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Muriel Spark Trivia

Muriel Spark Trivia Quizzes

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Dame Muriel Sarah Spark DBE, CLit, FRSE, FRSL (née Camberg) was a Scottish author who will be most familiar to many as the author of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", which was later adapted for stage and screen, receiving acclaim in all three media.
2 Muriel Spark quizzes and 25 Muriel Spark trivia questions.
1.
  "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
As I read this novel for the second time, I decided to create a quiz. How much do you know about the eccentric Miss Brodie and her Brodie set?
Tough, 10 Qns, littlewoman2, Jul 24 12
Tough
littlewoman2
339 plays
2.
  A Woman in her Prime    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
This Quiz is based on the Muriel Spark novel "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", who was played to perfection by Maggie Smith in the film version of the book.
Difficult, 15 Qns, kittyconner, Jul 24 12
Difficult
kittyconner
243 plays
Related Topics
  Contemporary Literature and Fiction [Literature] (23 quizzes)


Muriel Spark Trivia Questions
1. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is set in which city?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Edinburgh

Miss Brodie often took her girls on tours of the city, pointing out great pieces of architecture. On other occasions, she took them to visit parts of the city inhabited by the poor, so that the girls could see firsthand the squalor that existed in the same city where they lived.

2. How did Miss Brodie refer to her "girls"?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Creme de la creme

Would Miss Brodie really use a common phrase when an affected one would suffice?

3. When she was a young woman, Miss Brodie's fiance died on Flanders Field in World War I. What was her fiance's name?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Hugh

Miss Brodie loved to tell the girls stories about her personal life instead of following the traditional lessons. In chapter 1, she related this story from her past when she was supposed to be teaching English grammar.

4. What was the name of the school at which Miss Brodie taught?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Marcia Blaine school for girls

Although it's not directly stated, we can presume Marcia Blaine was the rich Edinburgh widow whose portrait hung in the great hall, and was honoured every Founders Day.

5. Who is the school's headmistress?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Miss Mackay

Miss Mackay is the headmistress. Marcia Blaine founded the school, and it is named after her. Miss Lockhart is the senior school's chemistry teacher, and Miss Gaunt is a teacher at the junior school.

6. In what business did the late husband of the wealthy Edinburgh widow achieve his wealth?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: He was a Bookbinder

This is all we ever learn about the late Bookbinder, even though it was his hard work which enabled his widow to be so philanthropic.

7. Whom did Miss Brodie consider to be the greatest Italian painter?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Giotto

Miss Brodie doesn't elaborate as to why she held this opinion; he was simply her favourite, no explanation needed.

8. Which girl spots Miss Brodie kissing Mr. Lloyd?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Monica

In chapter 3, Monica went to the art room one day after school to get a new sketch pad. Although the teachers didn't see her, Monica beheld the two teachers in a passionate embrace: "It was a small part of a good long kiss that I saw..."

9. When did Miss Brodie "come into her prime"?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: 1930

It is stated that "the summer holidays of 1931 marked the first anniversary of the launching of Miss Brodie's prime"; therefore it began in 1930.

10. When she becomes an adult, which girl writes a book titled "The Transfiguration of the Commonplace"?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Sandy

As an adult, Sandy enters a nunnery (becoming Sister Helena) and later writes a psychological treatise on the nature of moral perception. Twice in the novel, when someone asks Sandy what the main influences were from her school days, Sandy replies from behind the bars of her grille: "There was a Miss Jean Brodie in her prime." This quote is also the book's last line.

11. Who took over the teaching of the "Brodie set" in the autumn of 1931?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Miss Gaunt

Miss Gaunt took over the teaching due to Miss Brodie's absence. The reason for her absence is never fully explained, but it is implied that it is caused by her liason with Mr Lowther, the music teacher.

12. What unusual physical attribute does Mr. Lloyd possess?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: He has only one arm.

Chapter 3 reveals that Mr. Lloyd lost his left arm in World War I. He paints with his right arm only.

13. Who was Miss Brodie seen kissing in the art room?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Mr Lloyd

In later life Miss Brodie was to say of Mr Lloyd "he was a married man; I renounced the greatest love of my prime".

14. Who lives at Cramond?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Mr. Lowther

Mr. Lowther inherited the Cramond estate from his parents. Miss Brodie often brought her girls to visit the estate on weekends, but Miss Brodie would remain overnight. These two teachers, the bold Miss Brodie and the introverted Mr. Lowther, had a secret affair for several years.

15. How old is Miss Brodie when she dies?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: 56

In a flash-forward paragraph, chapter 3 reveals that Miss Brodie died when she was 56 because she was "suffering from an internal growth."

16. What did Miss Kerr find under the pillow of Mr Lowther's bed?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Miss Brodie's nightdress

The nightdress was made of 'Crepe de Chine', which in the puritanical atmosphere of the 1930's Edinburgh girls school was seen as evidence of decadence.

17. Which saying does Miss Brodie NOT deliver in the novel?

From Quiz "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark

Answer: Beauty is greater than science. Beauty comes first, and then science.

In chapter 2, Miss Brodie tells her girls, "Art is greater than science. Art comes first, and then science." Throughout the novel, Miss Brodie mentions several works of art and impresses the girls' minds with her views of aesthetic qualities. But of course, Miss Brodie's most famous sayings were, "You are the creme de la creme" and "I am a woman in my prime." If you have not seen the 1969 film version of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," I encourage you to do so. Maggie Smith brilliantly portrays the eccentric Miss Brodie, and she won the 1969 Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Although the film deviates a bit from Spark's novel, the movie is excellent and brilliant on its own merit. All of the girls who portray Miss Brodie's set are excellent as well, but Pamela Franklin is particularly impressive as Sandy. It's simply a wonderful film.

18. Who did Mr Lowther marry?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Miss Lockwood

Miss Lockwood was the science teacher, but apart from this marriage she is hardly mentioned.

19. Mr Lloyd, the art master, was deficient of which limb?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: His left arm

When Monica is questioned on what she saw in the art room she is adamant that Mr Lloyd was holding Miss Brodie with his right arm "because he hasn't got a left" she states.

20. For years Miss Mackay had tried to find a reason to releive Miss Brodie of her position; what was the reason she was finally able to use?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Political

Miss Brodie, like many other women of her time and class, seemed able to view the fascist movement in an odd idealistic way.

21. On leaving school what did Sandy become?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: A Nun

During her time in the convent Sandy also became a world renowned psychologist, and when asked who had been her greatest influence, she simply replied "well there was Miss Brodie".

22. How long had Miss Brodie expected her 'prime' to last?

From Quiz A Woman in her Prime

Answer: Until she was 60 years old

Miss Brodie had expected her prime to last until she was sixty, but in her 58th year she declared "I am past my prime".

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