John Milton: Exam Questions and Answers (2004–2023)

1. Question: In Paradise Lost Milton invokes his 'Heavenly Muse', 'Urania', at the beginning of which two books?

   Options: (A) Book I (B) Book IV (C) Book IX (D) Book VII

   Answer: (A) and (D)

   Explanation: Milton invokes Urania, the muse of astronomy and heavenly inspiration, at the beginning of Book I and Book VII of *Paradise Lost*.

2. Question: Which of the following statement is NOT true of Areopagitica?

   Options: (a) It was published in 1644. (b) It argues for the liberty of Unlicensed Printing. (c) It pleads for British privileges regarding Free Trade. (d) It is a speech addressed to the Parliament of England.

   Answer: (c)

   Explanation: *Areopagitica* is John Milton's prose polemic defending freedom of the press and arguing against censorship. It does not deal with issues of free trade.

3. Question: Which of the following poems did Milton write in Octosyllabic Couplets?

   Options: (a) Il Penseroso (b) On His Blindness (c) On the Late Massacre in Piedmont (d) Lycidas

   Answer: (a) Il Penseroso

   Explanation: Both "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," Milton's companion poems, are written predominantly in octosyllabic couplets.

4. Question: The phrase, 'bottomless perdition' occurs in Milton's Paradise Lost in:

   Options: (a) Book I (b) Book IV (c) Book VI (d) Book XII

   Answer: (a) Book I

   Explanation: This phrase appears in Book I, line 47, when Satan and his fallen angels are cast into Hell.

5. Question: From whose work did John Milton take the epigraph to his Areopagitica?

   Options: (a) Sophocles (b) Euripides (c) Plato (d) More

   Answer: (b) Euripides

   Explanation: The epigraph to *Areopagitica* is a quote in Greek from Euripides's play *The Suppliants*.

6. Question: Match the following correctly:

   (i) L'Allegro and Il Penseroso – Companion poems in octosyllabic couplets
   (ii) Lycidas – Pastoral elegy
   (iii) Comus – Masque
   (iv) On His Blindness – Sonnet
   (v) Areopagitica – Prose tract

   Answer: All are correctly matched.

   Explanation: This question presents a set of correct pairings of Milton's works with their respective genres/characteristics.

7. Question: “What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones...” – Who wrote these lines?

   Options: (a) Ben Jonson (b) John Milton (c) Robert Browning (d) William Wordsworth

   Answer: (b) John Milton

   Explanation: These lines are from Milton’s poem "On Shakespeare" (also known as "An Epitaph on the admirable Dramatick Poet, W. Shakespeare"), praising Shakespeare's lasting legacy.

8. Question: Match the critics with their works on Milton:

   (A) Christopher Hill – Milton and the English Revolution
   (B) Catherine Belsey – John Milton: Language, Gender, Power
   (C) E.M.W. Tillyard – Milton
   (D) Thomas N. Corns – Milton’s Language

   Answer: A-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II

   Explanation: This matches prominent Milton scholars with their significant works on the poet.

9. Question: Who is the only one of Milton's contemporaries to be mentioned by name in Paradise Lost?

   Options: (a) Francis Bacon (b) Johannes Vermeer (c) Galileo (d) King Charles I

   Answer: (c) Galileo

   Explanation: Milton refers to Galileo as the "Tuscan artist" in *Paradise Lost* (Book I, lines 287-291), alluding to Galileo's telescope and astronomical observations.

10. Question: The opening sixteen lines of Paradise Lost comprise:

    Options: (a) One sentence (b) Two sentences (c) Three sentences (d) Four sentences

    Answer: (a) One sentence

    Explanation: This reflects Milton’s characteristic use of long, complex sentences and enjambment, contributing to his epic style.

11. Question: In Paradise Lost Milton presents the action of the Fall of Man in two stages in Books:

    Options: (a) IV and IX (b) IV and VIII (c) III and IX (d) V and X

    Answer: (a) IV and IX

    Explanation: Book IV shows Satan's initial temptation of Eve in a dream and his discovery in Eden, while Book IX presents the actual temptation and fall of both Adam and Eve.

12. Question: It appears that in Paradise Lost Book I, "Milton belongs to the Devil’s party without knowing it." Who made this statement?

    Options: (a) Frank Kermode (b) William Empson (c) C. S. Lewis (d) William Blake

    Answer: (d) William Blake

    Explanation: This famous critical observation was made by the Romantic poet and artist William Blake in his work *The Marriage of Heaven and Hell*.

13. Question: Arrange the following in chronological order:

    The Advancement of Learning
    Paradise Lost
    MacFlecknoe
    An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

    Answer: The Advancement of Learning (1605), Paradise Lost (1667), MacFlecknoe (1682), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)

    Explanation: This provides the correct chronological order of these significant literary and philosophical works.

14. Question: In which book of Paradise Lost does Milton refer to "Agra and Lahore of Great Mogul"?

    Options: [1] Book III [2] Book IV [3] Book VII [4] Book XI

    Answer: 4) Book XI

    Explanation: Milton refers to Agra and Lahore in Book XI of *Paradise Lost*, when the Archangel Michael shows Adam visions of the future, including various empires and cities.

15. Question: Choose the correct chronological sequence in which the following texts were written:

    A) Lycidas
    B) Hero and Leander
    C) Masque of Comus
    D) Paradise Lost
    E) The Waste Land

    Answer: B, C, A, D, E

    Explanation: The correct chronological order is: "Hero and Leander" (Christopher Marlowe, c. 1590s), *Masque of Comus* (Milton, 1634), *Lycidas* (Milton, 1637), *Paradise Lost* (Milton, 1667), and *The Waste Land* (T.S. Eliot, 1922).

16. Question: Which of the following works of Milton seeks to adapt the form of Greek tragedy?

    Options: 1) Samson Agonistes 2) Paradise Regained 3) Lycidas 4) Comus

    Answer: 1) Samson Agonistes

    Explanation: *Samson Agonistes* is Milton's dramatic tragedy, heavily influenced by the conventions and structure of ancient Greek tragedy.

17. Question: Arrange the correct chronological sequence of the publication of the following texts:

    A) "September 1, 1939"
    B) "The Collar"
    C) Beppo
    D) Paradise Lost
    E) Seeing Things

    Answer: B, D, C, A, E

    Explanation: The correct chronological order is: "The Collar" (George Herbert, 1633), *Paradise Lost* (Milton, 1667), *Beppo* (Lord Byron, 1818), "September 1, 1939" (W.H. Auden, 1939), and *Seeing Things* (Seamus Heaney, 1991).

18. Question: Find the chronological sequence of John Milton's publications:

    A) "Paradise Lost"
    B) "Lycidas"
    C) "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity"
    D) "On Shakespeare"
    E) "Paradise Regained"

    Answer: C, D, B, A, E

    Explanation: The correct chronological order of Milton's works is: "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" (1629), "On Shakespeare" (1630), "Lycidas" (1637), *Paradise Lost* (1667), and *Paradise Regained* (1671).

19. Question: In Paradise Lost Book IX, Milton writes that Adam was overcome with "his better knowledge" and ate the forbidden fruit against:

    Options: (A) "female charm" (B) "exceeding love" (C) "faithful love" (D) "taste so divine"

    Answer: (A) "female charm"

    Explanation: In Book IX, Adam, aware of the consequences, chooses to fall with Eve, succumbing to what Milton describes as "female charm" and his intense love for her, rather than a lack of knowledge.

20. Question: Who among the following English writers opposed the Licensing Act of 1643?

    Options: (A) John Milton (B) Thomas Browne (C) Andrew Marvell (D) Abraham Cowley

    Answer: (A) John Milton

    Explanation: John Milton famously opposed the Licensing Order of 1643 in his influential prose pamphlet, *Areopagitica*.

21. Question: Who among the following was a contemporary of John Milton and wrote The Worthy Communicant? It is said his prose "can be read easily, when Milton's must be studied."

    Options: (A) Jeremy Taylor (B) John Bunyan (C) Andrew Marvell (D) George Herbert

    Answer: (A) Jeremy Taylor

    Explanation: Jeremy Taylor was a prominent Anglican divine whose prose style was known for its clarity and accessibility, often contrasted with Milton's more complex syntax.

22. Question: In tracing the history of English poetry, Thomas Gray's "Progress of Poesy" invokes a major poet as follows: "Nor second He, that rode sublime Upon the seraph-wings of Extasy, The secrets of th' Abyss to spy." Who is "He"?

    Options: (A) William Shakespeare (B) Edmund Spenser (C) John Milton (D) John Dryden

    Answer: (C) John Milton

    Explanation: Thomas Gray is praising John Milton for his elevated, sublime style and his exploration of profound, heavenly, and hellish themes in works like *Paradise Lost*.

23. Question: As Adam and Eve leave Paradise, "hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow" (Book XII, Paradise Lost) what is their consolation?

    Options: (A) They are comforted by their love for one another. (B) They are comforted by their foreknowledge of the coming of Christ as Redeemer of mankind. (C) They are comforted by God, who travels before them in the form of a pillar of fire. (D) They are comforted by the angel, who holds each of them by the hand.

    Answer: (B)

    Explanation: Before their expulsion, Michael reveals to Adam the future history of mankind, culminating in the promise of Christ's redemption, which serves as their ultimate consolation.

24. Question: Which of the following is NOT a punishment given by God to Adam and Eve as a consequence of tasting the forbidden fruit?

    Options: (A) Children thou shalt bring / In sorrow forth (B) Expulsion from Eden (C) Cursed is the ground for thy sake, thou in sorrow / Shalt eat thereof all the days of thy life (D) Dust shalt eat all the days of life

    Answer: (D)

    Explanation: The curse "Dust shalt eat all the days of life" is pronounced upon the Serpent (Satan), not directly upon Adam and Eve.

25. Question: In Book 8, Paradise Lost, Adam identifies his chief flaw or weakness to Raphael. What is this flaw?

    Options: (A) Gluttony (B) Pride in his superiority to Eve (C) Overconfidence in his free will (D) Passion for Eve

    Answer: (D) Passion for Eve

    Explanation: Adam confesses to Raphael that his overwhelming love and passion for Eve might lead him to disregard reason and the divine command, hinting at the cause of his later fall.

26. Question: What is 'L'Allegro's' companion piece called?

    Options: (A) Lamia (B) Hyperion (C) Il Penseroso (D) Thyrsis

    Answer: (C) Il Penseroso

    Explanation: "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso" are a famous pair of contrasting poems by Milton, depicting the cheerful and pensive moods, respectively.

27. Question: Match the following elegies with the persons for whom they were written:

    (i) Lycidas – (vi) Edward King
    (iii) Adonais – (viii) Keats
    (v) In Memoriam – (iv) A.H. Hallam
    (vii) Thyrsis – (ii) Arthur Hugh Clough

    Answer: (i) - (vi), (iii) - (viii), (v) - (iv), (vii) - (ii)

    Explanation: This correctly matches the renowned elegiac poems with the individuals they commemorate: *Lycidas* (Milton) for Edward King, *Adonais* (Shelley) for John Keats, *In Memoriam A.H.H.* (Tennyson) for Arthur Henry Hallam, and *Thyrsis* (Matthew Arnold) for Arthur Hugh Clough.

28. Question: Which of the following works of John Milton is an elegy?

    Options: (A) Lycidas (B) L'Allegro (C) Comus (D) Paradise Lost

    Answer: (A) Lycidas

    Explanation: *Lycidas* is a pastoral elegy written by Milton in 1637 to lament the death of his friend and fellow Cambridge student Edward King, who drowned at sea.

29. Question: Which of the following are "companion poems"?

    Options: (A) "Gypsy songs" and "Songs and Sonnets" (B) "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso" (C) "The Good Morrow" and "The Sun Rising" (D) "Full Fathom Five" and "Hark, Hark! The Lark"

    Answer: (B) "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso"

    Explanation: As mentioned previously, these two poems by Milton are designed as a contrasting pair exploring different temperaments and lifestyles.

30. Question: Identify the appropriate word in Paradise Lost I.44-49: "To wage by force or guile eternal war, / Irreconcilable to our grand Foe, / Who now triumphs, and with high dictates rules / The realm of Heaven, and, to confirm his reign, / Heav'n’s high Arbitrator, and from thence / Dispersing all his Wretches to their doom".

    Options: (A) Him (B) Satan (C) God (D) The Son

    Answer: (A) Him

    Explanation: The lines refer to God as the "grand Foe" and "Heav'n’s high Arbitrator." The pronoun "Him" would refer to God in this context, confirming his ultimate power even in the aftermath of Satan's rebellion.

31. Question: Which of the following are the chief devils who speak in Book II of Paradise Lost?

    Options: (A) Beelzebub and Belial (B) Moloch and Belial (C) Mammon and Belial (D) Satan and Beelzebub

    Answer: (B) Moloch and Belial

    Explanation: In Book II, after Satan's speech, Moloch, Belial, Mammon, and Beelzebub all offer their advice on how to proceed, but Moloch and Belial present contrasting and prominent viewpoints.

32. Question: Who protested Satan’s doctrine to him when it was proposed in the assembly of the rebel angels?

    Options: (A) Beelzebub (B) Abdiel (C) Mammon (D) Belial

    Answer: (B) Abdiel

    Explanation: Abdiel is the only angel who remains faithful to God and protests against Satan's rebellion before the war in Heaven, eventually leaving the rebel ranks.

33. Question: What is the ending line of Milton's sonnet "When I consider how my light is spent"?

    Options: (A) They also serve who only stand and wait. (B) Who best / Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. (C) God doth not need / Either man’s work or his own gifts. (D) Thousands at his bidding speed / And post o'er land and ocean without rest.

    Answer: (A) They also serve who only stand and wait

    Explanation: This is the famous concluding line of Milton's Sonnet 19, "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent," reflecting on his blindness and his service to God.

34. Question: In which two books of Paradise Lost does Milton present the disability of blindness?

    Options: (A) Book I (B) Book IV (C) Book VI (D) Book III

    Answer: (D) Book III

    Explanation: In Book III of *Paradise Lost*, Milton directly addresses his own blindness in a moving invocation to divine light.

35. Question: In Paradise Lost, who narrates Eve's creation to Adam?

    Options: (A) God (B) Satan (C) Raphael (D) Michael

    Answer: (C) Raphael

    Explanation: In Book VIII of *Paradise Lost*, the Archangel Raphael recounts to Adam the story of Eve's creation from Adam's rib.

36. Question: Arrange the following in chronological order:

    A) Paradise Lost
    B) The Dunciad
    C) Alastor
    D) Lamia

    Answer: A, B, C, D

    Explanation: The correct chronological order is: *Paradise Lost* (Milton, 1667), *The Dunciad* (Alexander Pope, 1728-1743), *Alastor* (Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1816), and *Lamia* (John Keats, 1819).

37. Question: Arrange the correct chronological order of the publication of the following prose pamphlets:

    A) Areopagitica
    B) The Shortest Way with the Dissenters
    C) A Modest Proposal
    D) Reflections on the Revolution in France

    Answer: A, B, C, D

    Explanation: The correct chronological order is: *Areopagitica* (Milton, 1644), *The Shortest Way with the Dissenters* (Daniel Defoe, 1702), *A Modest Proposal* (Jonathan Swift, 1729), and *Reflections on the Revolution in France* (Edmund Burke, 1790).

38. Question: In which Book of Paradise Lost does Adam and Eve’s quarrel take place?

    Options: (A) Book VII (B) Book VIII (C) Book X (D) Book IX

    Answer: (D) Book IX

    Explanation: The quarrel between Adam and Eve, which precedes the actual Fall, occurs in Book IX of *Paradise Lost*, when Eve insists on separating from Adam to work in the Garden.