All Free English Literature MCQs with Answers

• A. He thought the popes failed to live up the requirements of their offices.
• B. He disbelieved in the Christian doctrine.
• C. He believed that most of the teachings were incorrect.
• D. He thought that the popes were the only successful part of the Church.

Explanation: Dante remained a Christian and did not reject Christian doctrine, but he condemned the corruption and worldly conduct of Church leaders.

• A. "The sweet silence"
• B. "The sweetness of love"
• C. "Sweet and still"
• D. "Sweet new style"

Explanation: Dolce stil novo is Italian for “sweet new style,” the name associated with a refined school of love poetry that influenced Dante and other…

• A. Both believed that reason was unrelated to faith.
• B. Both believed in the joint power of the Church and the State.
• C. Both believed that only faith was an important part of the Christian worldview.
• D. Both believed that reason and faith were part of the quest for truth.

Explanation: Dante and Aquinas both treated reason and faith as complementary ways of pursuing truth.

• A. He wrote classical epics with Christian materials.
• B. He promoted the worship of idolatrous statues from the ancient times.
• C. He rejected the influence of Scholasticism.
• D. He was uninterested in the poetics of the sublime.

Explanation: Dante anticipated humanism by adapting the classical epic tradition to Christian subject matter, especially through his use of Virgil and…

• A. He held several positions in the local government.
• B. He conducted diplomatic missions.
• C. He literally fought at the Battle of Campaldino.
• D. All of the above

Explanation: Dante was active in Florentine government, undertook diplomatic assignments, and fought for Florence at the Battle of Campaldino in 1289.

• A. Because many people were deeply offended by The Divine Comedy
• B. Because he was embroiled in the conflict between the Black Guelphs and White Guelphs
• C. Because Pope Boniface VIII was upset by his representation of the church in The Divine Comedy
• D. Because Beatrice's family wanted the two lovers separated

Explanation: Dante’s exile resulted from the struggle between Florence’s Black Guelphs and White Guelphs, with the victorious Black faction condemning…

• A. Many people were unable to understand Church texts written in Latin.
• B. Many people were unable to understand the language of the Mass.
• C. Many people took issue with the Pope's inordinate wealth and power.
• D. All of the above

Explanation: Medieval criticism of the Church included objections to Latin worship and texts being inaccessible to ordinary people, as well as…

• A. The movement to write more in vernacular
• B. The intellectual movement interested in classical antiquity
• C. The scientific movement away from classical antiquity
• D. The movement based on literature about courtly love

Explanation: Humanism revived the study of Greek and Roman texts, languages, history, and philosophy.

• A. Death
• B. Theater
• C. Drama
• D. Rebirth

Explanation: Renaissance comes from a French term meaning “rebirth,” referring to the revival of classical learning, art, and literature in Europe.

• A. Humanism
• B. The rise of Queen Elizabeth
• C. The popularity of theater
• D. The life of Shakespeare

Explanation: Humanism marks the Renaissance shift toward classical learning, individual potential, and human experience rather than the predominantly…

• A. Puritan movement
• B. Romantic revival
• C. Neo-classical age
• D. Metaphysical school

Explanation: The Pre-Raphaelites reacted against the artificiality of later Victorian art and drew heavily on Romantic ideals of imagination, emotion…

• A. Protection of the political rights of the working class
• B. Recognition of chartered trading companies
• C. Political rights for women
• D. Protection of the political rights of the middle class

Explanation: The Chartists demanded political reform through the People’s Charter, including wider male suffrage and parliamentary changes that would…

• A. The Pre-Raphaelites
• B. Ruskin
• C. Pater
• D. Matthew Arnold

Explanation: The Aesthetic Movement drew strongly on Pre-Raphaelite art, Ruskin’s aesthetic ideas, and Walter Pater’s doctrine of art for art’s sake.

• A. Keats
• B. Coleridge
• C. Southey
• D. Wordsworth

Explanation: The Lake Poets were Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey, associated with England's Lake District.

• A. Keats
• B. Wordsworth
• C. Shelley
• D. Byron

Explanation: Keats, Shelley, and Byron are usually called the second-generation British Romantics.

• A. French Revolution
• B. Glorious Revolution of1688
• C. Reformation
• D. Oxford Movement

Explanation: The French Revolution encouraged Romantic ideas of liberty, equality, individual feeling, and revolt against established authority.

• A. The Oxford Movement
• B. The Pre-Raphaelite Movement
• C. The Romantic Movement
• D. The Symbolist Movement

Explanation: Tracts for the Times were theological pamphlets issued by members of the Oxford Movement, including John Henry Newman and John Keble.

• A. Lord Byron
• B. Shelley
• C. William Wordsworth
• D. John Keats

Explanation: Coleridge and William Wordsworth are regarded as central founders of English Romanticism, especially through Lyrical Ballads.

• A. Medievalism
• B. Modernism
• C. Victorianism
• D. Neoclassicism

Explanation: Neoclassicism dominated English literature from the Restoration through the eighteenth century, emphasizing order, reason, decorum, and…

• A. One decade
• B. Two decades
• C. Three decades
• D. Four decades

Explanation: The English Civil Wars are generally dated from 1642 to 1651, making their duration roughly one decade.