History of English Literature MCQs: Ages, Authors and Events

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343–1400) dominates this period, often called the 'Father of English Poetry.' His masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, defined the age and gave it his name.

Sir Thomas Malory wrote Le Morte d'Arthur (1485), a prose compilation of Arthurian legends about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Ben Jonson pioneered the 'Comedy of Humours,' a dramatic style where characters are driven by a single dominant trait or 'humour,' as seen in Every Man in His Humour.

William Caxton introduced the printing press to England in 1476, decades before Tottel's Miscellany (1557), a poetry anthology that benefited hugely from this technology.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066, where William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II, beginning Norman rule in England.

John Donne, the leading Metaphysical poet, wrote during the Jacobean Age (reign of James I, 1603– 1625), known for intellectual, witty, and paradoxical poetry.

The University Wits were a group of Oxford/Cambridge-educated Elizabethan dramatists, including Marlowe and Kyd, who elevated English drama before Shakespeare.

John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress (1678), an allegorical Christian novel about a man's spiritual journey, written partly while Bunyan was in prison.

The Cavalier Poets (Carew, Lovelace, Suckling) wrote during the Caroline Age, the reign of Charles I, and were known for lighthearted, courtly love poetry.

The Restoration Age (1660–1700), following the return of Charles II to the throne, is called the Age of Dryden after its dominant literary figure, John Dryden.

The Caroline Age (1625–1649) takes its name from 'Carolus,' Latin for Charles, referring to the reign of King Charles I.

William Congreve wrote his witty Comedy of Manners plays, such as The Way of the World, during the Restoration/Age of Dryden, reflecting the fashionable society of the time.

The Caroline Age (1625–1649, reign of Charles I) sits chronologically between the Jacobean Age (1603–1625) and the Restoration (1660 onward).

The early 18th century is called the Augustan Age (or Age of Pope), named after Alexander Pope and modeled on the classical refinement of Emperor Augustus's Rome.

John Dryden and Alexander Pope are the leading Neoclassical writers, known for valuing order, reason, wit, and adherence to classical literary rules.

John Milton was a Roundhead — a supporter of Parliament and Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, opposing the monarchy of Charles I.

The English Civil War began in 1642 between the Royalists (supporters of Charles I) and the Parliamentarians (Roundheads), ending with the King's execution in 1649.

John Dryden famously described Chaucer as the 'Father of English Poetry,' acknowledging his foundational role in shaping the English literary tradition.

The Jacobean Age (1603–1625) corresponds to the reign of King James I. The Age of Chaucer ends about 1400, not 1442, and the Age of Elizabeth begins in 1558, not 1557, so neither of those pairings is accurate.

William, Duke of Normandy (later William the Conqueror), led the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, defeating King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings.