All About Madam/Madame, Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Polish

Marie Salomea Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934) was born in Warsaw which was in the Kingdom of Poland in the Russian Empire. She married a French physicist named Pierre Curie in 1895. She was a physicist and chemist who studied radioactivity. She was the first female faculty member of the University of Paris. She coined the word "radioactivity."

Answer: Heidi Fleiss

Heidi Lynne Fleiss (b. 1965) conducted a high-end prostitution service in Los Angeles until she was convicted in federal court of neglecting to pay taxes on the proceeds. After prison, she engaged in substance-abuse treatment which was televised on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew." She was a contestant on the 2010 season of "Celebrity Big Brother." Her housemates voted her out of the house on the 13th day, the second person to be evicted. Ivana Trump, also a contestant, did not win but did better.

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

Madame Defarge is a tricoteuse (one who sits and knits by the guillotine during the French Revolution) in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" (1859). In addition to her ardent support of the revolution, she bore a personal hatred of the Evrémonde Family: Charles Darnay, his wife, Lucie Manette, and their child. Thérèse Defarge was ultimately killed by a bullet from her own gun.

Answer: The Republic of China

Soong Mei-ling (1898-2003) styled herself as "Madam Chiang Kai-shek" by virtue of her 1927 marriage to the leader of the Kuomintang and Nationalist China. She was political in her own right and served in many high positions in the Republic of China. Madame Chaing was very popular in the United States and interpreted the situation in China to the American people.

She was an Episcopalian who died at her Manhattan apartment at the age of 105! US President George W. Bush officially mourned her loss to the world.

Answer: Paris, France

Anne and Bob Fredericks are an American couple living in France. They invite 13 people to dinner and attempt to balance the odd number by having their maid Maria attend while pretending to be a Spanish noble woman. Hilarity ensues. The scenes of Paris are nice, as well.

Answer: Wayland Flowers Jr.

Wayland Parrott Flowers, Jr. (1939-1988) created a variety of puppets but none as popular as Madame. Madame was an outrageous and flamboyant glamour character who thrived on double entendre. They got their start on "The Andy Williams Show" and appeared on "Laugh-In" and as the center square on "Hollywood Squares." The pair had their own sitcom called "Madame's Place" on American television in 1982-1983. Flowers, who was openly gay, died of complications of HIV.

Answer: The Sword in the Stone

Martha Wentworth voiced Mad Madam Mim in Disney's "The Sword in the Stone" (1963). Mim played opposite Merlin using her black magic to befoul his scientific sorcery. The film was only loosely based on T.H. White's 1938 novel of the same name. In the movie, Mim sings "I find delight in the gruesome and grim / 'Cause I'm the magnificent, marvelous / Mad Madam Mim."

Answer: The Cherry Orchard

"The Cherry Orchard" is the last of Chekhov's plays. It was published in 1904, the same year as his death. Chekhov thought he had written a comedy but many critics and audiences understood it as a tragedy. Madame Ranevsky is an aristocratic landowner who has led her family into bankruptcy, such that the family estate (including their cherry orchard) must be sold off to pay the mortgage. The sound of the trees being cut concludes the play (which seems tragic to me).

Answer: Croque Madame

A croque monsieur is a hot ham-and-cheese sandwich originally served as a snack in French cafés and bars. The name doesn't make much sense: "croquer" is a French verb meaning to crunch and "monsieur" means mister. It is mentioned in Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" (1918). If one tops a croque monsieur with a fried egg, the result is called either "croque madame" or "croque-à-cheval." If one can imagine a vegetarian version, it may be called "croque mademoiselle."

Answer: a wife and mother on trial for murder

Bisson's play was translated by John Raphael and novelized by J.W. McConaughy. It was filmed in 1916, 1920, 1929, 1937, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1966 (starring Lana Turner) and 1981 (starring Tuesday Weld). The story is of a woman caught in adultery and dispossessed by her husband.

She is completely cut off from her husband and son. Many years later, she becomes the mistress of a criminal who decides to blackmail her former husband, now an attorney general. To protect her son from disgrace, she kills her lover.

The lawyer assigned to defend her is her son, who does not recognize her.