30 English Literature Quiz Questions and Answers

English literature refers to the body of written works in the English language, created by authors primarily from the United Kingdom, the United States, and other English-speaking countries. It is one of the richest and most diverse literary traditions, spanning various genres, styles, and periods. English literature encompasses a wide range of works, including poetry, prose, drama, essays, novels, and short stories, which have been produced over centuries, shaping the literary landscape and influencing generations of readers and writers.

Article outline

• Part 1: 30 English literature quiz questions & answers
• Part 2: Download English literature questions & answers for free
• Part 3: Free online quiz creator – OnlineExamMaker

Part 1: 30 English literature quiz questions & answers

1. Who is often referred to as the “Bard of Avon” and is considered one of the greatest playwrights in English literature?
a) John Milton
b) William Shakespeare
c) Charles Dickens
d) Jane Austen

Answer: b) William Shakespeare

2. Which epic Old English poem tells the story of the hero Beowulf and his battles against monsters and dragons?
a) The Canterbury Tales
b) Paradise Lost
c) Beowulf
d) The Divine Comedy

Answer: c) Beowulf

3. Which English Romantic poet wrote the poem “Ode to a Nightingale” and is known for his association with “Lake Poets” like Wordsworth and Coleridge?
a) Lord Byron
b) John Keats
c) William Wordsworth
d) Percy Bysshe Shelley

Answer: b) John Keats

4. Who wrote the novel “Pride and Prejudice,” exploring themes of love, class, and societal expectations in 19th-century England?
a) Jane Austen
b) Charlotte Bronte
c) George Eliot
d) Emily Dickinson

Answer: a) Jane Austen

5. Which Victorian author wrote the novel “Oliver Twist,” depicting the struggles of a young orphan in London’s impoverished neighborhoods?
a) Charles Dickens
b) Thomas Hardy
c) George Eliot
d) Emily Bronte

Answer: a) Charles Dickens

6. Who is known for the Gothic novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” which explores themes of creation and responsibility?
a) Mary Shelley
b) Bram Stoker
c) Edgar Allan Poe
d) Oscar Wilde

Answer: a) Mary Shelley

7. Which English playwright wrote the comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest” and is known for his wit and satire?
a) Oscar Wilde
b) George Bernard Shaw
c) Samuel Beckett
d) William Congreve

Answer: a) Oscar Wilde

8. Who is the author of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which addresses themes of racial injustice and moral growth in the American South?
a) Harper Lee
b) J.D. Salinger
c) Ernest Hemingway
d) F. Scott Fitzgerald

Answer: a) Harper Lee

9. Which author wrote the epic fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”?
a) J.R.R. Tolkien
b) C.S. Lewis
c) J.K. Rowling
d) Philip Pullman

Answer: a) J.R.R. Tolkien

10. In which Shakespearean tragedy does the character Othello, a Moorish general, become manipulated by the villain Iago?
a) Hamlet
b) Macbeth
c) Othello
d) King Lear

Answer: c) Othello

11. Who wrote the novel “Jane Eyre,” a coming-of-age story of a young orphaned governess?
a) Charlotte Bronte
b) Emily Bronte
c) Anne Bronte
d) Mary Shelley

Answer: a) Charlotte Bronte

12. Which English Romantic poet authored “Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” “The Tyger,” and “The Lamb”?
a) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
b) John Keats
c) William Wordsworth
d) William Blake

Answer: d) William Blake

13. Which Shakespearean comedy revolves around the twins Viola and Sebastian and features mistaken identities and humorous confusion?
a) A Midsummer Night’s Dream
b) Twelfth Night
c) Much Ado About Nothing
d) The Taming of the Shrew

Answer: b) Twelfth Night

14. In which novel do we find the characters Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy and the famous opening line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”?
a) Pride and Prejudice
b) Sense and Sensibility
c) Mansfield Park
d) Emma

Answer: a) Pride and Prejudice

15. Who wrote the play “Romeo and Juliet,” a tragic love story set in Verona, Italy?
a) William Shakespeare
b) Oscar Wilde
c) Tennessee Williams
d) Anton Chekhov

Answer: a) William Shakespeare

Part 2: Download English literature questions & answers for free

16. In which novel do we find the character Huckleberry Finn and his journey down the Mississippi River with the runaway slave Jim?
a) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
b) Moby-Dick
c) The Great Gatsby
d) The Catcher in the Rye

Answer: a) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

17. Which Romantic poet wrote the introspective and autobiographical work “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”?
a) William Wordsworth
b) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
c) Lord Byron
d) Percy Bysshe Shelley

Answer: a) William Wordsworth

18. Who is known for the novel “Wuthering Heights,” a dark and passionate tale set on the Yorkshire moors?
a) Emily Bronte
b) Charlotte Bronte
c) Jane Austen
d) George Eliot

Answer: a) Emily Bronte

19. In which Shakespearean play do we find the character Lady Macbeth, who persuades her husband to commit regicide?
a) Hamlet
b) Macbeth
c) King Lear
d) Julius Caesar

Answer: b) Macbeth

20. Which American poet is known for her reclusive lifestyle and her poems exploring themes of nature, death, and immortality?
a) Emily Dickinson
b) Robert Frost
c) Walt Whitman
d) Edgar Allan Poe

Answer: a) Emily Dickinson

21. Which Romantic poet wrote the poems “Ode to a Skylark” and “Ode to the West Wind”?
a) Percy Bysshe Shelley
b) John Keats
c) Lord Byron
d) William Wordsworth

Answer: a) Percy Bysshe Shelley

22. Who is the author of the satirical novel “Gulliver’s Travels,” where the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver voyages to various strange lands?
a) Jonathan Swift
b) Alexander Pope
c) Samuel Johnson
d) Daniel Defoe

Answer: a) Jonathan Swift

23. In which Shakespearean play does the character Hamlet grapple with existential questions and seek revenge for his father’s death?
a) Hamlet
b) Macbeth
c) Othello
d) Romeo and Juliet

Answer: a) Hamlet

24. Which 20th-century American author is known for the novel “The Great Gatsby,” depicting the Jazz Age and the American Dream?
a) F. Scott Fitzgerald
b) Ernest Hemingway
c) John Steinbeck
d) William Faulkner

Answer: a) F. Scott Fitzgerald

25. Who wrote the poem “The Waste Land,” which is considered one of the most significant works of 20th-century literature?
a) T.S. Eliot
b) W.H. Auden
c) Ezra Pound
d) Langston Hughes

Answer: a) T.S. Eliot

26. In which novel do we find the character Mr. Rochester and his tumultuous relationship with Jane Eyre?
a) Jane Eyre
b) Wuthering Heights
c) Sense and Sensibility
d) Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Answer: a) Jane Eyre

27. Which Shakespearean play tells the tragic story of the Moorish general Othello, manipulated into believing his wife is unfaithful?
a) Hamlet
b) Othello
c) King Lear
d) Julius Caesar

Answer: b) Othello

28. Who is the author of the Gothic novel “Dracula,” introducing the iconic character Count Dracula?
a) Bram Stoker
b) Mary Shelley
c) Edgar Allan Poe
d) Oscar Wilde

Answer: a) Bram Stoker

29. Which British novelist is known for works like “1984” and “Animal Farm,” exploring themes of totalitarianism and dystopia?
a) George Orwell
b) Aldous Huxley
c) Ray Bradbury
d) Margaret Atwood

Answer: a) George Orwell

30. In which play do we find the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, childhood friends of the tragic prince of Denmark?
a) Hamlet
b) Macbeth
c) Othello
d) Romeo and Juliet

Answer: a) Hamlet

Part 3: Free online quiz maker – OnlineExamMaker

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