Ulysses MCQ Questions and Answers | Alfred Lord Tennyson | Class 12 | Semester 3 | WBCHSE

1) The poem ‘Ulysses’ is a/an –
  (a) sonnet
  (b) ballad
  (c) dramatic monologue
  (d) ode
Ans: (c) dramatic monologue

2) ‘Ulysses’ was composed in –
  (a) free verse
  (b) blank verse
  (c) rhyming couplets
  (d) terza rima
Ans: (b) blank verse

3) What inspired Tennyson’s portrayal of the character Ulysses?
  (a) Homer’s “Iliad”
  (b) Dante’s “Inferno”
  (c) Homer’s “Odyssey”
  (d) Both ‘b’ and ‘c’
Ans: (d) Both ‘b’ and ‘c’

4) Ulysses was the ruler of –
  (a) Cyprus
  (b) Ithaca
  (c) Athens
  (d) Troy
Ans: (b) Ithaca

5) How long was Ulysses absent from Ithaca?
  (a) twenty years
  (b) ten years
  (c) nine years
  (d) seven years
Ans: (a) twenty years

6) According to Ulysses, what is ‘little profit’?
  (a) A peaceful life at home
  (b) to fight against the gods
  (c) A restless and adventurous life
  (d) to lead a domestic life without adventure
Ans: (d) to lead a domestic life without adventure

7) What does Ithaca symbolize to Ulysses?
  (a) adventure
  (b) royal luxury
  (c) bankruptcy
  (d) idle and static life
Ans: (d) idle and static life

8) The word “idle king” refers to –
  (a) Achilles
  (b) Hector
  (c) Ulysses
  (d) Paris
Ans: (c) Ulysses

9) “… among these barren crags” – it refers to –
  (a) the battlefield of Troy
  (b) the fertile plains of Greece
  (c) the rocky and barren land of Ithaca
  (d) the Happy Isles
Ans: (c) the rocky and barren land of Ithaca

10) Who is referred to as the “aged wife” of Ulysses?
  (a) Diana
  (b) Elizabeth
  (c) Penelope
  (d) Helen
Ans: (c) Penelope

11) Who are described as “a savage race”?
  (a) The people of Troy
  (b) The people of Ithaca
  (c) The people of Athens
  (d) The people of lotus land
Ans: (b) The people of Ithaca

12) Ulysses wishes to drink life to the –
  (a) surface
  (b) end
  (c) lees
  (d) brim
Ans: (c) lees

13) The expression “mete and dole” suggests –
  (a) to divide the kingdom
  (b) to impose and collect taxes
  (c) to reward his soldiers
  (d) to distribute food among the poor
Ans: (b) to impose and collect taxes

14) In “I will drink / Life to the lees”, life is compared to –
  (a) A cup of milk
  (b) A glass or bottle of wine
  (c) A flowing river
  (d) An endless ocean
Ans: (b) A glass or bottle of wine

15) Which figure of speech is used in “I will drink / Life to the lees”?
  (a) Simile
  (b) Metaphor
  (c) Personification
  (d) Hyperbole
Ans: (b) Metaphor

16) What does the line “I cannot rest from travel” reveal about Ulysses?
  (a) His desire for a quiet domestic life
  (b) His fear of facing new challenges
  (c) His insatiable desire for adventure and exploration
  (d) His admiration for Penelope
Ans: (c) His insatiable desire for adventure and exploration

17) Ulysses was accompanied by his companions –
  (a) only in happiness
  (b) only in suffering
  (c) in both enjoyment and suffering
  (d) neither pleasure nor pain
Ans: (c) in both enjoyment and suffering

18) What does the expression “scudding drifts” mean?
  (a) Galloping horses
  (b) Violent waves of the sea
  (c) Groups of shining stars
  (d) Flying birds
Ans: (c) Groups of shining stars

19) In “I am become a name” who does “I” refer to?
  (a) Tennyson
  (b) Ulysses
  (c) Telemachus
  (d) Penelope
Ans: (b) Ulysses

20) ‘Hyades’ were known as –
  (a) weeping stones
  (b) gloomy stars
  (c) rainers or rain-makers
  (d) gloomy or weeping stars
Ans: (c) rainers or rain-makers

21) What does the line “beyond the utmost bound of human thoughts” mean?
  (a) To go beyond the western horizon
  (b) To know the unknown
  (c) To explore the unseen
  (d) To sail beyond the ultimate limit of human imagination and knowledge
Ans: (d) To sail beyond the ultimate limit of human imagination and knowledge

22) The line “I am become a name” suggests that –
  (a) Ulysses’ name had been forgotten
  (b) Ulysses had received a new name
  (c) Ulysses became a famous as a legendary figure
  (d) Ulysses lost his royal title
Ans: (c) Ulysses became a famous as a legendary figure

23) What does “Life piled on life” signify?
  (a) The lives of different people
  (b) Several stages of human existence
  (c) The life of sailors
  (d) Different life-spans joined together.
Ans: (d) Different life-spans joined together

24) Ulysses enjoyed the delight of battle with –
  (a) the Trojans
  (b) the Gods
  (c) his companions
  (d) the rulers of Ithaca
Ans: (c) his companions

25) Where did Ulysses drink the delight of battle?
  (a) Ithaca
  (b) Troy
  (c) Olympus
  (d) Leuctra
Ans: (b) Troy

26) The phrase “ringing plains” suggests –
  (a) the sound of musical instruments
  (b) the movement of horses
  (c) the cries of soldiers
  (d) the noise and clash of the battlefield
Ans: (d) the noise and clash of the battlefield

27) Between whom was the Trojan War fought?
  (a) The Greeks and the Romans
  (b) The Greeks and the Persians
  (c) The Normans and the Anglo-Saxons
  (d) The Greek and the Trojans
Ans: (d) The Greek and the Trojans

28) During the Trojan War, Ulysses fought on the side of –
  (a) The Greeks
  (b) The Trojans
  (c) The gods
  (d) The Normans
Ans: (a) The Greeks

29) What was the main cause of the Trojan War?
  (a) Paris stole the wooden horse
  (b) Helen was taken by Paris, the Prince of Troy
  (c) Penelope was abducted by the Trojans
  (d) The Greeks attacked Troy without any reason
Ans: (b) Helen was taken by Paris, the Prince of Troy

30) To what does Ulysses compare knowledge and experience?
  (a) An arch
  (b) A maze
  (c) A giant banyan tree
  (d) The sky
Ans: (a) An arch

31) What gleams through the arch of attained knowledge, according to Ulysses?
  (a) A mysterious dark cave
  (b) A vast unexplored sea
  (c) Unexplored knowledge or experience
  (d) Dangerous sea voyages
Ans: (c) Unexplored knowledge or experience

32) In the line “To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!”, what is life compared with?
  (a) A life full of adventure
  (b) A sword lying unused in its sheath
  (c) A long sea journey
  (d) A strong and sharp sword
Ans: (b) A sword lying unused in its sheath

33) What does the line “As tho’ to breathe were life!” imply?
  (a) Merely existing without meaningful action is not a true life
  (b) An inactive life is ideal in old age
  (c) Thinking is more important than acting
  (d) Human life lasts only for a few breaths
Ans: (a) Merely existing without meaningful action is not a true life

34) What is meant by “Life piled on life / Were all too little”?
  (a) The human soul repeatedly takes birth
  (b) The human soul belongs to a divine force
  (c) Even many lifetimes would not be sufficient to discover all the world’s knowledge
  (d) none of these
Ans: (c) Even many lifetimes would not be sufficient to discover all the world’s knowledge

35) The expression “eternal silence” signifies –
  (a) the beginning of life
  (b) a cold winter night
  (c) a solitary journey across the sea
  (d) death
Ans: (d) death

36) Which literary device is used in “To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use”?
  (a) Metaphor
  (b) Simile
  (c) Personification
  (d) Hyperbole
Ans: (a) Metaphor

37) What time period is meant by “three suns”?
  (a) Three days
  (b) Three fortnights
  (c) Three summers
  (d) Three years
Ans: (d) Three years

38) What does Ulysses mean by saying “to store and hoard myself”?
  (a) To spend his remaining years in a dull and inactive existence
  (b) To accumulate wealth as a king
  (c) To gather riches from the lands he visited
  (d) To accumulate knowledge
Ans: (a) To spend his remaining years in a dull and inactive existence

39) Ulysses wish to pursue knowledge beyond –
  (a) the horizon
  (b) the northern sky
  (c) the limits of human thought
  (d) the wester stars
Ans: (c) the limits of human thought

40) Ulysses wishes to follow knowledge like –
  (a) flowing river
  (b) unending horizon
  (c) sinking star
  (d) gray spirit
Ans: (c) sinking star

41) Who is the son of Ulysses?
  (a) Hector
  (b) Telemachus
  (c) Adonis
  (d) Achilles
Ans: (b) Telemachus

42) Ulysses plans to leave in Telemachus’ hands?
  (a) His passion for adventure
  (b) His accumulated knowledge
  (c) The throne and kingdom of Ithaca
  (d) His fellow sailors
Ans: (c) The throne and kingdom of Ithaca

43) Which is meant by the word ‘isle’?
  (a) The islands of Troy
  (b) Ithaca
  (c) The Hebrides
  (d) The Aran Islands
Ans: (b) Ithaca

44) Which description best fits Telemachus?
  (a) He is wise enough to rule the people of Ithaca
  (b) He has a virtuous and blameless character
  (c) He is devoted to his duties and faithful to the household gods
  (d) All of these
Ans: (d) All of these

45) Who is described as “most blameless” in the poem?
  (a) Achilles
  (b) Telemachus
  (c) Ulysses
  (d) An ordinary subject of Ithaca
Ans: (b) Telemachus

46) To whom does Ulysses address the third stanza of the poem?
  (a) Telemachus
  (b) His fellow sailors and companions
  (c) Achilles
  (d) Penelope
Ans: (b) His fellow sailors and companions

47) What gender is attributed to Ulysses’ vessel?
  (a) Masculine
  (b) Feminine
  (c) Common
  (d) Neuter
Ans: (b) Feminine

48) What does ‘thunder’ imply in the phrase ‘The thunder and sunshine’?
  (a) The flash of lighting
  (b) The dangerous of stormy weather
  (c) The force of the rising tide
  (d) All of these
Ans: (b) The dangerous of stormy weather

49) What does ‘sunshine’ imply in the phrase ‘The thunder and sunshine’?
  (a) A successful voyage
  (b) The summer season
  (c) Pleasant weather of a happy condition
  (d) Extreme heat over the sea
Ans: (c) Pleasant weather of a happy condition

50) In the line “you and I are old”, who are represented by ‘you and I’?
  (a) Ulysses and Telemachus
  (b) Ulysses and Penelope
  (c) Ulysses and Achilles
  (d) Ulysses and his companions
Ans: (d) Ulysses and his companions

51) From where did the light start to twinkle?
  (a) The distant parts of the sea
  (b) The sailing vessels
  (c) The rocks
  (d) The horizon
Ans: (c) The rocks

52) What does the term “deep” represent in the line “… the deep / Moans round with many voices”?
  (a) The sky
  (b) A deep valley
  (c) The abyss
  (d) The sea
Ans: (d) The sea

53) What does Ulysses’ desire “to sail beyond the sunset” primarily indicate?
  (a) His endless search for knowledge and adventure
  (b) His dislike of ordinary domestic life
  (c) His wish to live beyond death
  (d) His desire to escape from his companions
Ans: (a) His endless search for knowledge and adventure

54) In his pursuit of knowledge, how far does Ulysses wish to travel?
  (a) Beyond the Happy Isles
  (b) Beyond the sunset and the western stars
  (c) Toward the northern horizon
  (d) Toward the southern horizon
Ans: (b) Beyond the sunset and the western stars

55) According to the mythological belief, Happy Isles is the place where –
  (a) the Titans lived
  (b) heroes and blessed souls go after death
  (c) Olympian gods and goddesses lived
  (d) the Trojans lived
Ans: (b) heroes and blessed souls go after death

56) Ulysses anticipates that –
  (a) they may touch the Happy Isles
  (b) gulfs may wash them down
  (c) they may meet the great Achilles
  (d) all of these
Ans: (d) all of these

57) Which Greek hero does Ulysses expect to meet in the Happy Isles?
  (a) Agamemnon
  (b) Menelaus
  (c) Patroclus
  (d) Achilles
Ans: (d) Achilles

58) According to Ulysses in their youth he and his companions moved –
  (a) Earth and hell
  (b) Heaven and hell
  (c) Earth and heaven
  (d) Land and sea
Ans: (c) Earth and heaven

59) Ulysses admits that he has been made weak by –
  (a) Trojan War
  (b) time and fate
  (c) his attachment to domestic life
  (d) continuous adventure
Ans: (b) time and fate

60) What qualities are highlighted in “To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield”?
  (a) An endless desire for adventure and discovery
  (b) Strong determination to continue despite every difficulty
  (c) The spirit of the Victorian Renaissance
  (d) All of these
Ans: (d) all of these

61) At what time of day does Ulysses address his mariners?
  (a) night
  (b) morning
  (c) after sunset / dusk
  (d) noon
Ans: (c) after sunset / dusk

62) What is the speaker in the poem ‘Ulysses’ longing for?
  (a) New adventures and experiences
  (b) The comfort of his family
  (c) A peaceful and quiet retirement
  (d) Forgiveness for past mistakes
Ans: (a) New adventures and experiences

63) In Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’, the speaker reflects on a life of –
  (a) peaceful contentment
  (b) restless adventure
  (c) deep religious faith
  (d) crushing defeat
Ans: (b) restless adventure

64) Which line from the poem expresses Ulysses’ desire for continued exploration?
  (a) “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, / To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!”
  (b) “I must forget what I was, but feel the lapse of manhood in my face.”
  (c) “More sacks to the mill!”
  (d) “Though much is taken, much is left behind.”
Ans: (a) “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, / To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!”

65) What metaphor does Ulysses use to describe his desire for knowledge?
  (a) “To sail beyond the sunset”
  (b) “The sounding furrows”
  (c) “The deep moans round with many voices”
  (d) “The great Achilles, whom we knew”
Ans: (a) “To sail beyond the sunset”

66) The poem’s title, Ulysses, refers to the Roman name for the Greek hero:
  (a) Achilles
  (b) Odysseus
  (c) Hector
  (d) Ajax
Ans: (b) Odysseus

67) What is the main conflict explored in ‘Ulysses’?
  (a) the fear of aging and mortality
  (b) the challenge of remaining loyal to one’s homeland
  (c) the struggle between duty and personal desire
  (d) the longing for a simpler, more peaceful life
Ans: (c) the struggle between duty and personal desire

68) How does Ulysses view death in the poem?
  (a) as the final end to all pursuits
  (b) as a freedom from life’s struggles
  (c) as a peaceful resting place
  (d) as an inevitable conclusion, but with work still to be done
Ans: (d) as an inevitable conclusion, but with work still to be done

69) What is the central message of the poem?
  (a) old age should be embraced with rest
  (b) one should keep striving for adventure, even in old age
  (c) the end of life marks the end of all pursuits
  (d) old age is a time for reflection and peace
Ans: (b) one should keep striving for adventure, even in old age

70) What does Ulysses expect Telemachus to do after he is gone?
  (a) continue the adventurous life of exploration
  (b) govern the people with wisdom and compassion
  (c) seek vengeance on enemies
  (d) abandon the island and pursue his own dreams
Ans: (b) govern the people with wisdom and compassion