grammar - Great Expectations [is written vs has been written] by Charles Dickens

I had a grammar quiz at the university today.

One of the questions was:

"Great Expectations" ____ by Charles Dickens.

a) is written
b) has been written
c) was written

Undoubtedly, the c option isn't correct since the time (the publication date) isn't stated or implied.

I crossed the a option out because it is neither a general truth nor a law. It is not a well-known fact to use present simple here.

Finally, I have chosen b. I still have doubts if a is the only right option.

It is unclear to me. Could you clarify it?
Any help would be appreciated.

Answer

Actually, depending on context, all three answers are potentially valid. So this is another of those "Guess which answer the teacher is thinking is correct" questions rather than a "Guess the answer that is correct" question. If you have not been told who Charles Dickens is and when he wrote "Great Expectations", then your knowledge of English literature is fairly important to getting it right.

Since the novel was written in 1860 and Dickens is dead, logic suggests that the teacher expects you to use the past tense (as is most common), to talk about a past event:

"Great Expectations" was written by Charles Dickens (in 1860).

Otherwise, if it is a new novel and Dickens is still alive, it's not uncommon for English speakers to use the present tense to talk about its creation, especially if the author is present. For example, imagine a radio show on which they discuss contemporary literature

Hello and welcome to our show Literature and You. Today we review a particularly interesting new work, "Great Expectations", which is written by renowned author Charles Dickens, and who is today's guest on our show. Welcome Mr. Dickens!

To complicate this, English speakers sometimes use the present tense to focus on the current existence of the novel itself, rather than the action of the writer. In this case "written by Charles Dickens" can be interpreted as a participle phrase:

"Great Expectations", the classic novel, is often included in grade school required reading lists. It is written by Charles Dickens.

While this is not common it should not be discounted, since this is how English speakers actually talk, not how they should talk.

Lastly, suppose this sentence is part of a kind of stream-of-consciousness historical narrative:

The year is 1859. Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species" is causing a furor in the halls of Cambridge. "Great Expectations" has been written by Charles Dickens (but not yet published), etc.

Again, this is not common, but you should be aware that it's possible in the right context.

In any case, it's a poorly-written question -- but that's not unusual in many English classes, even when the teacher is a native speaker. Yes, (c) is the obvious answer, but a good test question should have one and only one possible answer.