Charles Dickens Quiz

1. Charles Dickens was born in which English city in 1812?

1. Birmingham
2. London
3. Manchester
4. Portsmouth

2. Which Dickens novel opens with 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'?

1. A Tale of Two Cities
2. Bleak House
3. Great Expectations
4. Oliver Twist

3. What is the name of the miserly protagonist of A Christmas Carol?

1. Ebenezer Scrooge
2. Mr Gradgrind
3. Mr Pickwick
4. Uriah Heep

4. Which character in A Christmas Carol says 'God bless us, every one!'?

1. Bob Cratchit
2. Ebenezer Scrooge
3. Fred
4. Tiny Tim

5. What is Pip's full name in Great Expectations?

1. Patrick Pirrip
2. Paul Pirrip
3. Peter Pirrip
4. Philip Pirrip

6. Miss Havisham in Great Expectations is famously still wearing her wedding dress because:

1. Her husband died on their wedding day
2. She made a pact to never move forward
3. She was jilted at the altar and stopped all the clocks at that moment
4. She went mad and forgot to change

7. Who is eventually revealed to be Pip's secret benefactor in Great Expectations?

1. Abel Magwitch, a convict
2. Herbert Pocket
3. Miss Havisham
4. Mr Jaggers

8. Which Dickens novel features the infamous criminal mentor Fagin?

1. Bleak House
2. David Copperfield
3. Nicholas Nickleby
4. Oliver Twist

9. Most of Dickens's novels were originally published in what format?

1. As complete hardback volumes
2. As stage plays first
3. In newspapers only
4. In weekly or monthly serial instalments

10. Which novel by Dickens — considered his most autobiographical — depicts a young man's rise from poverty?

1. David Copperfield
2. Dombey and Son
3. Hard Times
4. Oliver Twist

11. Dickens worked as a child in a shoe-polish factory while his father was imprisoned for debt. What was this experience called?

1. The blacking factory
2. The debtors' yard
3. The ragged school
4. The workhouse

12. Bleak House features a never-ending legal case that satirises the English legal system. What is it called?

1. Bleak v. House
2. Chancery v. Jarndyce
3. Dedlock v. Tulkinghorn
4. Jarndyce and Jarndyce

13. The brutally run Yorkshire boarding school depicted in Nicholas Nickleby is called:

1. Bowes Hall
2. Dotheboys Hall
3. Grim's Academy
4. Squeers Academy

14. A Tale of Two Cities is set during which historical period?

1. The English Civil War
2. The French Revolution
3. The Industrial Revolution
4. The Napoleonic Wars

15. Hard Times is set in a fictional northern industrial town called:

1. Coketown
2. Dotheboys
3. Eatanswill
4. Mudfog

16. Which Dickens novel was left unfinished at his death in 1870?

1. Bleak House
2. Little Dorrit
3. Our Mutual Friend
4. The Mystery of Edwin Drood

17. Charles Dickens is buried in which famous London location?

1. Highgate Cemetery
2. Kensal Green Cemetery
3. St Paul's Cathedral
4. Westminster Abbey

18. In Oliver Twist, what does Oliver famously ask for more of at the workhouse?

1. Clothes
2. Freedom
3. Money
4. Porridge (gruel)

19. The three spirits that visit Scrooge in A Christmas Carol appear in which order?

1. Future, Present, Past
2. Past, Future, Present
3. Past, Present, Future
4. Present, Past, Future

20. Which Dickens character famously always expects that 'something will turn up,' despite being chronically in debt?

1. Mr Bumble
2. Mr Micawber
3. Mr Pecksniff
4. Mr Pickwick