The University Wits Practice Questions
20 free The University Wits practice questions for the English Literature. Tap an option to answer — you get instant feedback, the correct answer, and a detailed explanation for every question.
Which 19th-century literary historian and critic originally coined the term 'University Wits' to describe the loose circle of university-educated playwrights who transformed early Elizabethan drama?
- A Thomas Carlyle, the essayist
- B Matthew Arnold, the poet
- C Walter Pater, the aesthete
- D George Saintsbury, critic
Correct answer: George Saintsbury, critic
The term 'University Wits' was never used during the Elizabethan era itself. It was coined by the critic George Saintsbury in his 1887 work *A History of Elizabethan Literature*. He used it to categorize the group of well-educated young men from Oxford and Cambridge who brought academic sophistication to the public stage.
Which prominent University Wit wrote the bitter pamphlet *Greene's Groat's-Worth of Wit* (1592), which contains the famous first historical allusion to William Shakespeare as an 'upstart crow'?
- A Christopher Marlowe
- B Robert Greene
- C Thomas Lodge
- D Thomas Nashe
Correct answer: Robert Greene
Robert Greene wrote this autobiographical pamphlet on his deathbed, lashing out at the commercial theater industry. His attack on the 'upstart crow beautified with our feathers' reflects the resentment the university-educated playwrights felt toward uneducated actors who began writing their own successful plays. This passage provides invaluable historical evidence of Shakespeare's rising status in London.
Two universities nurtured the members of the University Wits. Which of the following playwrights attended Trinity College, Oxford, rather than Cambridge?
- A Robert Greene
- B Christopher Marlowe
- C Thomas Lodge
- D Thomas Nashe
Correct answer: Thomas Lodge
While Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, and Thomas Nashe were all educated at Cambridge, Thomas Lodge attended Trinity College, Oxford. John Lyly and George Peele were also Oxford graduates, establishing a balanced intellectual bridge between both ancient universities and the London stage. This academic background heavily infused their public dramas with classical references and rhetorical style.
Christopher Marlowe’s *Tamburlaine the Great* (c. 1587) revolutionized English theatrical verse. What metrical innovation did it establish as the standard medium for Elizabethan tragedy?
- A Rhyming fourteeners inherited from earlier verse
- B Unrhymed iambic pentameter, known as blank verse
- C Dactylic hexameter modeled on classical epic
- D Anapestic tetrameter used in comic songs
Correct answer: Unrhymed iambic pentameter, known as blank verse
Marlowe famously discarded what he called the 'jigging veins of rhyming mother wits' in the prologue to *Tamburlaine*. By introducing his roaring, flexible 'mighty line' of unrhymed iambic pentameter, he elevated blank verse into the definitive poetic vehicle for English high drama. This structural innovation cleared the path for the complex psychological plays of Shakespeare and Webster.
Which play by Robert Greene features a romantic, pastoral double-plot involving Prince Edward, Margaret the fair maid of Fressingfield, and a fictionalized, magical contest between medieval friars?
- A The Old Wives' Tale of Madge
- B Orlando Furioso in England
- C The Wounds of Civil War
- D Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
Correct answer: Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
*Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay* is celebrated as one of the earliest successful romantic comedies in English drama. Greene masterfully weaves together a high-born courtly love triangle with a comic, folklore-infused plot centered on Roger Bacon's creation of a prophetic brass head. This technique of combining multiple social spheres directly influenced Shakespeare's romantic comedies.
John Lyly wrote almost all of his highly refined, witty court comedies for a very specific type of acting troupe. What was the nature of these ensembles?
- A Adult professional companies such as the Lord Admiral's Men and Chamberlain's Men
- B All-boy companies made up of child choristers drawn from the royal chapels
- C Foreign touring troupes performing the Italian Commedia dell'arte in London
- D Amateur guilds of London blacksmiths and weavers performing on feast days
Correct answer: All-boy companies made up of child choristers drawn from the royal chapels
Lyly wrote his elegant, mannered plays—such as *Endymion* and *Campaspe*—for the Children of Paul's and the Children of the Chapel Royal. These boy companies performed indoors before elite aristocratic audiences and the Queen, utilizing an intellectual, highly styled prose. Lyly's focus on witty, rapid-fire banter and allegorical praise shaped the early style of courtly entertainment.
What is the name of the heavily stylized, symmetrical prose technique pioneered by John Lyly in his prose romance *Euphues* and imported into his stage comedies?
- A Marlovian bombast
- B Skeltonics, Skelton's meter
- C Apothegmatic prose
- D Euphuism, his ornate style
Correct answer: Euphuism, his ornate style
Euphuism is characterized by an extreme use of antithesis, parallel sentence structures, precise alliteration, and a constant stream of rhetorical questions. It also relies heavily on obscure natural history comparisons drawn from classical myths and simulated science. This ornate manner of writing became a major fashion at Queen Elizabeth's court and was frequently parodied by later dramatists.
Which member of the University Wits wrote the highly imaginative, folkloric play *The Old Wives' Tale* (c. 1590), which satirizes the absurd conventions of contemporary chivalric romances?
- A Thomas Lodge
- B John Lyly
- C George Peele
- D Christopher Marlowe
Correct answer: George Peele
George Peele's *The Old Wives' Tale* is a sophisticated meta-play where an old woman named Madge begins telling a bedtime story that physically comes to life on stage. The drama blends English folklore, sorcerers, wandering knights, and ghosts into a dreamlike narrative that mocks the chaotic plots of older romantic plays. It stands out for its experimental structure and lyric beauty.
Thomas Lodge’s prose romance *Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie* (1590) is historically significant primarily because it served as the direct source material for which play by William Shakespeare?
- A A Midsummer Night's Dream
- B The Winter's Tale
- C As You Like It
- D Twelfth Night
Correct answer: As You Like It
Lodge wrote *Rosalynde* while sailing on a military privateering expedition to the Canary Islands. Shakespeare adapted its pastoral plot, the cross-dressing heroine, the exiled Duke, and the forest setting of Arden almost entirely for his comedy *As You Like It*. This borrowing underscores how heavily the next generation of actors-turned-playwrights relied on the literary output of the Wits.
Thomas Nashe's primary solo contribution to the stage is a satirical, avant-garde summer masque titled *Summer's Last Will and Testament* (1592). What historical event forced its performance to take place at a private estate in Croydon rather than a public London theater?
- A An explicit royal decree banning all comedies that mentioned agricultural crops
- B The sudden burning down of the Theatre by a rogue firework
- C An outbreak of the bubonic plague that closed all London public playhouses
- D An invasion of the city by Scottish rebel forces
Correct answer: An outbreak of the bubonic plague that closed all London public playhouses
A severe plague outbreak in London in 1592 forced the closure of all public entertainment venues to prevent the spread of disease. As a result, Nashe and his acting company retreated to the suburban palace of Archbishop John Whitgift in Croydon to perform this allegorical pageant. The play reflects this grim context, featuring the famous melancholy song 'Adieu, farewell earth's bliss' with its refrain 'I am sick, I must die.'
Though historically linked to the University Wits due to his close collaboration and shared style, which author of *The Spanish Tragedy* is often excluded from the strict definition because he never attended Oxford or Cambridge?
- A Ben Jonson
- B Michael Drayton
- C Thomas Kyd
- D John Marston
Correct answer: Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School in London but did not proceed to either university. Despite this, his close personal and professional association with Christopher Marlowe and his massive influence on the development of Elizabethan tragedy link him closely to the group. His masterpiece, *The Spanish Tragedy*, established the revenge tragedy genre that dominated the era.
In Christopher Marlowe’s *Doctor Faustus*, who are the two German magicians who encourage Faustus to abandon traditional university theology and take up the practice of black magic?
- A Wagner and Robin
- B Raymond and Bruno
- C Valdes and Cornelius
- D Benvolio and Martino
Correct answer: Valdes and Cornelius
Valdes and Cornelius appear in the opening act of the play to answer Faustus's call for instruction in occult philosophy. They promise him that his intellect combined with their magical secrets will make nations tremble and command the elements. These characters symbolize the dangerous allure of heterodox Renaissance knowledge that Faustus pursues to his doom.
Which play by George Peele is notable for being a rare Elizabethan dramatization of a biblical narrative, blending scriptural history with highly charged political overtones regarding royal succession?
- A The Battle of Alcazar, fought in Morocco
- B The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe
- C The Chronicle History of Edward the First
- D The Arraignment of Paris, a court entertainment
Correct answer: The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe
*The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe* is Peele's unique scriptural tragedy, written in highly ornate, sensuous blank verse that mimics the style of Marlowe. It uses the biblical story of David, Bathsheba, and Absalom's rebellion to explore Renaissance anxieties about monarchical guilt, family dysfunction, and the stability of the state. It remains the only intact biblical play from the public Elizabethan playhouses.
What short-lived collaborative play written by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson in 1597 caused a massive political scandal, leading to the imprisonment of the actors and a total government ban on the script for sedition?
- A The Isle of Gulls
- B The Isle of Dogs
- C The Shoemaker's Holiday
- D Eastward Ho
Correct answer: The Isle of Dogs
*The Isle of Dogs* was immediately suppressed by the Queen's Privy Council for containing 'lewd' and seditious political satire aimed at high court figures. The government was so outraged that they ordered all theaters closed and arrested Jonson and several actors, while Nashe fled to the countryside to avoid prison. No copies of the play survived this complete systemic censorship.
In Marlowe's *The Jew of Malta*, who acts as Barabas’s villainous, cynical accomplice, helping him execute various poisonings and murders across the island before being betrayed by his master?
- A Ithamore
- B Jacomo
- C Lodowick
- D Pilia-Borsa
Correct answer: Ithamore
Ithamore is a Turkish slave bought by Barabas who shares his master's deep hatred for Christians. Together, they orchestrate a series of grotesque crimes, including poisoning an entire convent of nuns. Their dark, criminal partnership collapses when Ithamore is manipulated by a courtesan into blackmailing Barabas, leading to their mutual destruction.
Which University Wit wrote the pioneering English historical chronicle play *The Wounds of Civil War* (c. 1588), which dramatizes the ancient Roman power struggle between Marius and Sulla?
- A Thomas Lodge
- B Robert Greene
- C John Lyly
- D George Peele
Correct answer: Thomas Lodge
Thomas Lodge's *The Wounds of Civil War* is one of the earliest examples of an Elizabethan playwright mining classical Roman history for serious political drama. The play depicts the bloody factional warfare of Rome to warn contemporary English audiences about the terrors of domestic rebellion and political instability. It helped establish the convention of using classical history to mirror Tudor political anxieties.
What radical theological and political charge was officially leveled against Christopher Marlowe in May 1593 by the informant Richard Baines, days before the playwright's mysterious murder in Deptford?
- A Atheism and heresy
- B Coin counterfeiting
- C Plotting regicide
- D Practicing witchcraft
Correct answer: Atheism and heresy
The Baines Note accused Marlowe of dangerous blasphemy, claiming he stated that the Holy Scriptures were poorly written, that Christ was a deceiver, and that Moses was merely a clever magician. In early modern England, 'atheism' was treated as a capital political crime because it directly challenged the religious authority of the Crown. This investigation was cut short by Marlowe's sudden death in a safehouse tavern.
Which early comedy by William Shakespeare is widely recognized by scholars as a direct homage to, and parody of, the highly stylized courtly banter and academic isolation pioneered by John Lyly?
- A Love's Labour's Lost
- B The Comedy of Errors
- C The Taming of the Shrew
- D The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Correct answer: Love's Labour's Lost
*Love's Labour's Lost* targets the linguistic vanity of the late Elizabethan court, packing its scenes with puns, euphuistic monologues, and pedantic Latin jokes. By structuring the plot around four young lords who swear an unrealistic oath to abandon women for academic study, Shakespeare directly engages with the courtly, scholastic dramatic traditions established by Lyly and the Wits.
What is the title of Thomas Nashe’s landmark 1594 prose text, which functions as the earliest picaresque novel in English literature and heavily influenced the descriptive realism of late Elizabethan writing?
- A The Unfortunate Traveller
- B Pierce Penniless, His Supplication to the Devil
- C Anatomie of Absurdity
- D Have with You to Saffron-Walden
Correct answer: The Unfortunate Traveller
*The Unfortunate Traveller* follows the chaotic adventures of an English page named Jack Wilton as he travels across Renaissance Europe, witnessing historical battles, plagues, and executions. Nashe's prose bursts with violent realism, grotesque descriptions, and linguistic experiments that broke away from traditional courtly romance. This raw narrative energy left a permanent mark on the lower-class characters and subplots of Elizabethan drama.
In Christopher Marlowe's historical tragedy *Edward II*, who is the King’s deeply resented favorite whose low social origin and political influence outrage the traditional English barons?
- A Piers Gaveston
- B Hugh Spencer
- C Roger Mortimer
- D The Earl of Kent
Correct answer: Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston is the ambitious favorite whose intimate relationship with King Edward II destabilizes the entire realm. The old aristocracy despises Gaveston because he is a foreigner of lower birth whom the King elevates to immense political power and titles. Marlowe uses this conflict to construct a remarkably modern tragedy focused on personal desire clashing with the brutal machinery of state power.