- BIOGRAPHY (21)
- JOHN KEATS (1)
- William Shakespeare (1)
- Blog (7)
- Calculator (2)
- ENGLISH AUTHORS (11)
- LITERARY DEVICES (9)
- MCQS ON ENGLISH LITERATURE (11)
- MCQS ON GENERAL ENGLISH (19)
- ARTICLES (4)
- PREPOSITIONS (3)
- SINGULAR TO PLURAL (5)
- PGT ENGLISH (16)
- QUIZZES (3)
- TGT ENGLISH (13)
- U.P. BOARD (2)
John Dryden MCQs (Set 2): 100 Advanced Questions
MCQS ON JOHN DRYDEN: Welcome back, literary scholars! You’ve navigated the foundational knowledge of John Dryden; now it’s time to prove your mastery. This is Set 2 of our MCQ series, featuring 100 advanced questions designed to challenge your understanding of Dryden’s critical theories, his lesser-known works, and the finer details of his poetic and dramatic craftsmanship. This quiz delves into the nuances of his satires, the specifics of his critical prefaces, and his lasting influence on English literature. Let’s begin!
Part 1: Deeper Into Criticism and Theory
1.In his critical writings, what did Dryden call Ben Jonson?
- A) “The most correct poet”
- B) “The father of English drama”
- C) “The most learned and judicious writer which any theatre ever had”
- D) “A great but flawed genius”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “The most learned and judicious writer which any theatre ever had”
Explanation: In *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*, Dryden (as Neander) praises Jonson for his classical learning and careful construction, contrasting him with the “natural” genius of Shakespeare.
2.Which speaker in *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy* passionately defends the superiority of French drama over English?
- A) Crites
- B) Eugenius
- C) Neander
- D) Lisideius
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Lisideius
Explanation: Lisideius champions the French playwrights for their strict adherence to the classical unities and their focus on a single, clear plot, which he sees as more refined than the English stage.
3.What three types of translation did Dryden outline in his preface to Ovid’s *Epistles*?
- A) Metaphrase, Paraphrase, and Imitation
- B) Literal, Figurative, and Allegorical
- C) Formal, Informal, and Colloquial
- D) Word-for-Word, Sense-for-Sense, and Free Verse
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Metaphrase, Paraphrase, and Imitation
Explanation: Metaphrase is literal word-for-word translation; paraphrase is sense-for-sense; and imitation is when the translator uses the original as a jumping-off point for their own work. Dryden favored paraphrase.
4.What is Dryden’s famous definition of a play from *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*?
- A) “A mirror held up to nature”
- B) “A just and lively image of human nature”
- C) “An imitation of an action that is serious and complete”
- D) “A stage where every man must play a part”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) “A just and lively image of human nature”
Explanation: His full definition is: “a just and lively image of human nature, representing its passions and humours, and the changes of fortune to which it is subject, for the delight and instruction of mankind.”
5.When Dryden coined the term “metaphysical poets” for Donne and his followers, what was his primary criticism of their work?
- A) They were too religious.
- B) They used simple language.
- C) They “perplexed the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy.”
- D) They did not write about love.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) They “perplexed the minds of the fair sex with nice speculations of philosophy.”
Explanation: Dryden felt their overly intellectual and philosophical love poetry, full of conceits, was unnatural and needlessly complex. He believed it affected “the metaphysics” rather than the heart.
6.What did Dryden mean by the term “the other harmony”?
- A) The beauty and rhythm of well-written prose
- B) The music of the spheres
- C) The unique qualities of blank verse
- D) A secondary plot in a play
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) The beauty and rhythm of well-written prose
Explanation: In the Preface to the *Fables*, he uses this term to describe the masterful prose of writers like Sir William Temple, arguing it has its own music distinct from poetry.
7.Who is the defender of modern (English) dramatists in *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*?
- A) Neander
- B) Crites
- C) Eugenius
- D) Lisideius
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Eugenius
Explanation: Eugenius is the one who first champions the Moderns over the Ancients, arguing they have better plots and a greater variety of passion. Neander (Dryden) then builds on and refines this argument.
8.Dryden’s preface to his play *The Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy* is heavily based on which classical thinker?
- A) Plato
- B) Horace
- C) Longinus
- D) Aristotle
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Aristotle
Explanation: The preface is a systematic application of Aristotle’s principles from the *Poetics*—such as pity, fear, and catharsis—to the analysis of tragedy.
Part 2: Nuances of Satire and Poetry
9.What London neighborhood is presented as the dilapidated capital of the “Realms of Nonsense” in *Mac Flecknoe*?
- A) Westminster
- B) The Barbican
- C) Southwark
- D) Cheapside
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The Barbican
Explanation: Dryden chooses this area, then known for its brothels and low-class playhouses (“nursery”), as the perfectly sordid setting for Shadwell’s coronation of dullness.
10.In *Absalom and Achitophel*, the “Jebusites” are an allegorical representation of whom?
- A) The English people in general
- B) The Puritans
- C) The Roman Catholics
- D) The French
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Roman Catholics
Explanation: In the biblical allegory, the Jebusites were the original inhabitants of Jerusalem (London) who were tolerated by King David. This reflects the precarious position of Catholics in Restoration England.
11.What is the “Panther” in *The Hind and the Panther* accused of having?
- A) Too little pride
- B) A changing and “spotted” nature
- C) Blind faith
- D) Too much mercy
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A changing and “spotted” nature
Explanation: Dryden uses the Panther’s spots to symbolize the theological inconsistencies and ever-changing doctrines of the Anglican Church, contrasting it with the “milk-white” purity of Catholicism.
12.“The rest to some faint meaning make pretense, / But Shadwell never deviates into sense.” This famous couplet is an example of what poetic device?
- A) Zeugma
- B) Meiosis (understatement)
- C) Chiasmus
- D) Litotes
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Meiosis (understatement)
Explanation: While on the surface it appears direct, the line’s power comes from its ironic understatement. The claim that other bad poets have a “faint meaning” makes the absolute verdict on Shadwell even more damning.
13.In *The Medal*, what object is described as having one side that shows “a smiling bore” and the other “a headless noble”?
- A) A coin of the realm
- B) The medal struck in honor of Shaftesbury
- C) A locket worn by the Duke of Monmouth
- D) The Great Seal of England
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The medal struck in honor of Shaftesbury
Explanation: Dryden satirically describes the medal, interpreting the portrait of Shaftesbury on the front and the depiction of London on the back as a prophecy of the beheading of a king.
14.Which of the two Roman satirists did Dryden see as his primary model for fierce, biting satire?
- A) Horace
- B) Ovid
- C) Juvenal
- D) Catullus
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Juvenal
Explanation: Dryden differentiated between the gentle, urbane satire of Horace and the harsh, indignant satire of Juvenal. He considered his own major works, like *Absalom and Achitophel*, to be in the stronger, Juvenalian mode.
15.In *Absalom and Achitophel*, what does “The Good Old Cause” refer to?
- A) The Catholic faith
- B) The cause of the King
- C) The Puritan/Parliamentary cause that led to the Civil War
- D) The cause of the London merchants
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Puritan/Parliamentary cause that led to the Civil War
Explanation: Dryden uses this phrase ironically to link the Whigs’ rebellious agitation during the Exclusion Crisis with the previous generation’s bloody revolution against Charles I.
16.Which work includes the line, “Beware the fury of a patient man”?
- A) *The Conquest of Granada*
- B) *Mac Flecknoe*
- C) *All for Love*
- D) *Absalom and Achitophel*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) *Absalom and Achitophel*
Explanation: This is a warning to the rebels about the ultimate power and justice of King David (Charles II), suggesting that his patience with their plotting will eventually run out.
Part 3: In-Depth Drama
17.In *All for Love*, who is Octavia?
- A) Cleopatra’s servant
- B) The Queen of Egypt before Cleopatra
- C) Antony’s dutiful and virtuous Roman wife
- D) Octavius Caesar’s sister and Antony’s wife
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Octavius Caesar’s sister and Antony’s wife
Explanation: Octavia appears in the play as the symbol of Roman virtue, honor, and duty, a stark contrast to Cleopatra’s passionate and all-consuming love.
18.Dryden’s tragedy *Don Sebastian* is set in which country after a disastrous battle?
- A) Spain
- B) Portugal
- C) Morocco
- D) Italy
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Morocco
Explanation: The play begins after the historical defeat of the Portuguese army in North Africa and deals with themes of incest, hidden identity, and the conflict between love and religion.
19.The character Melantha in Dryden’s comedy *Marriage a-la-Mode* is a satire of what social type?
- A) The religious hypocrite
- B) The country bumpkin
- C) The Francophile, obsessed with French fashions and phrases
- D) The jealous husband
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Francophile, obsessed with French fashions and phrases
Explanation: Melantha comically litters her speech with French words and constantly strives to be at the height of courtly fashion, satirizing the affectation of the Restoration elite.
20.What was the name of the main London theatre for which Dryden was a shareholder and principal playwright?
- A) The Globe Theatre
- B) The Swan Theatre
- C) The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
- D) The Duke’s Theatre
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Explanation: After the Restoration, two main theatre companies were licensed. Dryden wrote for the King’s Company, which was based at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane.
21.In the heroic play *The Conquest of Granada*, the hero Almanzor is a “great-souled” hero who fights for which side?
- A) The Spanish
- B) The Moors
- C) Whichever side he feels is more honorable at the moment
- D) He fights only for himself
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Whichever side he feels is more honorable at the moment
Explanation: Almanzor is a force of nature who switches his allegiance based on his own strict personal code of honor and who has offended or pleased him, embodying the extreme individualism of the heroic ideal.
22.Dryden’s collaboration with composer Henry Purcell on the “dramatic opera” *King Arthur* featured what main theme?
- A) The life of King Arthur and Guinevere
- B) The Round Table and the quest for the Grail
- C) A patriotic story of Arthur’s battles against the Saxon invaders
- D) Merlin’s magical adventures
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A patriotic story of Arthur’s battles against the Saxon invaders
Explanation: The semi-opera is less a telling of the traditional Arthurian legend and more a patriotic spectacle of Britons defending their land, filled with magic, songs, and elaborate scenes.
23.In which play does Dryden create a character, Miranda, who has never seen a man other than her father?
- A) *The Indian Queen*
- B) *Secret Love*
- C) *All for Love*
- D) *The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) *The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island*
Explanation: In his adaptation of Shakespeare, Dryden “balanced” the plot by adding Hippolito, a young man who has never seen a woman, creating symmetrical love subplots that were popular at the time.
24.Dryden was Historiographer Royal in addition to Poet Laureate. This post required him to do what?
- A) Write the official history of the English monarchy
- B) Teach history at Cambridge
- C) Curate the royal library
- D) Write historical dramas for the court
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) Write the official history of the English monarchy
Explanation: This official position, which he held jointly with the laureateship, charged him with the task of being the official chronicler of the realm.
25.In *Fables, Ancient and Modern*, Dryden’s tale of “Cymon and Iphigenia” is adapted from which author?
- A) Homer
- B) Chaucer
- C) Ovid
- D) Boccaccio
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Boccaccio
Explanation: This tale, about a foolish nobleman who is transformed into a paragon of courtesy by the power of love, is adapted from Boccaccio’s *Decameron*.
26.The Royal Society, chartered in 1662, influenced Dryden’s prose style by promoting:
- A) An ornate and figurative style
- B) A plain, clear, and precise style of writing
- C) A return to Latin as the language of science
- D) A focus on purely emotional expression
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A plain, clear, and precise style of writing
Explanation: The Royal Society advocated for a language of science free from rhetorical flourish, which influenced Dryden in developing his clear and modern prose style, a departure from the more complex style of authors like John Milton or Thomas Browne.
27.Which of these is considered Dryden’s first significant work, published in 1659?
- A) *Astraea Redux*
- B) *Heroic Stanzas on the Death of Cromwell*
- C) *Annus Mirabilis*
- D) *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *Heroic Stanzas on the Death of Cromwell*
Explanation: His poem eulogizing Oliver Cromwell was his first major publication, which later caused him political embarrassment when he enthusiastically welcomed the return of Charles II.
28.The “burning of the ships” scene in Dryden’s translation of the *Aeneid* is a famous example of what poetic quality?
- A) Pathetic fallacy
- B) Lyricism
- C) Swift narrative pace and vivid imagery
- D) Abstract philosophical argument
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Swift narrative pace and vivid imagery
Explanation: This section is often singled out by critics as a high point of Dryden’s narrative skill, capturing the action and chaos of the original with remarkable energy and visual detail.
29.Who delivered the funeral ode at Dryden’s burial?
- A) Alexander Pope
- B) Samuel Johnson
- C) William Congreve
- D) Dr. Samuel Garth
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Dr. Samuel Garth
Explanation: Dr. Samuel Garth, a poet and physician, organized the lavish funeral and delivered a Latin oration in Dryden’s honor.
30.What is the “machine” in a heroic play?
- A) The stage machinery for special effects
- B) The intervention of supernatural beings (gods, ghosts, etc.) in the plot
- C) A predictable plot device
- D) A metrical form
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The intervention of supernatural beings (gods, ghosts, etc.) in the plot
Explanation: Borrowing from classical epic theory, the term “machinery” refers to the involvement of gods or spirits, a feature Dryden discussed and used in his dramas.
31.In Dryden’s version of the story of “Sigismonda and Guiscardo” from *Fables*, what does the heroine do with her lover’s heart after he is murdered by her father?
- A) She buries it in secret.
- B) She places it in a golden cup, fills it with poison, and drinks from it.
- C) She returns it to his family.
- D) She has it enshrined in the church.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) She places it in a golden cup, fills it with poison, and drinks from it.
Explanation: It is one of the most famously tragic and gothic tales from Boccaccio, which Dryden retells with powerful pathos and dignity.
32.In which work did Dryden state, “The chiefest purpose of the poet is to delight”?
- A) *The Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy*
- B) *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*
- C) The preface to *Fables, Ancient and Modern*
- D) *A Defence of an Essay of Dramatic Poesy*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) *A Defence of an Essay of Dramatic Poesy*
Explanation: While instruction was important, Dryden, following Horace, consistently argued that the primary, immediate goal of poetry and drama was to provide delight to the audience or reader.
33.The “war of the theatres” in which Dryden participated pitted the King’s Company against which rival company?
- A) The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
- B) The Admiral’s Men
- C) The Duke’s Company
- D) The Children of the Chapel Royal
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Duke’s Company
Explanation: The Duke’s Company, led by William D’Avenant, was the only other licensed theatre company in London and was the primary competitor for Dryden’s King’s Company.
34.In *Absalom and Achitophel*, the name of the character who represents the seditious sheriff Slingsby Bethel is:
- A) Zimri
- B) Corah
- C) Shimei
- D) Balaam
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Shimei
Explanation: In the biblical story, Shimei cursed King David. Dryden uses him as a memorable allegory for the loud and obnoxious Puritanical sheriff.
35.What does Eugenius primarily argue for in *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*?
- A) The superiority of French drama
- B) The superiority of ancient drama
- C) The superiority of the modern English dramatists over the ancients
- D) The superiority of rhyme over blank verse
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The superiority of the modern English dramatists over the ancients
Explanation: Eugenius argues that while the ancients should be respected, the moderns (like Shakespeare and Jonson) have surpassed them in the complexity of their plots and the realism of their portrayal of love.
36.Dryden wrote “To My Dear Friend Mr. Congreve” to celebrate the opening of which of Congreve’s plays?
- A) *The Way of the World*
- B) *The Old Bachelor*
- C) *The Double-Dealer*
- D) *Love for Love*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *The Double-Dealer*
Explanation: In this famous poem, an aging Dryden symbolically passes the torch of literature to the brilliant young playwright William Congreve, hailing him as his successor.
37.The poet’s task, according to Neander (Dryden), is not just to imitate nature, but to create a ______ nature.
- A) perfected or heightened
- B) realistic
- C) simplified
- D) religious
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) perfected or heightened
Explanation: This is a key Neoclassical idea. The artist doesn’t just copy the messy reality but presents an idealized, more beautiful, and more ordered version of nature.
38.In the *Hind and the Panther*, what do the Bears, the Quaking Hare, and the Independent Beast represent?
- A) Various European nations
- B) Different factions within the Catholic Church
- C) Various Dissenting Protestant sects (Presbyterians, Quakers, etc.)
- D) Atheists and Deists
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Various Dissenting Protestant sects (Presbyterians, Quakers, etc.)
Explanation: The second part of the poem is a beast fable where different animals symbolize the various religious groups competing in England.
39.Dryden’s tragedy *Amboyna* depicts atrocities committed by Dutch traders against English merchants, showing the fierce commercial rivalry between England and the Netherlands. This is an example of what kind of play?
- A) Domestic Tragedy
- B) Neoclassical Tragedy
- C) Propaganda Play
- D) Revenge Tragedy
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Propaganda Play
Explanation: Written during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the play was intended to fuel patriotic fervor and demonize the enemy.
40.Dryden was a founding member of what influential institution in 1660?
- A) The Kit-Cat Club
- B) The Scriblerus Club
- C) The Fabian Society
- D) The Royal Society
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) The Royal Society
Explanation: Dryden was one of the earliest members of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, showing his interest in the new scientific mindset of his age.
41.In which work does Dryden attack his former collaborator, Elkanah Settle, under the name “Doeg”?
- A) *The Medal*
- B) *The second part of Absalom and Achitophel*
- C) *Mac Flecknoe*
- D) *The Hind and the Panther*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *The second part of Absalom and Achitophel*
Explanation: In the lines he contributed to the second part of the poem, Dryden included vicious satirical portraits of his literary rivals Shadwell (as Og) and Elkanah Settle (as Doeg).
42.Which of these is a famous quote from Dryden’s *The Conquest of Granada*?
- A) “Revenge is a kind of wild justice.”
- B) “Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
- C) “I am as free as nature first made man.”
- D) “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “I am as free as nature first made man.”
Explanation: Spoken by the hero Almanzor, this line expresses the “noble savage” ideal. The other quotes are from Francis Bacon, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alexander Pope, respectively.
43.The “Popish Plot” (1678), a historical event crucial to understanding Dryden’s satires, was a fictitious conspiracy fabricated by:
- A) The Earl of Shaftesbury
- B) The Duke of Monmouth
- C) Titus Oates
- D) King Charles II
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Titus Oates
Explanation: Titus Oates invented a massive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate the King, whipping up a storm of anti-Catholic hysteria that Shaftesbury then exploited for his political aims.
44.What is the “Fall of Man” topos Dryden employs in his ode to Anne Killigrew?
- A) A direct comparison of Anne Killigrew to Eve in the Garden of Eden
- B) A reflection on how Anne’s poetry has declined in quality
- C) An idea that art and language itself declined from a primordial, perfect state
- D) A personal confession of Dryden’s own moral failings
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) An idea that art and language itself declined from a primordial, perfect state
Explanation: The ode contains a section imagining a time before the Fall of Man, when poetry and painting were pure and holy arts before they became corrupted by humanity.
45.What famous political philosopher’s ideas about the state of nature are echoed in Almanzor’s character in *The Conquest of Granada*?
- A) John Locke
- B) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- C) Thomas Hobbes
- D) Niccolò Machiavelli
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Thomas Hobbes
Explanation: Almanzor’s belief that his own will is law and that he exists outside of societal contract strongly reflects the pre-social “state of nature” described in Hobbes’s *Leviathan*.
46.What is the final line of *Absalom and Achitophel*?
- A) “And willing nations knew their lawful lord.”
- B) “For loyalty is still the same, / Whether it win or lose the game.”
- C) “Thus, in a pageant show, a plot is made.”
- D) “Henceforth a series of new times began.”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) “And willing nations knew their lawful lord.”
Explanation: The poem ends with King David (Charles II) delivering a powerful speech that reasserts his divine right and restores order, a powerful piece of Tory propaganda.
47.Which of these is NOT a characteristic of Dryden’s heroic plays?
- A) A setting in an exotic or distant land
- B) The use of rhyming heroic couplets
- C) A focus on the domestic lives of common people
- D) Themes of epic love versus monumental honor
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A focus on the domestic lives of common people
Explanation: Heroic plays were the exact opposite of domestic drama; they dealt exclusively with larger-than-life nobles, kings, and conquerors facing grand dilemmas.
48.In “To the Memory of Mr. Oldham,” what does Dryden say Oldham taught him about satire?
- A) How to be more subtle
- B) The “manly” and “strong” force of Juvenalian satire
- C) How to rhyme more effectively
- D) That satire was ultimately useless
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The “manly” and “strong” force of Juvenalian satire
Explanation: Dryden credits Oldham as a master of the harsh, Juvenalian style: “For loud applause, to lash the crying age.” He acknowledges that his own satirical style became more refined, but he admires Oldham’s raw power.
49.Dryden’s poem “To Sir Godfrey Kneller” is an example of what poetic genre?
- A) A pindaric ode
- B) An elegy
- C) An epistle, or poetic letter of praise to a contemporary
- D) A sonnet sequence
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) An epistle, or poetic letter of praise to a contemporary
Explanation: This poem addresses the leading portrait painter of the age, comparing the arts of poetry and painting.
50.The “Rake” or witty libertine is a common character in which of Dryden’s dramatic genres?
- A) Heroic tragedy
- B) Opera
- C) Comedy of Manners
- D) Allegory
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Comedy of Manners
Explanation: Characters like Celadon in *Secret Love* or Rhodophil in *Marriage a-la-Mode* exemplify the witty, charming, and sexually liberated man-about-town who was a staple of Restoration comedy.
51.Which of these literary periods directly followed the Age of Dryden?
- A) The Romantic Period
- B) The Augustan Age (Age of Pope)
- C) The Jacobean Age
- D) The Modernist Period
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The Augustan Age (Age of Pope)
Explanation: The Augustan Age (roughly 1700-1745) is seen as the culmination of the Neoclassical trends that Dryden established, with Alexander Pope as its central figure.
52.What does the term “Augustan” refer to in the context of Restoration literature?
- A) A comparison to the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus, a period of peace and literary greatness
- B) A style of writing popular in the month of August
- C) An influence from St. Augustine’s writings
- D) A strict focus on Christian themes
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) A comparison to the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus, a period of peace and literary greatness
Explanation: English writers saw parallels between the restoration of order under Charles II and the Augustan Age of Rome, which produced poets like Virgil and Horace.
53.In Dryden’s modernizing of Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” what does the errant knight have to discover?
- A) The Holy Grail
- B) The meaning of honor
- C) What women most desire
- D) The way back to Camelot
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) What women most desire
Explanation: As in the original, the knight’s quest is to find the answer to this question, which ultimately saves his life. Dryden’s version retells the story in polished heroic couplets.
54.What happens to the setting of *Mac Flecknoe* at the very end of the poem?
- A) It is destroyed by fire.
- B) It is transformed into a paradise.
- C) Mac Flecknoe falls through a trapdoor.
- D) It is flooded by the Thames.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Mac Flecknoe falls through a trapdoor.
Explanation: In a final theatrical absurdity, Shadwell (Mac Flecknoe) plummets through a trapdoor just as his “father” is about to finish his speech, an ignominious end to his coronation.
55.“He was a man of a most curious and searching nature…” – This is part of Neander’s description of whom?
- A) Shakespeare
- B) Aristotle
- C) Himself
- D) Ben Jonson
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Ben Jonson
Explanation: Neander’s speech praises Jonson’s diligent, learned, and correct style, highlighting his role as a careful craftsman in contrast to Shakespeare’s untamed genius.
56.Dryden’s non-fiction work, a biography of a Roman saint and missionary to France, was titled:
- A) *Life of St. Patrick*
- B) *The Life of St. Francis Xavier*
- C) *Discourse Concerning Satire*
- D) *Aureng-Zebe*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) *The Life of St. Francis Xavier*
Explanation: After his conversion to Catholicism, Dryden undertook several projects related to his new faith, including this translation of a biography of the Jesuit missionary.
57.What famous poet collaborated with Dryden on translating Plutarch’s *Lives*?
- A) William Shakespeare
- B) John Milton
- C) Aphra Behn
- D) Several other writers, but not one famous single poet
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Several other writers, but not one famous single poet
Explanation: Dryden acted as the editor for this major publishing project, writing a life of Plutarch and supervising the work of many different translators.
58.The tone of Dryden’s satire can best be described as:
- A) Whimsical and light-hearted
- B) Angry and moralistic
- C) Melancholy and mournful
- D) Authoritative, witty, and often devastatingly critical
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Authoritative, witty, and often devastatingly critical
Explanation: Dryden’s satirical voice is one of complete intellectual confidence, using masterful language and wit to dismantle his opponents.
59.In which year did John Dryden die?
- A) 1688
- B) 1695
- C) 1700
- D) 1710
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) 1700
Explanation: Dryden died on May 12, 1700, symbolically marking the end of the century he so thoroughly dominated in English letters.
60.The character of Palamon in Dryden’s *Fables* (from Chaucer’s “Knight’s Tale”) loves whom?
- A) Dorigen
- B) Cressida
- C) Emily
- D) The Wife of Bath
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Emily
Explanation: Both Palamon and his cousin Arcite fall in love with the beautiful Emily (Emelye), setting up the chivalric contest that forms the plot of the tale.
61.Dryden’s preface to *An Evening’s Love* discusses the nature of:
- A) Tragedy
- B) Epic Poetry
- C) Satire
- D) Comedy and Farce
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Comedy and Farce
Explanation: In this preface, Dryden defends the boisterous nature of Restoration comedy against critics who found it too low or farcical, arguing for its value as entertainment.
62.What does the term “turn” or “turn of verse” refer to in Dryden’s poetic technique?
- A) A sudden plot twist
- B) A witty reversal or elegant variation of phrasing within a heroic couplet
- C) A change in rhyme scheme
- D) A character converting religions
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) A witty reversal or elegant variation of phrasing within a heroic couplet
Explanation: The “turn” is a key feature of the refined Neoclassical couplet, where an idea is elegantly rephrased or an antithesis is balanced. Pope would later become the ultimate master of this technique.
63.In Dryden’s religious allegory, what animal represents the atheists and deists?
- A) The Fox
- B) The Ape
- C) The Wolf
- D) The Boar
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The Ape
Explanation: In *The Hind and the Panther*, the Ape represents the Freethinkers, who have no faith but merely mimic intellectual fashions.
64.Who is Antony’s wife in *All for Love*, a character who represents Roman virtue and duty?
- A) Fulvia
- B) Charmian
- C) Octavia
- D) Iras
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Octavia
Explanation: Dryden uses Octavia, along with Antony’s children, to create a powerful scene of emotional conflict where Antony is torn between his Roman family and his Egyptian queen.
65.What was Dryden’s general view on “sub-plots” in drama?
- A) He believed they were always a flaw.
- B) He defended them as a uniquely English virtue that added variety and richness.
- C) He thought they were only acceptable in comedies.
- D) He had no expressed opinion on the matter.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He defended them as a uniquely English virtue that added variety and richness.
Explanation: Against strict French Neoclassicists, Neander (Dryden) in *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy* argues that English tragicomedy with its under-plots is more “lively” and true to nature’s variety than the single-minded focus of French plays.
66.In which work did Dryden state “They who have a glorious genius, praise it not in themselves”?
- A) The prologue to *Aureng-Zebe*
- B) His ode to Anne Killigrew
- C) His translation of Dufresnoy’s *De Arte Graphica*
- D) A personal letter
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) His translation of Dufresnoy’s *De Arte Graphica*
Explanation: In the preface to this work on the art of painting, Dryden makes this critical observation about the humility of true genius, likely with a self-deprecating intention.
67.Dryden adapted Milton’s *Paradise Lost* into an opera with what title?
- A) *The Fall of Angels*
- B) *Satan’s Revenge*
- C) *The State of Innocence*
- D) *Eden*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *The State of Innocence*
Explanation: Titled *The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man*, this operatic version was never performed, but it shows Dryden’s engagement with the great epic of his age, which he greatly admired.
68.“He is a perpetual fountain of good sense…” refers to Dryden’s assessment of:
- A) Shakespeare
- B) Homer
- C) Ben Jonson
- D) Chaucer
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Chaucer
Explanation: This famous line from the Preface to the *Fables* is part of Dryden’s tribute to Chaucer’s fundamental wisdom and understanding of human nature.
69.Who is described as being “too witty to be sincere, and too sincere to be civil” in Dryden’s plays?
- A) Almanzor in *The Conquest of Granada*
- B) Palamon in *Marriage a-la-Mode*
- C) Celadon in *Secret Love*
- D) Antony in *All for Love*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Celadon in *Secret Love*
Explanation: Celadon is a quintessential Restoration rake, whose wit is both his charm and his flaw, making him incapable of the polite fictions of courtship.
70.The use of the alexandrine (a twelve-syllable line) is a common variation Dryden employs in what meter?
- A) Ballad meter
- B) The heroic couplet
- C) Spenserian stanza
- D) Free verse
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The heroic couplet
Explanation: To avoid monotony in his iambic pentameter couplets, Dryden often concluded a passage with a longer, six-beat alexandrine, a technique later perfected by Pope.
71.In which work would you find a detailed comparison of Horace, Juvenal, and Persius?
- A) *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*
- B) *The preface to Fables, Ancient and Modern*
- C) *A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire*
- D) *Religio Laici*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire*
Explanation: This long critical essay, which served as a preface to his translations of Juvenal and Persius, is one of Dryden’s most important works of literary history and theory.
72.Dryden described satire as a kind of poetry that:
- A) Should always be gentle and amusing
- B) Is “of the tragic species” and deals with moral instruction
- C) Is inferior to epic and tragedy
- D) Should only be written in prose
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Is “of the tragic species” and deals with moral instruction
Explanation: In his *Discourse Concerning Satire*, Dryden elevates satire, arguing that because its aim is to expose and amend vice, it partakes of the high moral seriousness of tragedy.
73.Which work opens with the lines: “In pious times, ere priestcraft did begin, / Before polygamy was made a sin…”?
- A) *Mac Flecknoe*
- B) *The Medal*
- C) *Religio Laici*
- D) *Absalom and Achitophel*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) *Absalom and Achitophel*
Explanation: These famous opening lines immediately establish the poem’s witty, mock-biblical tone and its forgiving attitude towards King David’s (Charles II’s) many sexual indiscretions.
74.The “Music of the Spheres” is a central concept in which Dryden poem?
- A) *Alexander’s Feast*
- B) *Mac Flecknoe*
- C) *A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day*
- D) *Annus Mirabilis*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day*
Explanation: The poem famously begins: “From Harmony, from heav’nly Harmony / This universal frame began,” linking the creation of the world to a divine musical order.
75.The story of Theodore and Honoria, adapted by Dryden in his *Fables*, features a supernatural punishment for a scornful lady. What is it?
- A) She is turned into a tree.
- B) She is eternally pursued and torn apart by the ghost of the lover she rejected.
- C) She is forced to marry an old and ugly man.
- D) She loses her beauty.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) She is eternally pursued and torn apart by the ghost of the lover she rejected.
Explanation: This ghostly hunt, which Theodore and his beloved Honoria witness, serves as a terrifying moral lesson against cruelty in love. The source is Boccaccio.
76.Which of these is the most accurate summary of Dryden’s final religious beliefs?
- A) He was a skeptic who questioned all faith.
- B) He believed in a rational, deistic creator without revealed religion.
- C) He submitted his reason to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
- D) He remained a loyal Anglican his entire life.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) He submitted his reason to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
Explanation: Works like *Religio Laici* show his struggle with the limits of human reason in matters of faith, a struggle resolved for him by his conversion to Catholicism, which offered the certainty of an infallible authority.
77.In which year was John Dryden born?
- A) 1608
- B) 1631
- C) 1660
- D) 1688
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) 1631
Explanation: He was born in the village of Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, during the reign of Charles I, meaning he lived through the English Civil War, the Interregnum, the Restoration, and the Glorious Revolution.
78.What was the purpose of the heroic couplet in Dryden’s view?
- A) To mimic natural speech
- B) To create a sense of mystery and ambiguity
- C) To provide structure, closure, and epigrammatic force to an idea
- D) To be used only for light and humorous verse
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) To provide structure, closure, and epigrammatic force to an idea
Explanation: The self-contained, rhyming nature of the couplet made it the perfect vehicle for the Neoclassical emphasis on order, balance, and witty, memorable statements.
79.T.S. Eliot famously praised Dryden’s poetry for possessing what quality?
- A) “A dissociation of sensibility”
- B) “Negative capability”
- C) “The auditory imagination”
- D) “A wit which is tough reasonableness”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “The auditory imagination”
Explanation: Eliot, in his efforts to rehabilitate the reputation of Dryden and the metaphysical poets, praised Dryden’s ear for the rhythms and sounds of language, seeing it as a model of poetic strength.
80.The title of Dryden’s opera, “Albion and Albanius,” is an allegory for the political fortunes of which two brothers?
- A) William and Harry
- B) Castor and Pollux
- C) Romulus and Remus
- D) King Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) King Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York
Explanation: Albion represents Charles II (England) and Albanius represents James (Scotland/Albany), and the opera is a lavish piece of royalist propaganda celebrating their triumphs.
81.Which of these is NOT one of the Classical Unities that French dramatists, and later Dryden in *All for Love*, tried to follow?
- A) Unity of Time
- B) Unity of Place
- C) Unity of Character
- D) Unity of Action
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Unity of Character
Explanation: The three classical unities, derived from Aristotle, are Time (the action should take place within roughly 24 hours), Place (a single location), and Action (a single, focused plot with no sub-plots). Unity of Character is not one of them.
82.What was Dryden’s view of “tragi-comedy”?
- A) He condemned it as an illogical mixture.
- B) He defended it as uniquely lively and characteristic of English genius.
- C) He believed it should only be written in prose.
- D) He wrote only pure tragedies and comedies.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) He defended it as uniquely lively and characteristic of English genius.
Explanation: In *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*, Neander argues that the English mixture of mirth and seriousness in one play is more engaging and true to life than the stricter genres of French drama.
83.The political factions of Whigs and Tories emerged during what crisis?
- A) The Glorious Revolution
- B) The Popish Plot
- C) The Exclusion Crisis
- D) The Great Fire of London
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) The Exclusion Crisis
Explanation: The attempt by Shaftesbury’s faction (the future Whigs) to exclude James from the throne, and the opposing faction’s support for the King (the future Tories), solidified these political identities.
84.In which work did Dryden collaborate with the famous composer Henry Purcell?
- A) *All for Love*
- B) *The Conquest of Granada*
- C) *King Arthur*
- D) *Alexander’s Feast*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) *King Arthur*
Explanation: Dryden wrote the libretto for *King Arthur, or The British Worthy* (1691), a “semi-opera” with music by Henry Purcell, one of England’s greatest composers.
85.What is the “Te Deum” that Dryden translated?
- A) An ancient Roman epic
- B) An early Christian hymn of praise
- C) A French satirical poem
- D) A play by Seneca
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) An early Christian hymn of praise
Explanation: As part of his religious literary work, Dryden produced a notable English translation of this ancient Latin hymn, beginning “Thee, Sovereign God, our grateful accents praise.”
86.In “Absalom and Achitophel,” who does Dryden portray sympathetically, despite their central role in the rebellion?
- A) Achitophel
- B) Zimri
- C) Absalom
- D) Corah
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Absalom
Explanation: Dryden portrays the Duke of Monmouth (Absalom) not as evil, but as a handsome, charming, but weak and easily manipulated young man, seduced by the genuinely malevolent Achitophel.
87.What famous essay by T.S. Eliot was instrumental in reviving modern interest in Dryden’s poetry?
- A) “Tradition and the Individual Talent”
- B) “The Metaphysical Poets”
- C) “Hamlet and His Problems”
- D) “John Dryden”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) “The Metaphysical Poets”
Explanation: In this influential 1921 essay, Eliot re-evaluated the 17th century, arguing for a “direct sensuous apprehension of thought” and praising poets like Donne and Dryden, rescuing them from Victorian neglect.
88.“To see this fight, the world was buckled in” is a line from which Chaucerian adaptation by Dryden?
- A) “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
- B) “The Cock and the Fox” (The Nun’s Priest’s Tale)
- C) “Palamon and Arcite” (The Knight’s Tale)
- D) “Cymon and Iphigenia”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) “Palamon and Arcite” (The Knight’s Tale)
Explanation: This line comes from the vivid description of the grand tournament between the two rival cousins for the hand of Emily.
89.Dryden is known for pioneering the use of the “triplet” in heroic verse, which is:
- A) A three-line stanza
- B) Three rhyming lines in a row (aaa) instead of a couplet (aa)
- C) A stanza with three different rhyme sounds
- D) A poem written in three parts
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) Three rhyming lines in a row (aaa) instead of a couplet (aa)
Explanation: To add variation and emphasis to his heroic couplets, Dryden would occasionally use a triplet (a three-line rhyme) to mark a point of special significance or create a powerful closure.
90.What event led to the reopening of the theaters in 1660, for which Dryden would become the leading playwright?
- A) The end of the plague
- B) The Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II
- C) The Great Fire of London
- D) A new law passed by Parliament
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) The Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II
Explanation: The Puritan regime under Cromwell had closed all public theatres in 1642. One of the first acts of the newly restored King Charles II was to grant patents for new theatres to open.
91.In which work does Dryden say that the language of his great predecessor was “a heap of rubbish… under which many excellent thoughts lie buried”?
- A) On Chaucer, in the Preface to the *Fables*
- B) On Shakespeare, in *An Essay of Dramatic Poesy*
- C) On Donne, in his critique of the metaphysical poets
- D) On Milton, in his epic poetry criticism
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) On Chaucer, in the Preface to the *Fables*
Explanation: While praising Chaucer’s genius, Dryden famously articulated the Neoclassical view that his language was archaic and unrefined, which was his justification for “modernizing” the tales.
92.Dryden’s poem “On the Death of a Very Young Gentleman” is what kind of poem?
- A) Satire
- B) Panegyric
- C) Elegy
- D) Epistle
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Elegy
Explanation: An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. This poem mourns the premature death of a young man, Master Abell.
93.In *All for Love*, Dryden brings Antony’s wife Octavia and his children to Egypt for a confrontation. Did this scene happen in Shakespeare’s *Antony and Cleopatra*?
- A) Yes, it is one of the most famous scenes.
- B) No, Octavia never goes to Egypt in Shakespeare’s play.
- C) It happens off-stage in Shakespeare’s version.
- D) Only the children appear in Shakespeare’s play.
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: B) No, Octavia never goes to Egypt in Shakespeare’s play.
Explanation: This powerful and emotional confrontation is an invention of Dryden’s, created to heighten the central conflict between love (Cleopatra) and honor (Octavia and his family) in a single, focused scene.
94.Who is the historical person lampooned as “Og” in the second part of *Absalom and Achitophel*?
- A) Elkanah Settle
- B) The Earl of Shaftesbury
- C) Thomas Shadwell
- D) Titus Oates
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Thomas Shadwell
Explanation: In a continuation of his attack from *Mac Flecknoe*, Dryden portrays Shadwell as Og, a gluttonous and slow-witted poet, a biblical king of Bashan known for his size.
95.“All, all of a piece throughout: / Thy chase had a beast in view; / Thy wars brought nothing about; / Thy lovers were all untrue.” These lines criticizing mankind appear in which play?
- A) *All for Love*
- B) *The Conquest of Granada*
- C) *Secret Love*
- D) *Secular Masque*
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) *Secular Masque*
Explanation: This is part of the final chorus from his late work *The Secular Masque*, offering a cynical, weary look back at the passions and follies of the 17th century.
96.Dryden wrote an ode on the death of which fellow poet, whom he praises as the “last of a mighty race”?
- A) Anne Killigrew
- B) John Oldham
- C) Abraham Cowley
- D) Mr. Henry Purcell
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: D) Mr. Henry Purcell
Explanation: Upon the death of his collaborator, the great composer Henry Purcell, Dryden wrote a moving ode that was set to music and performed at Purcell’s funeral.
97.What was the primary literary language Dryden translated from?
- A) Greek
- B) French
- C) Latin
- D) Italian
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) Latin
Explanation: While he translated from others, his major projects and greatest influences were the Latin poets, especially Virgil, Horace, Juvenal, and Ovid.
98.What kind of character is the “fop,” a common target in Restoration comedy?
- A) A wise old man
- B) A brave soldier
- C) A man overly concerned with his clothes, manners, and appearance
- D) A jealous and possessive husband
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: C) A man overly concerned with his clothes, manners, and appearance
Explanation: The fop, often seen as comically and effeminately obsessed with fashion, was a staple character type satirized by Dryden and other dramatists of the period.
99.What famous phrase from *Alexander’s Feast* is now a common idiom for a swift and dramatic change in mood?
- A) “From grave to gay, from lively to severe”
- B) “None but the brave deserves the fair”
- C) “A shattered visage”
- D) “Fallen from his high estate”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) “From grave to gay, from lively to severe”
Explanation: This phrase, describing how Timotheus’s music could change Alexander’s mood instantly, has entered the language to mean rapid and complete emotional shifts.
100.What did Dryden famously call the period of English history from Chaucer to his own time in the Preface to the *Fables*?
- A) “A long and sleepy night”
- B) “An age of giants”
- C) “The dark ages of letters”
- D) “The spring of English poetry”
Click to see Answer
Correct Answer: A) “A long and sleepy night”
Explanation: From his Neoclassical perspective, he viewed the centuries of English poetry between Chaucer and the later Renaissance as a period of relative slumber and unrefinement before the dawn of his own, more polished age.
Conclusion: A Legacy in Verse and Prose
“A man is to be cheated into passion, but to be reasoned into truth.” – John Dryden
This second set of questions demonstrates the sheer breadth and depth of John Dryden’s genius. From the intricacies of classical rhetoric to the brutal reality of political satire, he engaged with every facet of the literary world. He was a poet of occasion and a timeless critic, a pragmatic playwright and a sublime translator. His work truly forged the path for the English Augustan age that followed.
Congratulations on completing this advanced quiz! You have now tackled 200 questions on “glorious John.” Share your performance in the comments and let us know which Restoration writer you’d like to see featured next!