Two 2012 adaptations of Great Expectations have Miss Havisham played by Helena Bonham Carter (45) and Gillian Anderson (43). But how old is the jilted spinster in Dickens’s book?
- Early twenties
- Early thirties
- Early forties
- Early fifties
Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy’s Progress, was first published…
- As a political pamphlet criticising the Poor Law
- In monthly instalments in the magazine Bentley’s Miscellany
- While Dickens was still at school
- After Dickens’s death
Which Dickens character has been played by Albert Finney, Roger Daltrey, Anthony Newley, Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart and Michael Caine?
- Oliver Twist
- Scrooge
- Fagin
- Little Nell
Where was Dickens forced to work when he was 12 and his father was taken to Marshalsea debtors’ prison?
- In an undertaker’s
- In a counting house
- In a cotton mill
- In a boot-blacking factory
Which Dickens novel made him a household name aged only 25?
- Nicholas Nickleby
- The Pickwick Papers
- David Copperfield
- Barnaby Rudge
Which of Dickens’s books has sold more than 200 million copies, more than any other single volume book in the world?
- Bleak House
- Oliver Twist
- Great Expectations
- A Tale of Two Cities
In which county is the Dickens- themed theme park Dickens World?
- Yorkshire
- Greater London
- Kent
- There is no such place
How old was the actress Ellen Lawless Ternan when 44-year-old Dickens met her and subsequently left his wife for her?
- 16
- 18
- 44
- 56
Which of these fancifully named people is not a character in a Dickens novel?
- Davey Pewter
- Luke Honeythunder
- Jerry Cruncher
- Thomas Gradgrind
Which of these was not written by a descendant of Dickens?
- My Turn to Make the Tea by Monica Dickens
- The Virgin Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock by Lucinda Hawksley
- The Life and Times of Little Ben by Benjamin Dickens
- A Christmas Carol by Gerald Charles Dickens, a one-man show in which he plays 26 characters.
In Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, Captain Brown is killed after falling under the wheels of a train. What Dickens story was the unfortunate captain reading just before he fell to his death?
- The Pickwick Papers
- Barnaby Rudge
- The Old Curiosity Shop
- Little Dorrit
What was the pseudonym Dickens used in his early fiction?
- Chaz
- Charlemagne
- Boz
- Dickie
John was one of Dickens’s middle names – what was the other?
- Humphrey
- Huffam
- Harmsworth
- Higham
Which of the following Dickens-related addresses is not a museum dedicated to him?
- 393 Commercial Road, Portsmouth, where he was born
- 48 Doughty Street in London, where he lived
- Gad’s Hill Place in Rochester, where he died
- 2 Victoria Parade in Broadstairs, the inspiration for Betsey Trotwood’s house in David Copperfield
In which novel by Evelyn Waugh does the protagonist end up trapped in the jungle with a madman who makes him read Dickens out loud?
- Black Mischief
- Vile Bodies
- A Handful of Dust
- Decline and Fall
Which are the cities referred to in the title of A Tale of Two Cities?
- London and Edinburgh
- Paris and Rome
- Dublin and New York.
- London and Paris
“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” The opening line of which novel?
- Dombey and Son
- Barnaby Rudge
- Nicholas Nickleby
- David Copperfield
The philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes took issue with what, when Bleak House was published?
- The satire of women activists through the character of Mrs Jellyby
- Dickens’s satire on the laws of chancery
- The high number of deaths
- The death of Krook by spontaneous combustion
“You would need to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the death of Little Nell,” declared Oscar Wilde. In which novel does the famously sentimental death occur?
- Little Dorrit
- The Old Curiosity Shop
- A Christmas Carol
- Our Mutual Friend
In December 2010, Oprah Winfrey chose two novels by Dickens as her Christmas book club selection, then surprised audiences by doing what?
- Declaring she privately hated Dickens
- Saying she couldn’t be bothered to read them herself
- Admitting she had never actually read any Dickens
- Reciting a passage of Little Dorri
Happy quizzing!
Loes M.