Literary Timeline Trivia Quiz

Answer: Monarchs or political events

Some periods are named after the leading characteristic of the age (The Renaissance, The Age of Sensibility, and The Romantic Period). Sometimes authors give birth to period names, like The Age of Johnson. There are two periods named after the language itself: the Old English and Middle English Periods.

However, most periods are named for monarchs or major political events: The Elizabethan Age, The Jacobean Age, The Regency, The Victorian Period, The Commonwealth Period, The Restoration, The Edwardian Age, etc.

Answer: Restoration

The "Restoration" refers to the return of King Charles II to the throne in 1660. Literature from this period includes the writings of John Milton, John Dryden, Thomas Otway, and William Congreve, to name but a few.

Answer: Modern English

As ancient as his wording may seem to our contemporary ears, Shakespeare wrote in what is known as Modern English. Chaucer wrote in Middle English, and Old English (in which "Beowulf" was written) is for all practical purposes a foreign language.

Answer: Regency

"The Regency" refers to the period when the Prince of Wales served as regent to George III, after the King had been declared incurably insane in 1811. Jane Austen is the most famous writer of this period. The period overlaps in time somewhat with the Romantic Period, but Jane Austen is not generally considered a Romantic.

Answer: Blake's "Songs of Innocence"

Blake's work appeared in 1790. Blake is generally considered to be a pre-Romantic writer, whereas the rest of these authors are Romantics.

Answer: Beowulf

One date every school child learns (or used to) is 1066, the year when William the Conqueror defeated Harold II at The Battle of Hastings, changing the English language forever. "Beowulf" was written before this time, in Old English. "The Domesday Book," a sort of census, came shortly after, in 1086. "Canterbury Tales" belongs to the Middle English period, and "Sons and Lovers", by D.H. Lawrence, was a 20th century work.

Answer: Howard, Earl of Surrey

Howard, Earl of Surrey, author of several poems including "My Friend, the Things That Do Attain," was imprisoned in 1537, decades before the birth of Shakespeare and his contemporary Marlowe, and long before George Eliot.

Answer: John Milton's "Paradise Lost"

Milton's book appeared in 1663, after the Restoration. All of the other works belong to the early 17th century.

Answer: Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott belongs to the Romantic period. He was famous for his historical novels, such as "Ivanhoe."

Answer: Victorian

Queen Victoria began her long rule in 1837. Charlotte Bronte published "Jane Eyre" in 1847. Anne Bronte's "Agnes Gray" appeared the same year. Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" came the following year.

Answer: Gerard Manley Hopkins

Ted Hughes wrote in the 20th century. Rossetti and Browning were both published in their own time. Hopkins's work, however, was not published until 1919, well after his death. As a Catholic priest, he did not think it fit for him to be writing poetry, and yet he could not prevent himself from doing so.

Answer: Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles"

The original dates of publication of these works are as follows: Hardy-1891; James-1903; Forster-1908; Woolf-1925.

Answer: Thomas Carew

Thomas Carew, a 17th century poet, is most famous for his work "The Rapture," which appeared in 1640.

Answer: The French Revolution

The French Revolution was the formative event of the Romantic period. The Exclusion Bill Crisis is alluded to in much literature of the Restoration, including such works as John Dryden's "Absalom and Achitophel" and Thomas Otway's play "Venice Preserv'd"

Answer: Sir Thomas Malory

For definition purposes, the Renaissance is usually said to begin around 1485. Malory's famous work, "Morte Darthur," appeared in 1469, which is generally classified as belonging to the Middle English period.

Answer: Jacobean Age

The Jacobean Age is usually given as 1603-1625, and it probably best falls under the umbrella of "The Renaissance." Alexander Pope was the most famous writer of the Augustan Age, and The Age of Sensibility is sometimes referred to as "The Age of Johnson."

Answer: The Commonwealth Period

The most famous writer of the Elizabethan Age, which spanned 1558-1603, was William Shakespeare. The Jacobean age takes its name from Elizabeth's successor, King James, who ruled from 1603-1625. The Commonwealth Period did not occur until after the English Civil War, when Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector in 1653.

Answer: Bede's "An Ecclesiastical History of the English People"

Bede's work was written during the Old English period, Chaucer's and Julian's during the Middle English Period, and Sir Thomas More's during the early 16th century.

Answer: Any of these

I actually took a class on this theme once, which included Kipling and Bronte. Edward Fitzgerald translated the famous "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam."

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's most famous play, "The Importance of Being Earnest," was published in 1895. He died in 1900, well before the outbreak of World War I.