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Robert Browning Trivia Quiz

Robert Browning was a nineteenth century English poet, famous for his dramatic monologues.

A multiple-choice quiz by scotspanlit. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
scotspanlit

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
235,276

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
731

Last 3 plays: Guest 157 (7/10), Guest 152 (5/10), Guest 152 (6/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which four languages, apart from English, did Browning learn by the time he was 14? Hint

Latin, Greek, Spanish and Italian

Latin, Greek, French and Italian

Latin, Greek, French and Gaelic

Latin, Italian, French and German

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Question 2 of 10

2. Which university did Browning go to in 1828? Hint

University of London

University of Oxford

University of Cambridge

University of Durham

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Question 3 of 10

3. Which work by another author created a great impression on him in 1845? Hint

Elizabeth Barrett's "Poems"

Friedrich Engels' "Condition of the Working Class in England"

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

William Makepeace Thackeray's "Barry Lyndon"

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Question 4 of 10

4. What work did Browning dedicate to his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning? Hint

Sonnets from the Portuguese

Men and Women

The Ring and the Book

Dramatis Personae

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Question 5 of 10

5. On what did Browning base "The Ring and the Book?" Hint

An old book which told of a Roman murder trial

A local Florence tragedy

An old Italian love story

His own love for Elizabeth Barrett

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Question 6 of 10

6. Browning would be most appropriately described as what type of poet? Hint

Victorian Poet

Lakeside Poet

Neo-Classicist Poet

Pre-Raphaelite Poet

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Question 7 of 10

7. In which of his poems does Browning satirize the essentially corrupt relationship between the Italian Renaissance tradition of art patronage and the Roman Catholic church? Hint

"Paracelsus"

"The Ring and the Book"

"Fra Lippo Lippi"

"Sordello"

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Question 8 of 10

8. What did Browning do after his wife tragically died in 1861? Hint

He returned to London with his son "Pen".

He stayed in Florence and became a virtual recluse.

He remained in Florence and continued to write poetry.

He never recovered from the tragedy and died soon afterwards.

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Question 9 of 10

9. Did Browning return to Italy in later life? Hint

Browning never got over the death of his wife and , for emotional reasons, was unable to return there.

Browning never returned to London and remained in Florence for the rest of his life.

Browning finally plucked up the courage to re-visit Florence and died there in 1889.

Browning and his son paid frequent visits there.

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Question 10 of 10

10. What type of work was "The Ring and The Book"? Hint

A long narrative poem

A neo-classic epic

A lyrical ballad

A play

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Most Recent Scores

Dec 12 2024 : Guest 157: 7/10
Dec 02 2024 : Guest 152: 5/10
Nov 13 2024 : Guest 152: 6/10
Nov 02 2024 : Guest 106: 9/10
Oct 29 2024 : Guest 157: 6/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which four languages, apart from English, did Browning learn by the time he was 14?

Answer: Latin, Greek, French and Italian

Browning was an extremely bright child and read voraciously. He read all fifty volumes of the "Biographie Universelle" and learned Latin, Greek, French and Italian by the time he was fourteen.

2. Which university did Browning go to in 1828?

Answer: University of London

Browning was born in May 1812, in Camberwell, a London suburb and attended the University of London in 1828, the year it opened. Discontented, he left to pursue his own reading at his own pace.

3. Which work by another author created a great impression on him in 1845?

Answer: Elizabeth Barrett's "Poems"

Browning was so impressed by Barrett's work that he contrived to meet her. They fell in love and married, against her family's wishes, the following year.

4. What work did Browning dedicate to his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

Answer: Men and Women

Living together in Florence, Elizabeth demonstrated her love by dedicating her work "Sonnets from the Portuguese" to him, and to her Browning dedicated "Men and Women", which contains some of his very best poetry.

5. On what did Browning base "The Ring and the Book?"

Answer: An old book which told of a Roman murder trial

"The Ring and the Book" is a long dramatic narrative poem of 21,000 lines, published in four instalments from 1868-9. It tells the story of a murder trial in Rome in 1698, whereby an impoverished nobleman is found guilty of the murders of his young wife and her parents, having suspected her of an affair with a young cleric.

He is found guilty and sentenced to death. The poem is comprised of twelve dramatic monologues.

6. Browning would be most appropriately described as what type of poet?

Answer: Victorian Poet

He is generally considered to be one of the most important Victorian poets. "Victorian", of course, refers to the period of Queen Victoria's long reign between 1837 and 1901. The Neo-Classicists were an eighteenth century group best represented by Alexander Pope, writer of "Rape of the Lock".

The Lakeside poets were the romantics Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Poet Laureates, Robert Southey and his successor, William Wordsworth. The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of artists and writers who wanted English art to become simpler and more beautiful like the art of the period prior to the Italian painter Raphael.

7. In which of his poems does Browning satirize the essentially corrupt relationship between the Italian Renaissance tradition of art patronage and the Roman Catholic church?

Answer: "Fra Lippo Lippi"

"Fra Lippo Lippi" was another dramatic monologue like "My Last Duchess", and it became one of Browning's best-known works.

8. What did Browning do after his wife tragically died in 1861?

Answer: He returned to London with his son "Pen".

Browning, having secretly married the poet Elizabeth Barrett, went with her to Italy, where they lived for 15 happy years. Following her death there in 1861, he returned to England, where he wrote "Dramatis Personae" (1864), followed by his masterpiece, the murder story, "The Ring and the Book" (1868-69).

9. Did Browning return to Italy in later life?

Answer: Browning and his son paid frequent visits there.

In 1878, he returned to Italy for the first time since Elizabeth's death, and later returned there on several occasions, including some visits with his son.

10. What type of work was "The Ring and The Book"?

Answer: A long narrative poem

"The Ring and the Book", published in 1868, was a long narrative blank verse poem of greed, deception, and murder; based on an Italian story. Though it was a popular success, it is now little read.

Source: Author scotspanlit

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
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