English Literature MCQs
English Literature MCQs encompass key literary periods, famous authors, genres, and literary techniques. Designed for university students and competitive exams like CSS and lecturers’ tests, these MCQs test knowledge on drama, prose, poetry, and criticism. Whether it's Chaucer, Shakespeare, Romantic poets, or modern literature, the questions help deepen literary analysis and appreciation. Perfect for academic revision and entrance test preparation.
Q: A dramatic monologue involves
A) Multiple voices
B) No characters
C) One speaker
D) Dialogue
✅ Correct Answer: C
Explanation: A single character reveals their thoughts in a dramatic monologue.
Q: Lyrical Ballads marked the beginning of
A) Victorian prose
B) Elizabethan drama
C) Romantic poetry
D) Anglo-Saxon verse
✅ Correct Answer: C
Explanation: "Lyrical Ballads" by Wordsworth and Coleridge initiated Romanticism.
Q: The term ‘Metaphysical poets’ applies to
A) Milton
B) Donne and others
C) Chaucer
D) Shakespeare
✅ Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Poets like Donne used intellect and wit, thus termed metaphysical.
Q: Frankenstein was authored by
A) Mary Shelley
B) Bram Stoker
C) Charles Dickens
D) H.G. Wells
✅ Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" during the early 19th century.
Q: A soliloquy reveals
A) Setting
B) Plot
C) Inner thoughts
D) Conflict
✅ Correct Answer: C
Explanation: A soliloquy is a speech expressing a character’s internal thoughts.
Q: The Victorian novelist known for realism is
A) Dickens
B) Blake
C) Wordsworth
D) Marlowe
✅ Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Dickens depicted the social realities of Victorian England.
Q: The main character in Macbeth is driven by
A) Fear
B) Love
C) Ambition
D) Guilt
✅ Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Macbeth’s tragic downfall is due to unchecked ambition.
Q: The author of Ulysses is
A) T.S. Eliot
B) Virginia Woolf
C) James Joyce
D) Samuel Beckett
✅ Correct Answer: C
Explanation: James Joyce’s "Ulysses" is a modernist masterpiece.
Q: Alfred Tennyson served as
A) Poet Laureate
B) War minister
C) Biographer
D) Novelist
✅ Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate of Great Britain in 1850.
Q: Literary realism focuses on
A) Supernatural
B) Idealism
C) Everyday life
D) Mythology
✅ Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Realism portrays ordinary people and situations truthfully.