following tales is in prose?
(A ) The Parson’s Tale
29. The first poem in English to use heroic
couplet is
(A ) The Legend of Good Women
30. Who tells the last tale in Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales?
(B)The parson
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(3)JOHN DRYDEN (1631 - 1700)
John Dryden was an *English poet, literary critic
and playwright* of *Restoration period*. Who had
made England's first *poet laureate in 1668*. He
was born in the *village of Aldwinkle,
Northamptonshire in 1631* and his well known work
of his period, the *Heroic stanza written on the
*death of Cromwell*...

Questions and answers

1. When was John Dryden born? c) 19 August
1631
2. Where was John Dryden born? a)
Aldwinkle
3. Which school did John Dryden attend? b)
Westminster School
4. Which poem did John Dryden write for the
coronation of Charles II? d) To His Sacred
Majesty
5. Which play did John Dryden write in 1665?
b) The Indian Emperour
6. When did John Dryden write Annus Mirabilis?
c) 1667
7. Which poem written by John Dryden regarding
successor to Charles II angered Whigs?
a) Absalom and Achitophel
 27
8. When was John Dryden poet laureate? d)
1668-1688
9. When did John Dryden die? b) 12 May
1700
10. Where did John Dryden die? b)
London
11. John Dryden wrote Heroic stanza (1668) for the
reason of.. c) Death of Oliver Cromwell
12. Dryden wrote "Absalom and Achitophel" who was
Achitophel? a) Absalom's adviser
13. Who wrote the Defense of Lucknow ?
d)
14. Who according to Dr Johnson is the father of
criticism? b) John Dryden
15. Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel is a
a) Political Allegory
16. Dryden's Astraea Redux, is a poem of welcome
to c) Charls 2nd
17. All for Love is the most famous poem of Dryden
written in b) Blank verse
18. All for Love is the another version of
a) Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
19. Dryden's play in general calle(D).
c) Heroic plays
20. John Bunyan's The Pilgrims Progress was
published in a) 1678
 28

(4)Philips Sidney ( 1554 - 1586)*

Philips Sidney was an English poet, scholar and
soldier. Who is remembered as one of the prominent
figure of the Elizabethan era and his work
included Astrophel and Stella, The Defense of
poesy ( Also known as An Apology for poetry) and
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia

*Question and Answer*

1. When was Sidney born? 30 Nov.
1554 in kent, London
2. When was Sidney elected the member of
parliament for Shrewsbury ? In 1572
3. What is the Astrophel and Stella?
A sonnet sequence
4. How many sonnets there are in Astrophel and
Stell(A)? 108
5. Who wrote first piece of literary critic in
English.? Sir Philips Sidney
6. Who wrote an elegy on the death of Sidney.?
Edmund Spenser
7. Who wrote Arcadi(A)?
Philips Sidney
 29
8. Which book Edmund Spencer dedicated to Sidney.?
The Shepherd Calendar (1579)
9. Sidney wrote Astrophel and Stell(A) Who was
stell(A).? Lady Penelope
10. Who was regarded as the perfect gentleman of
Renaissance.? Sir Philips Sidney

Renaissance Moment
1) "Renaissance" is a: a)French
word
2) What is the meaning of "Renaissance"
a)Rebirth, revival and re-awaking
3) Renaissance first came to the
b)Italy
4) Which of the following are University wits
c)John Lyly and Robert Greene
5) University Wits were those who:
a)Had training at two universities
6) Which century is known as Dawn of Renaissance:
b)15 th
7) Who born in 1422: a)William
Caxton
8) Utopia was first printed in:
b)1516
 30
9) Who translated Utopia in English language:
c)Ralph Robinson
10) The first complete version of Bible in English
language was made by: a)Wyclif
11) Who took Degree at fifteen from Cambridge in
1518? d)Thomas Wyatt
12) Who wrote "Mirror for Magistrates"?
a)Thomas Sacville
13) Philip Sidney was born on 30th November
b)1554
14) "Astrophel and Stella" is a
c)Sonnet
15) Greville was biographer of
c)Sir Philip Sidney
16) "The Prince Of Poets in his time", on whom
grave the inscription is given? c)Edmund Spencer
17) What is Faerie Queene:
a)An allegory
18) In whose reign Morality plays began?
c)Henry six
19) Which book Edmund Spenser dedicated to the
Philip Sidney: b)The shepheaedes Calendar
20) Which poet was first who used metaphysical
poetry among his contemporaries: c)John Donne
21) The first regular English comedy, based on the
model of the Latin comedy, is attributed to ?
a)Nicholas Udall
 31
22)Thomas kyd (1558-95) achieved great popularity
with which of his first work? b)The Spanish
Tragedy
23)Marlowe born in______ c)1564
24)In "the tragic history of Doctor Faustus".
Faustus was a : a) German scholar
25)Who wrote "The Massacre at Paris"?
b)Christopher Marlowe
26)After the death of Christopher Marlowe who
completed his unfinished poem "Hero and Leander"?
c)George Chapman
27) Who succeeded Lyly? a)Robert
Greene
28) Which of the Marlowe's plays were written in
collaboration with Thomas Nash?
b)The tragedy of Dido and Queen of Carthage.
29) Who was the son of a rich London merchant and
born in 1557? b)Thomas lodge
30) The collection of the papers and
correspondence of a well-to-do Norfolk family is
known as:
c)The Paston letters
31) Who wrote "Holy Sonnets"? b)John Donne
32) Who wrote following lines:
"........ I am involved in mankind: and therefore
never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it
 32
tolls for thee."
a)John Donne
33) "On his blindness", a collection of sonnets is
written by: b)John Milton
34) "Paradise lost" was lost by:
a)Eve b)Adam c)Both a and b
35) In "Paradise regained" who regained the
paradise? b)Jesus
36) Which of the following published in 1579 and
although it placed Spencer immediately in the
highest rank of living writers? c)The
Shepherd's calendar
37)Spencer married in June 11, 1594 to -----------
---------------------------? c)Elizabeth Boyle
D/O James Boyle
38)John Donne's "The Anniversaries" is a:
a)An elegy in two parts
39) Who of the following is known as Child Of
Renaissance? c)Spencer
40)During Spencer's visit to his Kinsfolk in
Lancashire he felt in love a woman and who figures
as__________________ much of his work:
a)Rosalind

Important Question and Answer*

 33
1. When was printing press introduced in England
by William Caxton ?
(A)1476 (B) 1467 (C) 1576 (D) 1567
2. Which dynasty brought political stability to
England from 1485 to 1603?
(A) Stuart (B) Tudor (C) Hannover (D)
Windsor
3. Henry VII reigned over England during whih
period?
(A) 1485 – 1509 (B) 1485 – 1490 (C) 1485 – 1520
(D) 1485 - 1515
4. Mary I reigned from 1553 to 1558. Who
succeeded her?
(A) Mary Queen of Scots (B) Elizabeth II (C)
Elizabeth I (D) Edward VI
5. Who was Poet Laureate to Henry VIII?
(A) Edmund Spenser (B) Philip Sidney (C)
Thomas Wyatt (D) John Skelton
6. Thomas Wyatt was particularly influenced by
sonneteers from which county?
(A) Holland (B) Italy (C) Spain (D) France
7. Who was Thomas Wyatt’s protégé?
(A) Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (B)
Philip Sidney
(C) William Shakespeare (D) Ben Jonson
 34
8. Who was the publisher of the first printed
anthology of English poetry, Miscellany (1557)
(A) Richard Bottel (B) Richard Tottel (C)
Richard Mottel (D) Richard Pottel
9. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was the first
English poet to publish blank verse in his
translation of the second and fourth
books of which Latin epic poem?
(A) Walther von Châtillon’s Alexandreis (B)
Publius Papinius Statius’ Achilleid
(C) Publius Vergilius Maro’s Aeneid (D)
Joseph of Exeter’s Antiocheis
10. Why was Henry Howard sentenced to execution
by Henry VIII?
(A) Adultery (B) Treason (C) Alchemy
(D) Blasphemy
11. During the reign of which monarch did “High”
Renaissance Poetry flourish?
(A) Henry VII (B) Mary I (C) Henry VIII
(D) Elizabeth
12. Who of the following was not part of the
group of “High” Renaissance poets?
(A) Sir Thomas Wyatt (B) Philip Sidney (C)
Edmund Spenser (D) William Shakespeare
13. Which is the title of the first work ever
written in Spenserian stanza?
 35
(A) The Faerie Countesse (B) The Faerie
Princess
(C) The Faerie Godmother (D) The Faerie Queen
14. Which of the following is a typical rhyme
scheme of the Petrachan sonnet?
(A) A sestet (aba aba) and octet (cddc cddc)
(B) An octet (abba abba) and sestet (cde cde)
(C) Abab cdcd efef gg (D)
Abab bcbc cdcd ee
15. What is the typical rhyme scheme of the
English or Shakespearian sonnet?
(A) Abab bcbc cdcd ee (B)Abab cdcd efef gg
(C) Abba cddc effe gg (D) Abbc cdde effg
aa
16. What is the typical rhyme scheme of the
Spenserian sonnet?
(A) Abab cdcd efef gg (B) Abab bcbc cdcd
aa
(C) Abab bcbc cdcd ee (D) Abba cddc effe
ff

17. What is the name of an extended poetic

treatment of a single theme?
(A) A sonnet circle (B) A sonnet round (C) A
sonnet series (D) A sonnet cycle
 36
18. What is the name of a sonnet series linked by
repeating the last verse of one sonnet in the
first verse of the next, until the circle is
closed by using the first verse of the first
sonnet as the last verse of the last sonnet?
(A) A sonnet band (B) A sonnet crown (C) A
sonnet throne (D) A sonnet cap
19. Henry Howard and Sir Thomas Wyatt both based
sonnets on which of Petrach’s poems about
unrequited love?
(A) Rime 110 (B) Rime 120 (C) Rime 130
(D) Rime 140
20. Wyatt frequently used an exaggerated figure
of speech in which intellectual cleverness figured
at least as largely as real emotion. What is the
name of this device?
(A) Conceit (B) Conceal (C) Concave
(D) Comparison
21. Words from which semantic field can be found
in the fourth verse of Wyatt’s The long love that
in my thought doth harbour?
(A) Mythological (B) Animal (C) Military
(D) Religious
22. Sweet is the death that taketh end by love is
the last verse of which of the following sonnets?
(A) Sir Thomas Wyatt’s “The long love that in my
thought doth harbour”
 37
(B) Henry Howard’s “Love, that doth reign and live
within my thought”
(C) Edmund Spenser’s “Lyke as a ship that through
the Ocean wyde”
(D) Philip Sidney’s “Loving in truth, and fain in
verse my love to show”
23. What do Wyatt’s following verses refer to?
Into my face presseth with bold pretense And
therein campeth, spreading his banner.
(A) A blush (B) A punch (C) A rash
(D) A kiss
24. In which year were Wyatt’s The long love that
in my thought doth harbour and Howard’s Love, that
doth reign and live within my thought both
published?
(A) 1556 (B) 1557 (C) 1558 (D) 1559
25. The first verse of Edmund Spenser’s Sonnet 34
(Lyke as a ship that through the Ocean wyde) is an
example of which rhetorical device?
(A) Simile (B) Metaphor (C) Epithet
(D) Allusion
26. What would be a modern translation of the
word “carefull”, which appears in the penultimate
verse of Spenser’s sonnet 34?
(A) Angry (B) Cautious (C) Worried (D) Sad
27. In which of the verses of Spenser’s sonnet 34
is the problem of unrequited love resolved?
 38
(A) Final couplet (B) Final quintet
(C) Final octet (D) Final sestet
28. What does the reference to a storm in verse 9
of Spenser’s sonnet 34 show us?
(A) Rage (B) Pessimism (C) Optimism
(D) Destruction

29. In which of the following sonnets is the

female protagonist given a voice?
(A) Edmund Spenser’s sonnet 75 (B) Philip
Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella 7
(C) Edmund Spenser’s sonnet 34 (D) Philip
Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella 1
30. In sonnet 75, the woman’s name is written
upon the “strand”. What is a “strand”?
(A) Parchment (B) Stone (C) Shore
(D) Tree bark
31. Edmund Spenser’s sonnets 34 and 75 were
published in 1595 as part of which collection?
(A) Amoretto (B) Amaretto (C) Amoretti
(D) Amaretti
32. What was the name of Edmund Spenser’s second
wife, who inspired many of his sonnets?
(A) Elizabeth Doyle (B) Elizabeth Boyle
(C) Elizabeth Coyle (D) Elizabeth Foyle
 39
33. Spenser’s sonnet 75 demonstrates the
influence of which philosophy in Renaissance
poetry? (A) Neonomianism (B) Nominalism
(C) Neovitalism (D) Neoplatonism
34. Which of the following is said to have had an
important influence on Edmund Spenser’s works?
(A) Ovid’s Metamorphoses (B) Ariosto’s
Orlando Furioso
(C) Heroic epic tales of Charlemagne (D) All of
the above
35. The final couplet of Spenser’s sonnet 75
makes reference to what?
(A) The author’s secret sorrow (B) The
apocalypse
(C) A summer’s day (D) The woman’s
beauty
35. How does Spenser’s use of the “volta” differ
from that of the Italian sonneteers, who tended to
introduce a new idea in verse 9?
(A) Although he often starts verse 9 with “But” or
“Yet”, the real turn normally occurs in the final
couplet
(B) Although he often starts verse 9 with “But” or
“Yet”, the real turn normally occurs in the final
quintet
 40
(C) Although he often starts verse 9 with “But” or
“Yet”, the real turn normally occurs in the final
verse
(D) Although he often starts verse 9 with “But” or
“Yet”, the real turn normally occurs in the final
quartet
37. In the following verse from Spenser’s sonnet
75, what does the word “rare” mean? My verse your
virtues rare shall eternize
(A) Strange (B) Never (C) Extraordinary
(D) Bizarre
38. The Defence of Poesie, by Sir Philip Sidney,
is considered the first work of literary criticism
in English literature. What is the text also known
as?
(A) An Apology for Poetry (B) A Vindication
of Poetry
(C) In Support of Poetry (D) An Excuse for
Poetry
39. In what year was the MS. of The Defence of
Poesie published for the first time?
(A) 1595 (B) 1472 (C) 500
(D) 1600
40. In the following phrase from The Defence of
Poesie, who or what is the referent of
“her”? Her world is brazen, the poets only
deliver a golden
 41
(A) The moon (B) The poet’s lover (C) Nature
(D) Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt
41. Which word is missing in the following phrase
from The Defence of Poesie? Poetry is an art of
imitation, for so Aristotle termeth it in the
word ..................
(A) Logos (B) Mimesis (C) Anamnesis
(D) Diairesis
42. In The Defence of Poesie, Sidney states that
literature communicates deep and important truths
through what?
(A) Lies (B) Paradoxes (C) Biblical references
(D) Facts and figures
43. What is Sidney’s standpoint in the debate
over whether art needs social commitment?
(A) Art exists solely for art’s sake
(B) Aesthetic contemplation should be balanced
with morality in art
(C) Art should provide moral grounding and
disregard aesthetics
(D) None of the above

44. Who is thought to be the inspiration for

“Stella” of Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella sonnet
sequence?
(A) Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich (B) Penelope
Debereux, Lady Rich
 42
(C) Penelope Depereux, Lady Rich (D) Penelope
Delereux, Lady Rich
45. In which year was Astrophil and Stella
published?
(A) 1430 (B) 1591 (C) 1600 (D) 1491
46. In the second stanza of Astrophil and Stella
1, what does the reference to “turning others’
leaves” mean?
(A) Starting afresh
(B) Getting inspiration from others
(C) Gathering leaves in the autumn
(D) Stealing books
47. The term “feet” in the verse “And others feet
still seemed but strangers in my way” from the
third stanza of Astrophil and Stella 1, is an
example of what?
(A) Simile (B) Paradox (C) Homonym
(D) Chiasmus
48. Which word is missing from the last verse of
Astrophil and Stella 1? Fool, said my Muse to
me, look in thy …………, and write
(A) Soul (B) Mind (C) Self (D) Heart
49. What is paradoxical about the poet’s
frustrations in Astrophil and Stella 1?
(A) The poet describes his difficulties to express
himself using Italian conventions (“others’
 43
feet”), even though the poem itself follows a
classical Italianate structure
(B) The poet knows that his love will never be
requited so his efforts to get the woman’s
attention are all in vain
(C) The poet makes reference to a “muse”, when
Renaissance poets did not believe in inspiration
from external sources
(D) Although words come flooding to the poet,
their meaning is not clear to him

50. In the final couplet of Astrophil and Stella

7, what reason is given for the black colour of
Stella’s eyes?
(A) For aesthetic effect (her black eyes
complement her fair skin)
(B) To protect her from the dazzling sunlight
(C) To show nature’s great power by making black
seem beautiful
(D) To honour the deaths of the men who have died
for her love
(5)Edmund Spenser
 Faerie Queen
 The Shepheardes Calender, published under
the pseudonym Immerito
 Amoretti and Epithalamion, containing:
 44
 Amoretti
 Epithalamion
 Complaints, Containing sundrie small
Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie includes:
 “The Ruines of Time”
 “The Teares of the Muses”
 “Virgil’s Gnat”
 “Prosopopoia, or Mother Hubberds Tale”
 “Ruines of Rome: by Bellay”
 “Muiopotmos, or the Fate of the
Butterflie”
 “Visions of the worlds vanitie”
 “The Visions of Bellay”
 “The Visions of Petrarch”
 Astrophel. A Pastorall Elegie upon the
death of the most Noble and valorous
Knight, Sir Philip Sidney.
 Prothalamion
Questions Answers on fairy Queen
1)What is the speaker addressing in Sonnet I?
his best friend his beloved his own
poetry his readers
2)What does the poet repeatedly state will
immortalize his beloved?
 45
her salvation his poetry her
reputation their marriage
3)What negative character trait of the
beloved does the speaker repeatedly defend?
Greed pride slovenliness
laziness
4)Which of Spenser's other works does he
refer to by name in I[Amoretti]?
The Faerie Queene The Sheapheard's
Calendar Epithalamion Astrophel
5)What color is the beloved's hair?
Blonde brunette black red
6)Which holiday is mentioned twice in
I[Amoretti]?
Christmas Easter Guy Fawkes' Day
New Year's Day
7)When the speaker compares his beloved to a
predator, what does he usually compare
himself to?
Prey a naturalist darkness a
hunter
8)When the speaker compares his beloved to
ice, what does he compare himself to?
Wind fire water flowers
 46
9)What adornment causes the speaker to warn
his beloved about Daphne's fate?
a red scarf a laurel leaf a diamond
ring a carnation
10)What mythical woman, designed as a
punishment for mortal men, does the speaker
compare his beloved to?
Pandora Venus Daphne Ariadne
11)The speaker compares himself to Narcissus
because he cannot take his eyes off of his
beloved's __?__.
Lips dress reflection beauty
12)When he uses the motif of battle, what
image does the speaker use for himself?
the captive the victor the armor-
bearer the mediator
13)Why does the speaker compare his beloved
to mythical Penelope?
she unravels his efforts every night
she is the wife of an epic hero
she is willing to wait patiently for his
return
she has many suitors vying for her attention
 47
14)What does the speaker envy when he cannot
be physically near his beloved?
his sister her brothers his poetry
his thoughts
15)To what substance does the speaker compare
his beloved?
Granite marble slate shale

16)What does the beloved do to some papers

the speaker has given her?
throws them away gives them to her
sisters
keeps them with her always burns them
17)When the speaker calls love a king, what
does he call his beloved?
a rival queen a rebel a princess
a handmaid
18)Which of the following is NOT one of the
three Elizabeths mentioned by the speaker?
his queen his aunt his beloved
his mother
 48
19)The speaker's allusion to Arion concerns
the latter's use of music to summon what
creature?
a horsea hippocampus a unicorn a
dolphin
20)The speaker compares his beloved's smile
to that of whom?
Penelope Juno Pandora Venus
21)The speaker's poetry fails to calm his
internal strife, unlike the music of whom?
Orpheus Ulysses Pan Arion
22)The speaker claims he cannot be cured of
his physical illness until what is cured
first?
his mother his heart his thoughts
his beloved
23)To what animal does the speaker compare
his beloved?
a fawn a wolf a panther a
stallion
24)Which "element" does the speaker say his
beloved is composed of?
Water fire sky earth
 49
25)What does the speaker find most deadly
about his beloved?
her glance her fear her beauty her
words

Question and answer on Edmund Spenser*

1.When was Edmund Spenser born?
1552
2. When did Edmund Spenser die?
1599
3.Which royal dynasty Edmund Spenser
celebrates in his epic poem The Faerie
Queene?
Tuder
4. Where did he born?
East Smithfield, London
5. In which college he study?
Pembroke college
6. In which year did he publish his poem The
Shepheardes Calender?
1579
 50
7. To whom did the poet addresses his sonnet
sequence Amoretti?
Elizabeth Boyle
8. In which work Edmund Spenser celebrates
his marriage with Elizabeth Boyle?
Epithalamian
9. What is the title of the prose pamphlet
Edmund Spenser wrote in the year 1596? A
View of the present state of Ireland
10. During which war the castle of Edmund
Spenser, Kilcolman by name burnt by native
Irish forces?
Nine years war
11.What is the rhyme scheme of the Spenserian
stanza?
ab ab bc bc c
12.How many lines are in Spenserian stanza?
9
13. What type of work is the work The Faerie
Queene?
Allegorical work
14. To whom Edmund Spenser dedicated the work
The Faerie Queene?
 51
Queen Elizabeth
15. Under which pseudonym the work The
Shepheardes Calender was published?
Immerito
16. To whom did Edmund Spenser dedicate his
work The Shepheardes Calender?
Philips Sidney
17. Which one of the following is an
unfinished work of him?
Faerie Queen
18. How many books were originally planned to
form the work The Faerie Queene? Ans.12
19. In which work of Edmund Spenser the Ape
and the Fox serve to satirize the customs of
the court?
Mother Hubbard's Tale
20. Who is known as poet's poet .?
Edmund Spenser
21. Who said about Spenser " He died for want
of bread "
Ben Jonson
21. Who is known as the child of
Renaissance.?
 52
Edmund Spenser

(6)John Milton – Important Points

(1608 – 1674)
Early Life:
 John Milton was born in Bread Street, London on 9
December 1608, the son of composer John Milton
and his wife Sarah Jeffrey.
 He was poet, prose polemicist, civil servant.
 He knew the languages English, Latin, French,
German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Aramaic
and Syriac.
 He attended St Paul’s School in London.
 He studied at Christ’s College,
Cambridgegraduating in 1629 with a Bachelor of
Arts degree, and 1632 with a Master of Arts.
 He was called as “Lady of the Light”, “Lady of
Christs” and “Milton the Divorcer”.
 He was a Puritan who believed in the authority of
the Bible, and opposed religious institutions
like the Church of England

Career:
 John Milton was appointed as Latin Secretary to
Oliver Cromwell in 1649.
 He married three times and his first wife Mary
Powell (1625–1652) had four children.
 53
 On 12 November 1656, he was married
to Katherine Woodcock.
 He married for a third time on 24 February 1662
to Elizabeth Minshull.
 Nephews Edward and John Phillips (sons of
Milton’s sister Anne) were educated by Milton
and became writers themselves.
 John acted as a secretary, and Edward was
Milton’s first biographer.
 In 1638, John Milton went to Europe, where he
probably met the astronomer Galileo,who was
under house arrest at the time.
 He wrote pamphlets on radical topics
like freedom of the press, supported Oliver
Cromwell in the English Civil War, and was
probably present at the beheading of Charles I.
 He wrote official publications for Cromwell’s
government.
 When Charles II, son of the executed Charles I,
regained the throne in 1660, Milton was in
danger for supporting the overthrow of the
monarchy.
 Milton was harassed and imprisoned and several
of his books were burned.
 However, he was included in a general pardon.

Works:
Poetry and drama
(1) L’Allegro (1631)
(2) Il Penseroso (1631)
(3) Comus (1634) (a masque)
 54
(4) Lycidas (1638)
(5) It is a pastoral elegy on Edward King who
was dead in Irish Sea.
(6) Poems of Mr John Milton, Both English and
Latin (1645)
(7) When I Consider How My Light is Spent (1652)
(8) It is commonly referred to as “On his
blindness”.
(9) Paradise Lost (1667)
Paradise Lost, the greatest epic published in
1667, is inspired by the Bible story of the
Creation, the fall of Adam and Eve, the rebellion
of Satan against God, and Satan being cast out
from heaven. A revised, 12-volume
version of Paradise Lost was published in 1674.
(10)Paradise Regained (1671)
Paradise Regained treats the rejection by Jesus
of Satan’s temptations.
(11) Samson Agonistes (1671)
Samson Agonistes deals with the theme of
temptation, dramatizing how the Hebrew strong man
yielded to passion and seeming self-interest.

Prose:
 Of Reformation (1641)
 Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643)
 Of Education (1644)
 55
 In 1644 Milton’s Of Education dealt with
another kind of domestic freedom
 Areopagitica (1644)
 It is influential and impassioned defenses of
free speech and freedom of the press.
 The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)
 Defensio pro PopuloAnglicano [First Defence]
(1651)
 DefensioSecunda [Second Defence] (1654)
 A Treatise of Civil Power (1659)
 History of Britain (1670)
 Of True Religion (1673)
 In 1673 Milton reentered public controversy
(open to dispute) with Of True Religion, a
brief defense of Protestantism.
 In his prose works he advocated the abolition
of the Church of England.
 Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian,
he achieved international renown within his
lifetime.
 While at college, he wrote a number of his
well-known shorter English poems, among
them “On the Morning of Christ’s
Nativity”,his “Epitaph on the admirable
Dramatick Poet, W. Shakespeare” (his first poem
to appear in print), L’Allegro, and Il
Penseroso.
 ‘Comus’ argues for the virtuousness of
temperance and chastity.
 56
 Milton published a series of pamphlets over the
next three years arguing for the legality
and morality of divorce.
 On 24 February 1652, Milton published his Latin
defence of the English people Defensio pro
PopuloAnglicano, also known as the First
Defence.
 In 1654, Milton completed the second defence of
the English nation Defensiosecunda in response
to an anonymous Royalist
tract “Regiisanguinisclamor”, a work that made
many personal attacks on Milton.
 The second defence praised Oliver Cromwell, now
Lord Protector, while exhorting him to remain
true to the principles of the Revolution.
 By 1654, Milton had become totally blind;His
blindness forced him to dictate his verse and
prose to amanuenses (helpers), one of whom was
poet Andrew Marvell.
 One of his best-known sonnets is presumed to
date from this period, ‘When I Consider How My
Light is Spent’, titled by a later editor “On
His Blindness”.
 His first published poem was ‘On Shakespeare’
(1630), anonymously included in the Second
Folio edition of William Shakespeare.
 Milton collected his work in 1645 Poems in the
midst of the excitement attending the
possibility of establishing a new English
government.
 Milton followed up the publication Paradise
Lost with its sequel Paradise Regained,which
 57
was published alongside the tragedy Samson
Agonistes in 1671.
 Just before his death in 1674, Milton
supervised a second edition of Paradise
Lost, accompanied by an explanation of “why the
poem rhymes not”, and prefatory verses
by Andrew Marvell.

Quotes:
 Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as “a poem
which…with respect to design may claim the
first place, and with respect to performance,
the second, among the productions of the human
mind”.
 William Wordsworth began his sonnet “London,
1802” with “Milton! thou should’st be living at
this hour” and modelled The Prelude, his own
blank verse epic, on Paradise Lost.
 John Keats found exclaimed that “Miltonic verse
cannot be written but in an artful or rather
artist’s humour.”
 “Milton wrote English like a dead language”
– S. Eliot.
 “Milton with his excessive Latinization has
destroyed the English language” – T.S.Eliot.
 “Milton was the poetical son of Spenser” –
 “This man (Milton) cuts us all out and the
ancient too” – Dryden.
 58
 “Milton was God gifted organ voice of
England” – Tennyson.
 “Miltonic sublimity is called as Grand Style” –

Death:
 Milton died of kidney failure on 8 November
1674 and was buried in the church of St Giles
Cripplegate, Fore Street, London.
 There is a monument dedicated to him in Poet’s
Corner in Westminster Abbey in London

Some points about Milton

1- John Milton was born in Bread Street.
(London) on 9th December 1608
2- John Milton Died on 8th November
1674( Londan).
3- Who was John Milton?
Ans- John Milton was an English poet, polemicist
a Scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant
of the commanhealh of England under Oliver
Cromwell.
4-John Milton is best known for Paradise
lost.
5-Who was John Milton wife?
Ans- 1st -Elizabeth Mynshull 2nd-Kathirine
Woodcock 3rd- Mary Powell.
6-What is paradise lost all about?
 59
Ans- paradise lost is about Adam and eve- How they
come to be created and how they came to lost their
place in the crarden of Eden, also called
paradise.
7-What is the main theme of Paradise lost?
Ans-The importance of obedience to God. The first
words of Paradise lost state that the poem’s main
theme will be “Man’s first Disobedience”
8- Who is the Hero of the Paradise lost
Ans- Satan is the hero of the Paradise lost.
9-John Milton is blind?
Ans-John Milton by February 1652 he had gone
completely blind.
10-Why is John Milton important?
Ans- He wrote at a time of religious flune and
political upheaval, and is best known for his
epic poem paradise lost (1667), Written in blank
verse.
11-What was the nick name given by Milton in the
university?
Ans-The Lady of Christ.
12-Milton was a Royalist true or false?
Ans-False
13-What was the Milton’s first wife?
Ans-Mary Powel.
14-Which work of Milton is tracted? Ans-
Aeropagetica 1644.
 60
15-The first sentence of Paradise lost contains?
Ans- 16 lines
16-Milton invokes is Paradise lost.
Ans- Heavenly Muse Urania.
17-From where the theme of Paradise lost has been
taken? Ans-Genesis, old testament of holy Bible.
18- Fill in the blanks
Of Man’s first Disobedience and the fruit of that
Forbidden tree.
19- In Aeropegetica Milton justified?
Ans- 1.Freedom of the press. 2.Excution of
charls.
20 - What is the writing style of Paradise lost?
Ans- The poetic stlye of Johm Milton, also known
as Miltonic verse, Milton epic, or Miltonic blank
verse.

(7)JOHN DONNE(1572 -1631)

Life:
 John Donne was born on 1572 in London, England.
 He was born into a Catholic family during a
strong anti-Catholic period in England.
 Donne’s father, also named John, was a
prosperous London merchant.
 61
 His mother, Elizabeth Heywood, was the grand-
niece of Catholic martyr, Thomas More.
 In 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More,with
whom he had twelve children.
 His occupations were Poet, Priest, Anglican
Minister and Lawyer.
 He was also a gifted artist in sermons and
devotional writing.
 He studied at Oxford and Cambridge University.
 However, Donne could not obtain a degree from
either institution because of his Catholicism,
since he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy
required to graduate.
 On 6 May 1592 he was admitted to Lincoln’s
Inn, one of the Inns of Court.
 He is considered the pre-eminent representative
of the metaphysical poets.
 At age 25, Donne was appointed private
secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper of
the Great Seal of England.
 He held his position with Egerton for several
years and it’s likely that around this period
Donne converted to Anglicanism.
 He became an Anglican priest, although he did
not want to take Anglican orders.
 In 1615 Donne was awarded an honorary doctorate
in divinity from Cambridge University.
 He became a Royal Chaplain in the same year,
and a Reader of Divinity at Lincoln’s Inn in
1616, where he served in the chapel as minister
until 1622.
 62
 Donne was appointed Vicar of St. Dunstan’s-in-
the-West. In 1621, he was appointed the Dean of
St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
 He also served as a Member of Parliamentin 1601
and in 1614.
 He delivered his famous Death’s Duel sermon at
the Palace of Whitehall before King Charles I
in February 1631.
 Izaak Walton, who wrote a biography of Donne in
1658.

Works:
Poetry:
 Satires (1593)
 Songs and Sonnets (1601)
 Divine Poems (1607)
 Pseudo-Martyr (1610)
 An Anatomy of the World (1611)
 Ignatius his Conclave (1611)
Biathanatos (1608)
 During this middle period Donne wrote
Biathanatos, which was published after his death
by his son in 1646.
Pseudo-Martyr (1610)
 His Pseudo-Martyr (1610) accused Roman Catholics
of promoting false martyrdom (when a person or a
group of people suffer or are killed for the sake
of their religion) for financial gain.
 63
Ignatius His Conclave (1611)
 Ignatius His Conclave (1611) was popular in both
English and Latin versions: it brilliantly mocks
the Jesuits but is interesting today because it
reflects the new astronomy of Galileo (1564–1642)
and toys with the notion of colonizing the moon.
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624)
 This book became quite famous for its phrase “for
whom the bell tolls” and for the golden statement
that “no man is an island”.
 Donne’s works are noted for their strong, sensual
style and include sonnets, love poems, religious
poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies,
songs, satires and sermons.
 His subjects are love, sexuality, religion and
death.
 His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language
and inventiveness of metaphor,especially compared
to that of his contemporaries.
 He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love
poems.
 These features, along with his frequent dramatic
or everyday speech rhythms, his tense syntax and
his tough eloquence, were both a reaction against
the smoothness of conventional Elizabethan
poetry.
 His elaborate metaphors, religious symbolism and
flair for drama soon established him as a great
preacher.
 64
 His early career was marked by poetry that bore
immense knowledge of English society and he met
that knowledge with sharp criticism.
 Another important theme in Donne’s poetry is
the idea of true religion, something that he
spent much time considering and about which he
often theorized.
 Donne’s style is characterised by abrupt openings
and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations.
 He is particularly famous for his mastery
of metaphysical conceits.
 He belongs to the literary movement
of Metaphysical poetry.
 John Donne was the founder of the Metaphysical
Poetry.
 Dryden first coined the term ‘Metaphysics’.
 Johnson first used the term ‘The Metaphysical
Poets’ in his work ‘Life of Cowley’.
 The group of metaphysical poets includes John
Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marwell, Abraham
Cowley, Robert Southwell, Richard Crawshaw,
Thomas Traherne, Henry Vaughan, Thomas Carew.
 Metaphysical conceit is a metaphor of two
different ideas combined into one often through
use of imagery.
 Donne took part in the Earl of Essex’s crusades
against the Spanish in Cadiz, Spain, and the
Azores in 1596 and 1597 and wrote about this
military experience in his poems “The Storm” and
“The Calm.”
 Donne continued to write worldly poems and, about
1609 or 1610, he produced a powerful series
 65
of “Holy Sonnets,” in which he reflected on
sickness, death, sin, and the love of God.
 In 1610, John Donne published his anti-Catholic
polemic ‘Pseudo-Martyr’,renouncing his faith.
 In it, he proposed the argument that Roman
Catholics could support James I without
compromising their religious loyalty to the pope.
 This won him the king’s favor and patronage from
members of the House of Lords.
 The change can be clearly seen in “An Anatomy of
the World” (1611), a poem that Donne wrote in
memory of Elizabeth Drury, daughter of his
patron, Sir Robert Drury of Hawstead, Suffolk.
 The poem “A Nocturnal upon S. Lucy’s Day, Being
the Shortest Day”, concerns the poet’s despair at
the death of a loved one.
 Having converted to the Anglican Church,Donne
focused his literary career on religious
literature.
 He quickly became noted for his sermons and
religious poems.
 The lines of these sermons and devotional works
would come to influence future works of English
literature, such as Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom
the Bell Tolls, which took its title from a
passage in Meditation XVII of Devotions.
 Donne is considered a master of the metaphysical
conceit, an extended metaphor that combines two
vastly different ideas into a single idea, often
using imagery.
 An example of this is his equation of lovers with
saints in “The Canonization”.
 66
 One of the most famous of Donne’s conceits is
found in “A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning” where he compares two lovers who are
separated to the two legs of a compass.
 Donne’s works are also witty,
employing paradoxes, puns, and subtle yet
remarkable analogies.
 His pieces are often ironic and cynical,
especially regarding love and human motives.
 John Donne’s poetry represented a shift from
classical forms to more personal poetry.
 Donne is noted for his poetic metre, which was
structured with changing and jagged rhythms that
closely resemble casual speech.
 He wrote ‘Devotions upon Emergent
Occasions’ published in 1624.
 This work contains the immortal lines “No man is
an island”
 He also composed poetic letters, funeral songs,
and witty remarks, which were published after his
death as ‘Songs and Sonnets’.
 The first two editions of John Donne’s poems were
published posthumously, in 1633 and 1635, after
having circulated widely in manuscript copies.

Death:
 He died on 31 March 1631 in London, England.
 Donne was buried in old St Paul’s Cathedral,
where a memorial statue of him was erected with a
Latin epigraph.
 67
 His memorial survived in the Great Fire of London
in 1666.
 It was believed that Donne suffered from stomach
cancer which was the most prominent reason of his
death.
 He died on March 31, 1631 and was buried
in Paul’s Cathedral.
 A memorial statue of him was erected at the
Cathedral with a Latin epigraph engraved on it.

Quotes:
 “He affects the metaphysics, not only in his
satires, but in his amorous verses -Dryden
 “Donne, for not keeping of accent, deserved
hanging” – Ben Jonson
 “The wit of metaphysical poets is a kind of
Dicordia concerns, a combination of dissimilar
images” – Dr.Johnson
 “Metaphysical poetry is the most heterogeneous
ideas are yoked by violence together”
Dr.Johnson

Question answers
1. About whom did T.S. Eliot write “A thought to
him was an experience”? (NET – D06)
(C) Donne
 68
2.S. Eliot uses ………….poetry as the most prominent
example of united sensibility and thought. (PG –
2012) (D) John Donne’s
3.John Donne is called a ………… poet. (PG – 2013)
(B) Metaphysical
4.Who defines metaphysical poetry as “the most
heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence
together”? (PG – 2013) (C) Dr. Johnson
5.In addition to his poetry, Donne is also famous
for his ………… (PT – 2006) (D) sermons
6.The ascension of King James I in ……… inaugurated
the Jacobean age. (NET – J13) (C) 1603
7.Who was the originator of metaphysical poetry?
(D) John Donne
8.Which title of Ernest Hemingway was taken from
Donne’s Meditation? (D) For Whom the Bell Tolls
9.Which poet and critic coined the term
“metaphysical poet”? (A) Samuel Johnson
10.Which poet was the chapter of “Lives of the
Most Eminent English Poets” based on in which the
term ‘Metaphysical Poets’ was used by Samuel
Johnson? (A) Abraham Cowley
11.Who said about John Donne, “He affects the
metaphysics, not only in his satires, but in his
amorous verses, where nature only should reign…”?
(B) John Dryden
 69
12.Who was the Dean at St. Paul’s Cathedral in
London, England? (C) John Donne
13.Who defined the wit of Metaphysical Poets as
“…a kind of Discordia concors; a combination of
dissimilar images, or discovery of occult
resemblances in things apparently unlike.” (B)
Samuel Johnson
14.Donne could not obtain a degree from Oxford
and Cambridge University because …………….
(B) he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy
15.In A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, how does
Donne describe the death of virtuous people?
(A) Silent
16.In ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’, Donne
compares his love and devotion to his beloved
with……….. (DIET – 2009) (B) the feet of
the compass
17.Donne wants to separate from his beloved
without ……….. (B) happiness
18.“But trepidation of the spheares, Though
greater farre, is innocent”. Here ‘trepidation of
the spheares’ means……. (A)
Movement of planetary bodies
19.Donne addressed his wife Anne More on the
occasion of his departure to ……….along with Sir
Robert Drury. (B) France
 70
20.The love between poet and his beloved is…………
(B) Spiritual
21.Donne says that his love with his wife would
cover a large area due to separation just as
………………when beaten, does not break but expands
wider and wider. (C) Gold
22.The poem ‘A Valediction: Forbidding
Mourning’ was first published in ………. (D) Songs
and Sonnets
23.Donne compares his beloved to ……………………
(A) the fixed foot of a compass
24.In the opening stanza of ‘A Valediction:
Forbidding Mourning’, the speaker compares his
leave-taking to………… (D) the parting of the
soul from virtuous man at death
25.What is the basic theme of the poem, ‘A
Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’? (A) Union of
two lovers
26.‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ is a
…………………poem. (A) Metaphysical
27.“Dull Sublunary lovers’ love, (Whose soule is
sense) cannot admit”. Here ‘Dull sublunary lovers’
refers to…….. (B) Earthly lovers
28.Donne says that the separation from his wife
does not break of love because theirs is a………….
love.
(A) platonic
 71
29.The poem is written on the occasion of……………
(C) the poet travelling away from his wife
30.Donne says that his beloved’s firmness makes a
‘circle just’. Here circle is a symbol of......(A)
Perfect life

(8)BEN JONSON
Q-1 When and where was Ben Jonson born? A- 11
June 1572, Westminster, Uk
Q-2 Where did Jonson first attend school? A-
Jonson attended St. Martin's porish school in
1598.
Q-3 Ben Jonson died in. A- 18 August 1637
in London, Uk
Q-4 Ben Jonson's full name. A-
Benjamin Jonson
Q-5 how many children of Ben Jonson? A- 3
children
Q-6 when was Ben Jonson's marriage? A- 1592
Q-7 Ben Jonson' wife name A- Ann
Lewis Jonson.
Q-8 How did Jonson describe his wife to be? A- A
shrew, yet honest.
Q-9 Ben Jonson famous for his. A-
Comedy humour and he is classical dramatist.
Q-10 What is Ben Jonson's first performance?
A- Volpone
 72
Q-11 Volpone published in. A- 1606
Q-12 Silent women published in. A- 1609
Q-13 Every man in his humour published in. A-
1598
Q-14 Jonson' two famous tragedy. A- Volpone and
Every man in his Humour. And Epicoene.
Q-15 What is Ben Jonson writing style?
A- He popularised the comedy of humours.
Q-16 How many Ben Jonson total work. A-
He wrote 32 books.
Q-17 Name the fomous comedies of Ben Jonson.
A- Volpone, Epicoene, Every man in his Humour and
Every man out of His Humour.
Q-18 Ben Jonson published the collected Adisons of
his place in A- 1616
Q-19 Ben Jonson prodused?
A- Comedies of humour.
Q-20 Who celebrate Cromwell's return from Ireland
through an ode? A- Andrew Marvell
Q-21 Ben Jonson's the poetaster was directed
against. A- Jhon Marathon.
Q-22 About whom has it been said 'He knew small
Latin and less Greek' A- William Shakespeare.
Q-23 Who coined the word "Marlowe's mighty lines".
A- Ben Jonson
 73
Q-24 In which of Ben Jonson's plays do we find the
characters Morose and Cutbeard?
A- The Silent Women.
Q-25 The macabre element in drama was introduced
by. A- John Webster.
Q-26 Who admired Ben Jonson but loved Shakespeare?
A-Alexander Pope.

(9)Christopher Marlowe
Life and Works ( Elizabethan era)
143)One of Marlowe's earliest published works was
his translation of the epic poem 'Pharsalia',
written by which Roman poet?
b)Lucan
144) Marlowe's poem 'The Passionate Shepherd to
His Love' begins with the line "Come live with me
and be my love"; which other English author wrote
a famous poem beginning with this line?
d)John Donne
145)In Marlowe's play, what was the name of the
Jew of Malta?
c)Barabas
146How many years of happiness was Dr Faustus
promised by the Devil?
c)24
147) Which of these Kings was the subject of a
play by Marlowe?
c)Edward II
 74
148)One of Marlowe's most famous poems was an
account of which lovers?
b)Hero and Leander
149) Marlowe's play 'Tamburlaine the Great' was
based loosely on the life of which Asian ruler?
c)Timur
150)What was the title of the play by Marlowe that
portrayed the events surrounding the Saint
Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572?
d)The Massacre at Paris
151)In the title of Marlowe's play, of where was
Dido the Queen?
b)Carthage
152)Christopher Marlowe was England's first
official Poet Laureate.
b)False (It was John Dryden-appointed in 1670)

Dr.Faustus By Christopher Marlowe

153)In what country is 'Dr Faustus' based?
d)Germany
154)When, is it estimated, was 'Dr Faustus' first
performed?
a)1594
155)At what famous university is Faustus a
scholar?
a)Wittenburg
156)Faustus' servant shares his name with a famous
German composer. Who?
 75
d)Wagner
157)Faustus asks two magicians to aid him in
summoning the devil. What are their names?
a)Valdes and Cornelius
158)Through his magic, Faustus is visited first by
which of the devil's angels?
a)Mephastophilis
159)What does Faustus promise to the devil in
exchange for great knowledge, riches and power for
a period of 24 years?
c)his soul
160)Which of the following qualities would most
accurately describe Faustus' character at the
beginning of the play?
d)arrogant
161)Which powerful figure does Faustus ridicule
with his new-found powers?
a)The Pope
162)At the end of the play, Faustus is dragged
down to hell, begging to repent.
a)True
163) Renaissance" is a:
a)French word
164) What is the meaning of "Renaissance":
a)Rebirth, revival and re-awaking
165) Renaissance first came to the: b)Italy
166) Which of the following are University wits:
c)John Lyly and Robert Greene
167) University Wits were those who:
a)Had training at two universities
168) Which century is known as Dawn of
 76
Renaissance:
b)15 th
169) Who born in 1422:
a)William Caxton
170) Utopia was first printed in:
b)1516
171) Who translated Utopia in English language:
c)Ralph Robinson
72) The first complete version of Bible in English
language was made by:
a)Wyclif

173) Who took Degree at fifteen from Cambridge in

1518?
d)Thomas Wyatt
174) Who wrote "Mirror for Magistrates"?
a)Thomas Sacville
175) Philip Sidney was born on 30th November:
b)1554
176) "Astrophel and Stella" is a:
c)Sonnet
177) Greville was biographer of:
c)Sir Philip Sidney

178) "The Prince Of Poets in his time", on whom

grave the inscription is given?
c)Edmund Spencer
179) What is Faerie Queene:
a)An allegory
180) In whose reign Morality plays began?
 77
c)Henry six
181) Which book Edmund Spenser dedicated to the
Philip Sidney:
b)The shepheaedes Calendar
182) Which poet was first who used metaphysical
poetry among his contemporaries:
c)John Donne
184)Thomas kyd (1558-95) achieved great popularity
with which of his first work?
b)The Spanish Tragedy
185)Marlowe born in________
c)1564
186)In "the tragic history of Doctor Faustus".
Faustus was a :
a) German scholar
186)Who wrote "The Massacre at Paris"?
b)Christopher Marlowe
187)After the death of Christopher Marlowe who
completed his unfinished poem "Hero and Leander"?
c)George Chapman
188) Who succeeded Lyly?
a)Robert Greene
189) Which of the Marlowe's plays were written in
collaboration with Thomas Nash?
b)The tragedy of Dido and Queen of Carthage.
190) Who was the son of a rich London merchant and
born in 1557?
b)Thomas lodge
 78
191) The collection of the papers and
correspondence of a well-to-do Norfolk family is
known as:
c)The Paston letters

(10)Farancis Bacon
1. When was Francis Bacon born? a) 22
January 1561
2. Where was Francis Bacon born? b)
London
3. Where did Francis Bacon study law? d)
Gray’s Inn
4. Which constituency did Francis Bacon represent
in Parliament in 1586-1588? c) Taunton
5. When did Francis Bacon publish Advancement of
Learning? a) 1605
6. Which book of Francis Bacon was published in
1609? d) De SapientiaVeterum
7. When was Francis Bacon Lord Chancellor of
England? b) 1618-1621
8. How much fine Francis Bacon had to pay when he
was found guilty of corruption? b) £40,000
9. When did Francis Bacon die? b) 9 April
1626
10. Where did Francis Bacon die? a) Londo