MCQs - The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer

Check Important Objective Type English Literature Multiple Choice Question Answers on The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer in Poetry and its major forms. These solved questions answers on English Literature Poetry section of English Literature Objective type question answers (MCQ) are very useful as English Literature Study Material for UGC NET/JRF/STET, TET, and other written examinations (UGC NET English Paper-II & HPSC Assistant Professor English Screening Exam) based on objective type multiple choice questions.

(Last Updated: 21.04.2025). Learn English Literature Poetry through these multiple choice objective question answers which are important for the students of English Literature as well as for the candidates who are going to participate in competitive exams based on English Literature General Questions.

 MCQs - The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer - English Literature 

1. Who is the author of The Faerie Queene?
A) John Milton
B) Christopher Marlowe
C) Edmund Spenser
D) William Shakespeare
Answer: C) Edmund Spenser

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2. What is the primary genre of The Faerie Queene?
A) Satire
B) Allegorical epic
C) Romantic tragedy
D) Historical fiction
Answer: B) Allegorical epic

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3. To whom is The Faerie Queene dedicated?
A) Queen Mary
B) Queen Elizabeth I
C) Queen Anne
D) Queen Isabella
Answer: B) Queen Elizabeth I

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4. What poetic form is used in The Faerie Queene?
A) Spenserian sonnet
B) Blank verse
C) Heroic couplet
D) Spenserian stanza
Answer: D) Spenserian stanza

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5. How many lines are in a Spenserian stanza?
A) 10
B) 9
C) 14
D) 12
Answer: B) 9

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6. What is the rhyme scheme of a Spenserian stanza?
A) ABAB CDCD EF
B) ABABBCCDD
C) ABABBCBCC
D) ABABBCBBB
Answer: C) ABABBCBCC

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7. Who is the hero of Book I of The Faerie Queene?
A) Sir Guyon
B) The Redcrosse Knight
C) Prince Arthur
D) Britomart
Answer: B) The Redcrosse Knight

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8. The Redcrosse Knight represents which virtue?
A) Temperance
B) Chastity
C) Holiness
D) Justice
Answer: C) Holiness

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9. Who is the allegorical representation of Queen Elizabeth I in The Faerie Queene?
A) Lucifera
B) Una
C) Gloriana
D) Belphoebe
Answer: C) Gloriana

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10. What does Una symbolize in Book I?
A) Political ambition
B) The Church / Truth
C) England
D) Romantic love
Answer: B) The Church / Truth

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11. Who is Duessa in the allegory of Book I?
A) A symbol of humility
B) A representation of falsehood and the Catholic Church
C) A loyal helper to Redcrosse
D) A fairy queen
Answer: B) A representation of falsehood and the Catholic Church

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12. In Book II, what virtue is represented by Sir Guyon?
A) Justice
B) Courtesy
C) Temperance
D) Holiness
Answer: C) Temperance

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13. Which epic poet did Spenser admire and emulate?
A) Homer
B) Dante
C) Virgil
D) All of the above
Answer: D) All of the above

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14. Who is the central hero figure in The Faerie Queene, representing magnificence?
A) Redcrosse Knight
B) Sir Guyon
C) Prince Arthur
D) Artegall
Answer: C) Prince Arthur

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15. Which virtue is celebrated in Book III?
A) Chastity
B) Holiness
C) Temperance
D) Justice
Answer: A) Chastity

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16. Britomart, the heroine of Book III, is known for her:
A) Magical powers
B) Masculine disguise and virtue of chastity
C) Betrayal of Gloriana
D) Association with Duessa
Answer: B) Masculine disguise and virtue of chastity

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17. What moral and political message is conveyed through The Faerie Queene?
A) Support for religious tolerance
B) Praise for chivalry, Protestantism, and Elizabethan monarchy
C) Critique of colonial expansion
D) Celebration of humanism alone
Answer: B) Praise for chivalry, Protestantism, and Elizabethan monarchy

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18. What literary movement is Spenser most associated with?
A) Romanticism
B) Elizabethan Renaissance
C) Metaphysical poetry
D) Augustan Age
Answer: B) Elizabethan Renaissance

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19. What is the unfinished status of The Faerie Queene?
A) Only 3 books were written
B) It was fully completed
C) Only 6 of 12 projected books were completed
D) Spenser burned the final parts
Answer: C) Only 6 of 12 projected books were completed

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20. What is the major purpose of The Faerie Queene, according to Spenser in his letter to Raleigh?
A) To entertain courtly readers
B) To write the first English epic
C) To fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline
D) To mock medieval romances
Answer: C) To fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline

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21. What narrative technique is primarily used in The Faerie Queene?
A) Stream of consciousness
B) Frame narrative
C) Episodic allegory
D) Flashback
Answer: C) Episodic allegory

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22. Which character in The Faerie Queene represents justice?
A) Redcrosse
B) Sir Guyon
C) Artegall
D) Prince Arthur
Answer: C) Artegall

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23. What allegorical role does the character Archimago play in The Faerie Queene?
A) A symbol of romantic love
B) A false pilgrim representing religious hypocrisy
C) A guide to virtue
D) A representation of natural law
Answer: B) A false pilgrim representing religious hypocrisy

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24. Which mythological figure is Britomart associated with in The Faerie Queene?
A) Athena
B) Aphrodite
C) Diana
D) Venus
Answer: A) Athena

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25. What does the character Despair attempt to convince Redcrosse to do in The Faerie Queene?
A) Marry Duessa
B) Betray Una
C) Abandon the quest
D) Commit suicide
Answer: D) Commit suicide

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26. In The Faerie Queene, what does the House of Pride symbolize?
A) Nobility and grace
B) Political hierarchy
C) Corruption of the soul through sin
D) Chivalric ideals
Answer: C) Corruption of the soul through sin

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27. What literary purpose does the character Belphoebe serve in The Faerie Queene?
A) Symbol of chastity and a tribute to Queen Elizabeth I
B) Antagonist to Gloriana
C) Representation of Catholic virtue
D) Example of misguided love
Answer: A) Symbol of chastity and a tribute to Queen Elizabeth I

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28. Which vice does Mammon tempt Sir Guyon with in Book II of The Faerie Queene?
A) Lust
B) Pride
C) Greed
D) Envy
Answer: C) Greed

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29. Which famous Elizabethan figure is alluded to through Prince Arthur in The Faerie Queene?
A) Sir Francis Drake
B) Sir Walter Raleigh
C) King Henry VIII
D) A young version of Elizabeth I’s ideal knight
Answer: D) A young version of Elizabeth I’s ideal knight

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30. What architectural structure symbolizes heavenly guidance in The Faerie Queene?
A) The Temple of Mars
B) The House of Holiness
C) The Cave of Despair
D) The Bower of Bliss
Answer: B) The House of Holiness

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31. What is the significance of the dragon Redcrosse fights at the end of Book I?
A) It represents his lustful temptations
B) It symbolizes Satan and ultimate evil
C) It is an allegory for the Catholic Church
D) It guards the treasure of Gloriana
Answer: B) It symbolizes Satan and ultimate evil

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32. What does the Bower of Bliss represent in Book II?
A) Political utopia
B) False paradise of sensual pleasure
C) Courtly love
D) Protestant heaven
Answer: B) False paradise of sensual pleasure

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33. What does the character of Alma represent in The Faerie Queene?
A) The body of Christ
B) The soul or inner spirit
C) The mind of a monarch
D) The crown of England
Answer: B) The soul or inner spirit

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34. In which book does Spenser address the virtue of Courtesy?
A) Book II
B) Book III
C) Book IV
D) Book VI
Answer: D) Book VI

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35. Who is Calidore in Book VI of The Faerie Queene?
A) The knight of justice
B) The knight of courtesy
C) The knight of chastity
D) The knight of holiness
Answer: B) The knight of courtesy

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36. What literary device is most commonly employed throughout The Faerie Queene?
A) Irony
B) Synecdoche
C) Allegory
D) Hyperbole
Answer: C) Allegory

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37. Which character is presented as a model of historical and spiritual chastity in Book III?
A) Duessa
B) Britomart
C) Belphoebe
D) Glauce
Answer: B) Britomart

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38. What is Spenser’s primary aim with The Faerie Queene, according to his own description?
A) To instruct by pleasing
B) To defend Catholicism
C) To criticize monarchy
D) To promote foreign policy
Answer: A) To instruct by pleasing

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39. What is significant about the form of the final line in each Spenserian stanza?
A) It breaks the rhyme pattern
B) It is written in iambic tetrameter
C) It is an alexandrine, a 12-syllable line
D) It begins a new sentence
Answer: C) It is an alexandrine, a 12-syllable line

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40. What role does the Blatant Beast play in Book VI of The Faerie Queene?
A) A representation of pride
B) A symbol of slander and defamation
C) A demonic guard of a gate
D) A courtly knight’s pet
Answer: B) A symbol of slander and defamation

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