A Tale of Two Halves Trivia Quiz

Answer: Copperfield

Charles Dickens came up with at least fourteen versions of the title, including "The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)". For this quiz, let's stick with "David Copperfield"!

Answer: Twist

The second part of the full title "Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress" suggests parallels with "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan and caricatures by William Hogarth ("A Rake's Progress" and "A Harlot's Progress").

Answer: Expectations

Major characters include Philip Pirrip ("Pip"), Abel Magwitch, Miss Havisham and Estella. "Great Expectations" was very popular, although Thomas Carlyle apparently referred to it as "all that Pip's nonsense"!

Answer: House

"Bleak House" features the long-running fictional court case of "Jarndyce v Jarndyce" about a large inheritance. Various real-life cases are thought to have contributed to the core theme, including that relating to Charles Day (which Dickens referred to in a letter) and Jennens v Jennens (which was only halfway through its 117-year run when "Bleak House" was published).

Answer: Times

"Hard Times" was Dickens' shortest novel, set in a fictional mill town - "Coketown" - in northern England. It looked at the social and economic issues of the time and provided a vehicle for Dickens to attack the philosophy of Utilitarianism, with which he disagreed. He aimed to use the satire as a way to improve working conditions in factories.

Answer: Rudge

"Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty" was set during London's Gordon Riots of 1780. It is one of Dickens' less popular works. Barnaby's pet raven, Grip, was part of the inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe to write his poem "The Raven".

Answer: Papers

The original title of Dickens' first novel was "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, Containing a Faithful Record of the Perambulations, Perils, Travels, Adventures and Sporting Transactions of the Corresponding Members". One theory is that Dickens took the name "Pickwick" from the family running a coaching business and inn in Bath, whose ancestor was a foundling named after the Pickwick district of nearby Corsham.

Answer: Cities

This was set in London and Paris around the time of the French Revolution. Dickens was heavily influenced by Thomas Carlyle's major authoritative work "The French Revolution: A History".

Answer: Carol

"A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas." is an extremely popular work. Characters include Ebenezer Scrooge, the ghost of Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit and "Tiny Tim". It was published in 1843 and has provided the inspiration for a remarkable range of adaptations and parodies across a wide variety of formats.

Answer: Drood

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" was unfinished when Charles Dickens died in 1870. The setting, Cloisterham, is based on Rochester in Kent. Dickens knew the area very well and died at nearby Gads Hill Place.