MCQs- life and works of Thomas Hardy

1. Thomas Hardy was born in which year?

A. 1830

B. 1840

C. 1850

D. 1860

Answer: B. 1840

 

2. Which of the following is a recurring setting in Hardy's works?

A. London

B. Paris

C. Wessex

D. New York

Answer: C. Wessex

 

3. In which county of England was Thomas Hardy born?

A. Dorset

B. Sussex

C. Devon

D. Cornwall

Answer: A. Dorset

 

4. What was Hardy's occupation before he became a full-time writer?

A. Lawyer

B. Doctor

C. Teacher

D. Architect

Answer: D. Architect

 

5. What caused Hardy to stop writing novels and turn to poetry exclusively?

A. A personal loss

B. Ill health

C. Harsh criticism of Jude the Obscure

D. Lack of public interest

Answer: C. Harsh criticism of Jude the Obscure

 

6. In which year did Hardy publish his first novel?

A. 1871

B. 1886

C. 1891

D. 1902

Answer: A. 1871, Desperate Remedies 1871 is the second novel by Thomas Hardy, albeit the first to be published (anonymously).

 

7. Hardy's second wife, who was also his secretary?

A. Emma Lavinia Gifford

B. Florence Emily Dugdale

C. Mary Anne Evans

D. Virginia Woolf

Answer: B. Florence Emily Dugdale

 

 8. Which character sells his wife and daughter in a moment of drunken impulsiveness in The Mayor of Casterbridge?

A. Gabriel Oak

B. Angel Clare

C. Michael Henchard

D. Clym Yeobright

Answer: C. Michael Henchard

 

9. Which of the following novels by Hardy was adapted into an award-winning film in 1967?

A. Far from the Madding Crowd

B. The Return of the Native

C. Jude the Obscure

D. Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Answer: A. Far from the Madding Crowd   

 

10.   Which of the following works by Hardy was adapted into a film directed by Roman Polanski in 1979?

A. Tess of the d'Urbervilles

B. Jude the Obscure

C. Far from the Madding Crowd

D. The Mayor of Casterbridge

Answer: A. Tess of the d'Urbervilles

 

11. Which of the following is a collection of short stories by Hardy?

A. Wessex Tales

B. The Woodlanders

C. Two on a Tower

D. A Laodicean

Answer: A. Wessex Tales

 

12. Which Hardy novel features the character Eustacia Vye?

A. The Woodlanders

B. The Return of the Native

C. Two on a Tower

D. A Laodicean

Answer: B. The Return of the Native

 

13. What profession does Jude aspire to in Jude the Obscure?

A. Farmer

B. Priest

C. Lawyer

D. Scholar

Answer: D. Scholar

  

14. In Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd, which of the following is not one of Bathsheba Everdene’s suitors?

A. Gabriel Oak

B. Sergeant Troy

C. Boldwood

D. Jude Fawley

Answer: D. Jude Fawley

 

15.  In which year did Hardy publish his final novel, Jude the Obscure?

A. 1895

B. 1902

C. 1915

D. 1928

Answer: A. 1895

 

16. Which novel by Hardy is a tragic story of a man who sells his wife and child to a sailor while under the influence of alcohol?

A. Far from the Madding Crowd

B. The Mayor of Casterbridge

C. Tess of the d'Urbervilles

D. Jude the Obscure

Answer: B. The Mayor of Casterbridge

 

17.   In The Woodlanders, which character is a skilled timber-merchant and deeply in love with Grace Melbury?

A. Giles Winterborne

B. Fitzpiers

C. Clym Yeobright

D. Diggory Venn

Answer: A. Giles Winterborne

 

18.   What is the name of Hardy’s last novel?

A. The Return of the Native

B. Tess of the d’Urbervilles

C. Jude the Obscure

D. The Well-Beloved

Answer: C. Jude the Obscure

 

19.   Which novel by Hardy includes a strong critique of the class system and educational barriers in Victorian England?

A. The Trumpet-Major

B. Jude the Obscure

C. The Hand of Ethelberta

D. A Laodicean

Answer: B. Jude the Obscure

 

20.  Hardy’s The Dynasts is best described as:

A. A poetic novel

B. A three-part historical drama in verse

C. A satire on rural life

D. A Victorian comedy

Answer: B. A three-part historical drama in verse

  

21.   Which character is described as a “pure woman” in the subtitle of a Hardy novel?

A. Bathsheba Everdene

B. Eustacia Vye

C. Tess Durbeyfield

D. Sue Bridehead

Answer: C. Tess Durbeyfield

 

22.   Which of the following is true about Hardy’s The Dynasts?

A. Thomas Hardy's only drama and longest in English

B. It is an historical epic drama in verse on the Napoleonic Wars

C. It has three parts, nineteen acts and 130 scenes

D. All the above

Answer: D

 

23.   Which of the following works is NOT written by Thomas Hardy?

A. Far from the Madding Crowd

B. Jude the Obscure

C. Wuthering Heights

D. Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Answer: C. Wuthering Heights

 

24. The Mayor of Casterbridge begins with:

A. A murder

B. A drunken man auctioning his wife

C. A shipwreck

D. A courtroom trial

Answer: B

 

25.   Hardy’s only historical novel is:

A. A Pair of Blue Eyes

B. The Trumpet-Major

C. A Laodicean

D. The Well-Beloved

Answer: B

 

26. Which novel ends with the line: "Happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain"?

A. Tess of the d’Urbervilles

B. The Mayor of Casterbridge

C. Jude the Obscure

D. The Return of the Native

Answer: A

 

27. How many poems did Hardy write approximately?

A. 500

B. 900

C. 200

D. 1,200

Answer: B

 

28. Poems of 1912–13 were written in memory of:

A. His mother

B. His first wife, Emma

C. His father

D. A close friend

Answer: B

 

29. In which year did Thomas Hardy pass away?

A. 1905

B. 1928

C. 1942

D. 1961

Answer: B. 1928

 

30. Where are Hardy’s ashes buried?

A. Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey

B. Stinsford Churchyard

C. Dorchester Cemetery

D. His family estate

Answer: A