MCQs – The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

By: Prof. Dr. Fazal Rehman Shamil | Last updated: February 11, 2025

1. In which year was The Waste Land first published?
(A) 1915
(B) 1922
(C) 1930
(D) 1945

Answer: (B) 1922

2. How many sections does The Waste Land contain?
(A) Three
(B) Four
(C) Five
(D) Six

Answer: (C) Five

3. Which of the following is NOT a section of The Waste Land?
(A) The Burial of the Dead
(B) What the Thunder Said
(C) The Hollow Men
(D) A Game of Chess

Answer: (C) The Hollow Men

4. To whom did Eliot dedicate The Waste Land?
(A) W.B. Yeats
(B) Jean Verdenal
(C) Ezra Pound
(D) Matthew Arnold

Answer: (C) Ezra Pound

5. What is the famous opening line of The Waste Land?
(A) “April is the cruellest month”
(B) “I grow old … I grow old …”
(C) “Because I do not hope to turn again”
(D) “Let us go then, you and I”

Answer: (A) “April is the cruellest month”

6. Which ancient myth is a central theme in The Waste Land?
(A) The myth of Prometheus
(B) The myth of the Fisher King
(C) The myth of Persephone
(D) The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

Answer: (B) The myth of the Fisher King

7. What does the phrase “Shantih Shantih Shantih” at the end of the poem signify?
(A) A farewell
(B) Peace and spiritual transcendence
(C) A call to action
(D) A reference to war

Answer: (B) Peace and spiritual transcendence

8. Which of the following languages does NOT appear in The Waste Land?
(A) Sanskrit
(B) Greek
(C) Italian
(D) Russian

Answer: (D) Russian

9. Which literary work influenced the structure of The Waste Land?
(A) Paradise Lost by John Milton
(B) The Divine Comedy by Dante
(C) Ulysses by James Joyce
(D) The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Answer: (C) Ulysses by James Joyce

10. What is the theme of The Waste Land?
(A) Romantic love and longing
(B) War and heroism
(C) Spiritual and cultural decay
(D) The beauty of nature

Answer: (C) Spiritual and cultural decay

11. Which river is mentioned in The Waste Land?
(A) The Nile
(B) The Thames
(C) The Ganges
(D) The Danube

Answer: (B) The Thames

12. “Madame Sosostris” is a character in The Waste Land. What is she?
(A) A queen
(B) A prophetess
(C) A nurse
(D) A ghost

Answer: (B) A prophetess

13. What does the phrase “Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyata” mean?
(A) Give, sympathize, control
(B) Love, hope, endure
(C) Destroy, rebuild, rise
(D) Sing, pray, celebrate

Answer: (A) Give, sympathize, control

14. Which Shakespearean play is referenced in The Waste Land?
(A) Hamlet
(B) The Tempest
(C) King Lear
(D) Othello

Answer: (B) The Tempest

15. Who narrates The Waste Land?
(A) Only T.S. Eliot himself
(B) A single, unnamed character
(C) Multiple voices and personas
(D) A Greek chorus

Answer: (C) Multiple voices and personas

MCQs from famous poems of T.S Eliot

1. MCQs – The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
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4. MCQs – Ash Wednesday
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