Do You Know These Minor Jane Austen Characters? Quiz

Answer: Northanger Abbey

Mrs. Allen is one of the Morelands' neighbors. When she and her husband visit Bath, they take Catherine Moreland (who sees herself as a heroine in training in Austen's parody of gothic novels) along and Mrs. Allen acts as chaperone. She's a somewhat shallow woman, concerned with fashion and when she meets herald friend Mrs. Thorpe is unaware of how manipulative her children, Isabella and John, are.

Answer: Persuasion

Captain Bentwick is Captain Wentworth's friend. He had been engaged to Captain Harville's sister, but Fanny Harville died while Captain Bentwick was at sea. During the novel, he's staying with the Harville family in Lyme and with his melancholy nature and literary interests, appears to be a good match for Anne Elliot. While Louisa Musgrove recovers from her head injury in the Harville household, the two grow close and eventually become engaged.

Answer: Persuasion

Sofia Croft is Captain Fredrick Wentworth's sister. Married to Admiral Croft, their rental of Kellnych Hall brings Anne and Fredrick together nearly a decade after Anne rejected his proposal. She wants her brother to marry, but unaware of his previous relationship with Anne, she speculates he will marry one of the Musgrove sisters.

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

Captain Denny is one of the officers stationed near Meryton and the Bennett sisters meet him when he and some other officers dine with the girls' aunt and uncle. Lydia flirts with him, and he's the one who introduces his friend, Mr. Wickham, to the family.

Answer: Emma

Mr. Elton was the first man Emma tried to match to her friend Harriet Smith. The social climbing vicar, however, was more interested in the wealthy Emma than Harriet, who does not know who her father is. Soon after Emma rejects him, he travels to Bath where he meets and marries Augusta Hawkins, a wealthy young woman who is also in the process of climbing the social ladder.

The vulgar Mrs. Elton spends the rest of the novel trying to "elevate" Highbury society.

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Gardiner is Mrs. Bennett's brother and Mrs. Gardiner, who appears to be quite a bit younger than her sister-in-law is close to her nieces Elizabeth and Jane. Elizabeth is traveling with her aunt and uncle when she re-encounters Me. Darcy and begins to change her opinion of him.

Their trip is interrupted by news of Lydia's elopement with Mr. Wickham and the Bennetts believe Mr. Gardiner, not Mr. Darcy, paid Mr. Wickham to marry Lydia and save her reputation.

Answer: Mansfield Park

Dr. Grant is the clergyman who takes over the Mansfield Park living when Mr. Norris dies. His arrival brings his wife's half-siblings, Henry and Maria Crawford, to Mansfield Park where they become entangled with Maria Bertram, Fanny Price, and Edmund Bertram.

Answer: Sense and Sensibility

Mrs. Jennings is Sir John Middleton's good-hearted but somewhat vulgar mother-in-law. She graciously invites Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who do not have the financial resources for a London season, to accompany her to the capital. An inveterate gossip, she's convinced that Mr. Willoughby will soon propose to Marianne an ineffectually tries to comfort her young friend when he breaks her heart.

Answer: Emma

Isabella Knightly is Emma's older sister, married to Mr. Knightly's younger brother. She's more like her father (timid and overly concerned with her and her five children's health) than her outgoing, matchmaking sister. When Mr. Knightly proposes to Emma, he mentions that he chose her as his future wife at their siblings' wedding.

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

Maria Lucas is Charlotte Lucas Collins's younger sister. She travels with Elizabeth Bennett to visit her sister at Hunsford and is overawed by her brother-in-law's patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Lucy Davis, who later played Dawn Tinsley in the BBC series "The Office" played Maria in the 1995 BBC miniseries.

Answer: Emma

Robert Martin is a farmer who lives near Highbury. While not part of society, he's prosperous enough to have sent his sisters to Mrs. Goddard's school where they and Harriet Smith became friends. Harriet visits his farm early in the book and receives a marriage proposal which Emma persuades her to reject because Emma believes Mr. Martin is socially beneath Harriet.

At the end of the novel, Mr. Martin proposes again and Harriet accepts.

Answer: Northanger Abbey

James Moreland is Catherine's brother. He's a student at Oxford and a friend of John Thorpe. James is briefly engaged to the calculating and fortune hunting Isabella Thorpe who breaks off the engagement when she learns he has no fortune.

Answer: Sense and Sensibility

Charlotte Palmer is Mrs. Jennigns's younger daughter and Lady Middleton's sister. A newlywed who gives birth to her first child late in the novel, she's as chatty and gossipy as her mother. She and her taciturn husband live near Mr. Wiloughby's estate and escort the Dashwood sisters from London. While at their estate, Marianne falls critically ill.

Answer: Mansfield Park

Poor Mr. Rushworth! Dull in both senses of the word, who would expect that he and the vivacious and calculating Maria Crawford would have a happy marriage? A few months after their wedding, she ran off with Henry Crawford.

When I re-read "Mansfield Park" I hear Mr. Rushworth's lines in Hugh Laurie's voice, using the intonations he used to play the dim Prince Regent in "Blackadder."

Answer: Persuasion

Mrs. Smith is Anne Elliot's school friend. Now widowed, poor, and physically disabled, she lives in a less fashionable part of Bath and is assisted by Nurse Rooke who keeps her abreast of local gossip. Anne continues to visit Mrs. Smith despite her father's and sister's scorn over her devotion to someone of lower social standing, and Mrs. Smith, whose husband had been swindled by Anne's suitor William Elliot, provides important information on his background.

Answer: Sense and Sensibility

Anne Steele is the older and less intelligent (but also less scheming) sister of Lucy Steele (who is secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars). The Steele sisters are poor relations of the Jennings family who ingratiate themselves with the Dashwood sisters' sister-in-law Fanny and stays with her in London.

When Anne accidentally reveals that Lucy is engaged to Edward, Fanny Dashwood throws them out.

Answer: Northanger Abbey

Eleanor Tilney is Henry Tilney's older sister. Her father, General Tilney, has prevented her from marrying the man she wishes because her intended does not have enough money. She's a voice of reason to Catherine when the younger woman suspects that General Tilney is more than a disagreeable and greedy man. Eleanor also gets a happy ending, marrying her beau shortly after Henry and Catherine marry.

Answer: Mansfield Park

Mr. Yates is Tom Bertram's friend who introduces the idea of amateur theatrics. He's an enthusiastic actor, but more hammy than actually good. He's also not particularly perceptive, not realizing that when Sir Thomas returns from Antigua that leaving with the Crawford siblings would be a good idea.

He marries Julia Bertram in the wake of the scandal between her sister Maria and Henry Crawford.