Easy Dark, Stormy Nights in Literature Trivia Quiz | Literature

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1. It was a dark and stormy night. Unfortunately, that doesn't prevent Cassius from walking out into the street, pretending to be a god. Cassius then insults Casca for being both afraid of the lightning and for hesitating to join his conspiracy. Meanwhile, Calpurnia is dreaming about the foretold death of her husband. In which Shakespearean play do these events occur?

Answer: Julius Caesar

In Shakespeare, a storm is practically synonymous with ominous events, and this play is no exception. Cassius spearheads a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar before the leader seizes power away from the senators. The plan succeeds in Act III of the play, but the conspirators make a huge mistake by letting Mark Antony survive after seeing his friend's death. Antony allies with Caesar's nephew Octavius and forces the conspiracy out of Rome, where a series of tragic events at the Battle of Philippi destroy the conspiracy.

The protagonist of this play is not the ambitious Cassius, but the hero Brutus, a good-hearted friend of Caesar who is convinced that the leader's death would benefit Rome. The "noblest Roman of them all" commits suicide, running on his sword during the battle.

2. It was a dark and stormy night when the title character of this novel went walking in the garden, trying to escape from affairs at Thornfield. She is ambushed by her master, and, during a climactic dialogue, learns that he is planning to marry not Blanche Ingram, but herself. At the end of the scene, the great chestnut tree in the garden is portentously struck by lightning and falls. Mr. Rochester proposes to the title character of which nineteenth-century novel on a dark and stormy night?

Answer: Jane Eyre

In Charlotte Bronte's most famous novel, Jane Eyre grows up as an orphan in her cruel aunt's house, then is sent to an unhappy boarding school. She eventually lands a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall for the French girl Adele Varens, an adopted child for the mysterious Edward Rochester. Rochester is introduced as a surly bachelor who is romantically attracted to the rich but insincere Blanche Ingram. Jane has fallen in love with Rochester, but she is understandably surprised when he proposes to her on a stormy night; he has spurned the advances of Blanche, who was solely interested in his money.

The tree's fall does foreshadow evil, because the day that Jane and Rochester are scheduled to be married, a terrible secret is broken. Rochester is already wedded- to the insane Bertha Mason, whom he keeps under tight supervision in the attic of his house, for fear that she will attack someone. Jane is crushed and flees the manor, finding refuge at the house of the preacher St. John Rivers. Jane eventually learns that she is miraculously related to Rivers and that she has inherited a grand sum of money from her dead uncle. She eventually returns to Thornfield, where Bertha has died but left Rochester blind in the process. Jane marries Rochester at the end of the novel.

3. It was a dark and stormy night when a hurricane blew into southern Florida, forcing many of the residents of the area to evacuate or band together for shelter. Amidst lightning and thunder in the darkness, Tea Cake, Janie, and the rest of the southern Floridan black community appear helpless, in symbolic representation of their lives before the storm. In which novel, by Zora Neale Hurston, does that storm change Janie Crawford's life?

Answer: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Janie Crawford is the protagonist of Zora Neale Hurston's most famous novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Married at an early age to the wealthy but cold Logan Killicks, Janie strives to find a happier life than one as essentially a domestic servant. She runs away from Logan with the outspoken, passionate Joe (Jody) Starks, travelling farther south to Florida and establishing life in a small black community. Starks becomes mayor of the town, and Janie becomes an important figure. However, she grows irritated with her life when her husband limits Janie's personal freedoms. When Jody dies of an illness, Janie grows attached to a brash younger man named Tea Cake, to the town's disgust.

The couple move down to the Everglades and establish a happy life together in the swamps. A hurricane blows into the area and disrupts the natural pattern of life- the helpless townspeople "watch God" in hopes that their lives will be spared. Janie does survive, but in her haste to escape the flood, Tea Cake is bitten by a rabid dog and succumbs to illness. In self-defense, Janie is forced to shoot her husband, but is acquitted by a jury for murder. At the end of Hurston's novel, Janie returns to the town and tells her story to a childhood friend.

4. It was a dark and stormy night, and most of the characters were hiding inside. Then lightning strikes, and a great boom is heard. When morning comes, Boxer is crushed to discover that the windmill, which he had slaved over, has fallen in the storm. Napoleon insists that it was not the thin walls that were the problem, but instead treacherous efforts by the exiled Snowball. In which politically-minded novella is Snowball taken as a scapegoat for the fallen windmill?

Answer: Animal Farm

George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is usually considered a clear allegory to the Russian Revolution, so the windmill, which represented hope for many of the novella's character, is cited as a parallel to Stalin's Five-Year-Plans. Boxer the horse (who represents regular laborers) was the strongest worker on the farm and had put much effort into the structure, but the only lasting impact of the storm was a deeper hatred of Snowball (Trotsky), whom Napoleon (Stalin) blamed for the disaster. "Animal Farm" begins when a group of smart, talking animals take over a human-run operation and set down a list of rules for all creatures to follow.

As time goes on, the pigs (the smartest animals on the farm) begin to abuse the labor of the other animals to live in relative comfort.

They refuse to work, use propaganda techniques to inspire loyalty, kill any dissenters, and begin to change the Commandments to fit their lifestyles. Orwell's fable ends when the pigs, playing cards with neighboring farm owners, become indistinguishable from their human counterparts.

5. It was a dark and stormy night in London. The protagonist is about to turn in, when he hears a stranger enter his house. The storm had welcomed the arrival of a convict, who had been taken to Australia, made a fortune, and returned to London to properly thank the boy who had helped him survive in the marshes years before. Abel Magwitch returns to see Pip in which classic bildrungsroman novel by Charles Dickens?

Answer: Great Expectations

"Great Expectations" employs one of Charles Dickens' most masterful plot twists during that storm, because the protagonist Pip learns that he hasn't understood his past at all. When Pip is a very young child, he runs into the convict Abel Magwitch (though he doesn't know the man's name at the time) in the marshes where he lives with his sister. He supplies Magwich with food upon threat of death, but the convict is captured by police anyway. As Pip gets older, a mysterious London lawyer named Jaggers informs him that he has inherited money from an unknown source, with the condition that the boy moves to London and becomes a "gentleman." Pip agrees, thinking that his benefactor is the eccentric but wealthy Miss Havisham. For years, Havisham had convinced Pip to play with her adopted daughter Estella, a beautiful but cold-hearted girl.

When Pip moves to London, he enjoys the pleasures of wealth and lives an epicurean lifestyle. Magwitch returns to the city, after making a fortune in Australia, and he reveals that he was the mysterious benefactor for the child that had saved his life. Pip learns that Estella is the daughter of Magwitch and the lawyer's housekeeper Molly. With the help of his friends, Pip attempts to smuggle Magwitch out of London, but he fails. Estella and Pip meet again, but the ending of the novel is controversial. In the published version, it is implied that they will marry; however, in Dickens' original version, they just have a courteous farewell.

6. It was a dark and stormy night at an opium den, when James Vane took out a gun and nearly shot the title character of this novel for causing the suicide of his sister Sibyl. The protagonist insists that it couldn't have been him, because that happened years ago, and he still looks to be a spritely youth. Selling his soul for beauty saves his life- for mere hours. In which novel does the storm ultimately beckon the suicide of a character wreaked with guilt for killing Basil Hallward?

Answer: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde only wrote one novel, but "The Picture of Dorian Gray" remains one of the playwright's most endearing works. Dorian is a vain young man, who, at the beginning of the novel, is sitting for a portrait painted by talented artist Basil Hallward. Lured by his friend's hedonism and inspired by the beautiful painting, Dorian wishes that his beauty would never change and he would remain young forever. The wish comes true. For every sin that the man commits for the next twenty years, he remains unchanged and youthful, while the image in the painting is slowly transformed to a grotesque, unrecognizable face.

Dorian woos a Shakespearean actress named Sibyl Vane, but after her acting talents decline, he spurns her. She commits suicide; her brother James vows revenge. Years later, James learns that Dorian has entered the opium den in which he was sitting, and nearly kills the sinful man. However, Dorian worms out of trouble and escapes. When he returns to his home, he looks at the portrait that had been stored away for years; disgusted, he stabs it. Help comes, finding a hideous man, worn by age and sin, lying dead on the ground, and a beautiful, pristine portrait next to him.

7. It was a dark and stormy night, and three witches were determining when they would meet again, finally deciding to reconvene "upon the heath" to meet with the title character, and, incidentally, his friend Banquo. "When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" In which Shakesperean play does that opening line appear?

Answer: Macbeth

"Macbeth" is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy, but it's long enough to completely depict the conflict that comes from ambition. The witches meet with Macbeth and Banquo two scenes later; they tell Macbeth that he will be king, and that Banquo's lineage will beget kings. Macbeth returns to his castle, unconvinced of the prophecy until he is promoted to thane. Eventually, he and his wife (Lady Macbeth) conspire to kill the reigning King Duncan and lay the blame on two of the castle's guards.

The scheme works and Macbeth becomes the new king.

The ambitious leader then grows paranoid, hiring murderers to do away with his rivals Banquo and Macduff. While they succeed in killing Banquo, both his son Fleance and Macduff escape. Macduff engages the king in a high-stakes duel at the climax of the play, ending with the parade of Macbeth's head on stage.

The prophecy holds true, too, because King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) was said to be a direct descendant of Banquo.

8. It was a dark and stormy night when the executioner exacted his revenge upon the murderer of Constance Bonacieux, a woman who had also escaped from prison as an already-convicted felon and caused the death of the Duke of Buckingham. D'Artagnan and Athos can watch only the shadows of the execution of Milady de Winter, illuminated by lightning in the distance. In which nineteenth-century French novel does D'Artagnan finally gain revenge upon the enemy who had killed his love?

Answer: The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" centers not around the title characters, military men Athos, Aramis, and Porthos, but rather upon the so-called fourth musketeer, D'Artagnan. The poor man moves to Paris to become a Musketeer of the Guard, and after some early hiccups, becomes good friends with the title characters. He meets and falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, but when he tries to save the status of the Queen of Austria, D'Artagnan earns the enmity of Cardinal Richelieu. He also makes an enemy in the beautiful Milady de Winter when he learns that she was once married to Athos.

De Winter attempts to kill D'Artagnan for discovering her secret; Cardinal Richelieu also asks her to take down his enemy, the Duke of Buckingham. She is arrested for her crimes, but escapes prison through seduction. For retribution against D'Artagnan, de Winter poisons Constance. Finally, the musketeers capture the cold-blooded woman and sentence her to execution. D'Artagnan is recognized by the Cardinal and is offered a commission as a lieutenant, which he accepts. The story of "The Three Musketeers" is continued in Dumas' sequel "Twenty Years After."

9. It is a dark and stormy night, and an unnamed character (though most likely it's Jonathan Harker) wanders around Munich. After entering a forest, he walks toward a graveyard, where a female spirit is awakened. She is struck by lightning, but the protagonist gets attacked by a wolf- which proceeds to act very un-wolf-like and protects the man. At the end of the story, the protagonist receives a letter from his title host. This short story, published in 1914, was originally part of a longer novel (probably the first chapter, actually). Which novel begins with Jonathan Harker encountering blood-thirsty wolves and worse monsters?

Answer: Dracula

In 1914, two years after Bram Stoker died of what was most likely syphilis, the short story "Dracula's Guest" was published. In the story, a character probably analogous to Jonathan Harker encounters beasts on Walpurgis Night, but is protected from harm. He suspects that someone is following him, and at the end of the story, he receives a letter from the Count that warns him not to go out at night.

The actual novel "Dracula" begins when Harker travels to Transylvania to provide legal help for the Count. When he discovers that the title character is actually a vampire, he barely escapes from the castle with his life. Returning to London, Harker finds out that Dracula has made his way to the city, attacking Lucy Westenra, the friend of Harker's fiancee Mina. Lucy dies and becomes a vampire too. Dracula manages to bite Mina, and they share blood, forming a connection between their minds and bodies. Dutch professor Van Helsing teams up with Jonathan Harker to stop the Count. They finally succeed, at great cost.

10. It was a dark and stormy night, but the protagonist of this novel certainly wasn't thinking about that as he walked out of hospital into the pouring rain. He returns to his hotel at the end of the novel, thinking about the loss of his wife, formerly an English nurse in World War I. Which novel details the stormy, tragic love of Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley?

Answer: A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" was written in 1929 and was based heavily on the author's own experiences as an ambulance driver during WWI. The first-person narrator Frederic Henry is hurt during a battle and is sent to recover in a Milanese hospital, where he meets the beautiful nurse Catherine.

They fall in love; Catherine becomes pregnant before Henry leaves the hospital. At the Battle of Caporetto, Henry kills a man for insubordination under authority. By fleeing the area, he escapes his death and is able to find Catherine again.

They escape and row to Switzerland, which is neutral. Tragically, the nurse goes into labor and delivers a stillborn son, and in the hospital, she dies of complications of the childbirth. Henry has no choice at the end of the novel but to walk outside into the rain.

Source: Author adams627

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Dark, Stormy Nights in Literature Quiz

It was a dark and stormy night, and famous authors around the world took advantage of that to advance major plot developments. Can you identify these novels in which the cliche does appear? Plot spoilers included!

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