Curl Up With This Quiz on Classic British Literature

“Jude the Obscure” is a bleak portrayal of marriage, religion, and sexuality in England. Though it has become a literary classic, it was highly criticized at the time of its release. One critic described it as “dirt, drivel, and damnation.” Another said it was “almost the worst book I have ever read.” After the backlash, Hardy quit writing novels and dedicated his time to poetry.

George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, who adopted the male pseudonym in order to be taken seriously as an author. In the Victorian era, women writers were typically associated with romantic novels, and Eliot wanted to break away from the stereotype. Some of her most famous novels include “Middlemarch,” “The Mill on the Floss,” and “Daniel Deronda.”

In the 1729 book “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift suggested the Irish eat their children and even proposed ways to prepare and serve them. Swift intended the book to be a shocking attack on the British government’s complacency toward poverty in Ireland. He was pointing out that if they did nothing to provide food and economic support, the Irish would have nothing else left to eat.

Charles Dickens set his famous 1859 novel during the French Revolution. At the time, Dickens feared that the social ills of England would lead to an uprising like the one that rocked France the previous century. The two cities of the title refer to London and Paris, the settings that Dickens uses to illustrate the similarities and differences between the two states of social unrest.

Mary Shelley was only 20 years old when she published “Frankenstein.” She came up with the story one day when she, her husband, and their friend were stuck inside from bad weather. To pass the time, they exchanged horror stories, and Mary told the tale of Frankenstein and his creature for the first time. Frankenstein is considered the first science-fiction novel as well as part of the horror genre.

In “Jane Eyre,” Thornfield Hall is haunted by someone making strange noises and setting fires in the night. Turns out, it’s Bertha Mason, the first wife of Jane’s fiancé, Mr. Rochester, who locked his wife in the attic after she had a mental breakdown. Bertha has been read as an analogue of Brontë’s own feelings of confinement as a lower-class woman.

Three witches known as the Weird Sisters appear in the opening scene of “Macbeth,” reciting an ominous incantation as they prepare to meet the eponymous warrior hero. They then reappear throughout the play to prophesy Macbeth’s ascension to the Scottish throne. As the play unfolds, the witches lead Macbeth down a dark path that eventually leads to his undoing.

Author Agatha Christie based the elderly detective Miss Marple on her grandmother, both being cheerful but suspicious of everyone and everything. Miss Marple made her fiction debut in 1927 in the short story “The Tuesday Night Club,” and she would appear in 19 more short stories and 12 novels. The character has inspired many films and TV series in the decades since she first appeared in print.

The Shire, Rivendell, and Gondor are all regions of Middle-earth, and each belongs to one of the major races of Tolkiin’s fantasy trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.” The Shire is home to the Hobbits, including the characters Bilbo and Frodo. Rivendell is one of the many homes of the Elves, and Gondor is a city of men and the seat of the king. Cair Paravel is the capital of Narnia in the C.S. Lewis fantasy series.

In the “Sherlock Holmes” series, Arthur Conan Doyle created Dr. John Watson to be the detective’s biographer, confidant, and friend — to whom Holmes was fond of exclaiming, “Elementary!” Doyle originally named the character “Ormond Sacker” in the book “A Study in Scarlet,” but he later changed his mind and renamed him John Watson.