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GATE 2025 XH2 (English) – Question 53

History of English Literature and Literary Studies · English Literary Traditions across Time: Chaucer to contemporary English literature · 2 marks · Multiple select

Alexander Pope produced an edition of Shakespeare in 1725, for which, he was vehemently criticized by the Shakespearean scholars of his time. One of the scholars exposed Pope’s mistakes in his Shakespeare Restored (1726). Pope retaliated by making this scholar the occupant of the throne of dullness in his The Dunciad.
Who among the following is/are NOT the Shakespearean scholar(s) alluded to?

  1. Lewis Theobald
  2. John Dryden
  3. Samuel Johnson
  4. Colley Cibber

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Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (B) John Dryden; (C) Samuel Johnson; (D) Colley Cibber

Explanation

The scholar is Lewis Theobald, author of Shakespeare Restored and the first hero of The Dunciad. Dryden died in 1700, Johnson's edition came in 1765 and Cibber was an actor-manager.