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Quiz about 18th Century Literature in Northanger Abbey

18th Century Literature in "Northanger Abbey" Quiz

The questions in this quiz are about the literature that is discussed in the novel "Northanger Abbey." Not only do you need to have read "Northanger Abbey," but some knowledge of 18th-Century English literature is a plus. I hope you enjoy it.

A multiple-choice quiz by spearbritney. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
spearbritney

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
173,869

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
567

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What does Catherine Morland enjoy reading? Hint

Novels

Plays

Poetry

History

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Question 2 of 10

2. According to the narrator, if a lady was caught reading a novel she would apologetically say "It is only a novel." What publication might a lady "proudly...have produced" instead? Hint

Rambler

The Spectator

The Rape of the Lock

Fingal

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Question 3 of 10

3. What sort of literature does Catherine detest? Hint

History

Plays

Poetry

Travels

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Question 4 of 10

4. What reading does Mrs. Morland recommend to Catherine in order to be more contented with her home? Hint

Rasselas

The Mirror

The Tatler

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

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Question 5 of 10

5. Catherine believes that she has uncovered an old manuscript in the black cabinet in her bedroom at Northanger Abbey? What did she really find? Hint

Love letters written by Henry when he was a child

Blank sheets of paper

General Tilney's war diary

An inventory of linen

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Question 6 of 10

6. Who is the authoress of "The Mysteries of Udolpho" the book which inspires Catherine to snoop around Northanger Abbey? Hint

Aphra Behn

Ann Radcliffe

Eliza Parsons

Eleanor Sleath

7. Regarding her mother's reading taste, Catherine tells Isabella "She very often reads Sir Charles Grandison herself; but new books do not fall in our way." What famous epistolary novelist wrote "Sir Charles Grandison." Hint

Samuel Richardson

Walter Scott

Daniel Defoe

Samuel Johnson

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Question 8 of 10

8. What two novels does John Thorpe say he likes? Hint

"Tom Jones" and "The Monk"

"Tristram Shandy "and "Humphrey Clinker"

"Man of Feeling" and "Robinson Crusoe"

"The Castle of Otranto" and "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Greaves"

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Question 9 of 10

9. Of what book does John Thorpe say "there is nothing in the world in it but an old man's playing at see-saw and learning Latin." Hint

Camilla

Pamela

Clarissa

Evelina

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Question 10 of 10

10. It is very fitting that Catherine, an 18th century heroine, should be fascinated by the Picturesque. While walking to Beechen Cliff, Henry instructs her on the picturesque - an English 18th century movement in the painting of landscapes which favoured asymmetry and irregularity to structure. The Picturesque is closely associated with the idea of the Beautiful and Sublime. Which 18th century English writer wrote "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful?" Hint

John Ruskin

John Constable

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Edmund Burke

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What does Catherine Morland enjoy reading?

Answer: Novels

In my favorite passage of the book, the narrator vindicates the heroine's preferment saying: "I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common with novel-writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances, to the number of which they are themselves adding...Alas! If the heroine of one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard?"

2. According to the narrator, if a lady was caught reading a novel she would apologetically say "It is only a novel." What publication might a lady "proudly...have produced" instead?

Answer: The Spectator

Joseph Addison - one of the writers of "The Spectator" - had a considerable literary reputation in the Eighteenth Century as can be shown by Austen's reference. Oddly enough, he is studied primarily today merely as a representative of his period.

3. What sort of literature does Catherine detest?

Answer: History

Of history she says: "I read it a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that either does not vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all-It is very tiresome: and yet I often think it odd that it should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention."

4. What reading does Mrs. Morland recommend to Catherine in order to be more contented with her home?

Answer: The Mirror

In a very endearing passage, Mrs Morland says to Catherine "I did not quite like, at breakfast, to hear you talk so much about the French bread at Northanger." This is an utterly charming moment, because we have not witnessed this breakfast. Mrs Morland's words give us the idea that Catherine has been making comments here and there of what wonderful things they had at Northanger Abbey. Some mild web research leads me to believe Mrs. Morland is referring to Henry Mackenzie's Scottish publication which was comparable to "The Spectator." If there are any 18th-Century Scholars out there who have a copy of the essay Mrs. Morland is referring to, do email me.

5. Catherine believes that she has uncovered an old manuscript in the black cabinet in her bedroom at Northanger Abbey? What did she really find?

Answer: An inventory of linen

After losing several hours of sleep imagining what the manuscript would contain, Catherine is horrified to find the inventory of several household items and also a farrier's bill for poulticing a chestnut horse.

6. Who is the authoress of "The Mysteries of Udolpho" the book which inspires Catherine to snoop around Northanger Abbey?

Answer: Ann Radcliffe

Probably the most famous English gothic novelist, Ann Radcliffe is still curdling the blood of her readers. Eliza Parsons wrote "Castle of Wolfenbach" and Eleanor Sleath wrote "Orphan of the Rhine." Isabella recommends both these books to Catherine. Aphra Behn is of course the famous playwright of "Oroonoko."

Answer: Samuel Richardson

Richardson wrote "Pamela" and "Clarissa." "Clarissa" is the longest novel written in English.

8. What two novels does John Thorpe say he likes?

Answer: "Tom Jones" and "The Monk"

John Thorpe says "Novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff; there has not been a tolerably decent one come out since "Tom Jones," except "The Monk;" I read that t'other day; but as for all the others, they are the stupidest things in creation." "The Monk" is a gothic novel by Matthew Lewis which depicts a monk lusting after young virgins who uses magic to meet his needs.

It makes one wonder about the psyche of John Thorpe.

9. Of what book does John Thorpe say "there is nothing in the world in it but an old man's playing at see-saw and learning Latin."

Answer: Camilla

"Camilla" is a very popular novel by Fanny Burney who served as a Lady-In-Waiting to Queen Charlotte. While I have not read it, I feel certain that somehow John Thorpe has missed the point.

Answer: Edmund Burke

In landscape and landscape painting, the beautiful would be represented by neat and orderly French gardens. According to Burke, the beautiful calms the soul and has clarity. The sublime on the other hand instigates terror and astonishment. A rough, rugged, brutal landscape of mountains or waves crashing would be sublime.

This book gives a lot of insight into how we comprehend beauty. I hope you liked this quiz. The Eighteenth Century in England is my favorite period in literature.

Source: Author spearbritney

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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