"Daffy Does Dickens!" 'Looney' Literary Characters Quiz

Answer: Phileas Fogg ("Around the World in 80 Days")

Phileas Fogg is the protagonist of Jules Verne's (1828-1905) adventure novel "Around the World in Eighty Days", which continues to remain one of the French author's most beloved works. Published in 1873, it tells the story of Fogg, an ultra-proper Englishman, accepting a challenge (and a 20,000 pound wager) to circumnavigate the globe within an 80 day time-frame. Verne's 'gain-a-day-going-east' scenario which allowed Fogg to win the wager (and keep the girl) is said to be partially inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's short story "Three Sundays in a Week". Interestingly, the hot-air balloon segment of the 1956 film version of the book (which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture), while iconic in its own right, was mentioned only briefly in the novel, and only as a plan of travel that was rejected by Fogg due to impracticality. The great Mexican actor Cantinflas received a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Passepartout, who was of French origin in the novel. Other notable Verne works include "Five Weeks in a Balloon" (1863), "A Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864), "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1870) and "The Mysterious Island" (1875), the latter two featuring the good Captain Nemo.

Author's note: I originally planned to have a 'Looney' which was a bit more 'refined' to take on the prim and proper Fogg (Marvin the Martian maybe?), but then I thought the foot-loose, Devil-may-care Bugs might make an interesting study of conflicting characters. Hope you agree.

Answer: Rhett Butler ("Gone with the Wind")

Before the flood of correction notices and the howls of indignant fans of either the novel or the book start raging at my direction, I freely admit to everyone that I am probably one of the 150 or so Americans over 50 who have never read Margaret Mitchell's historical "Gone With The Wind", nor have I ever seen the film adaption of the same name. Obviously, I have taken some liberties, as I do know that Rhett Butler's (Clark Gable) parting shot at Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) was not in the original novel (and this is a Literature quiz, after all). However, the line is so iconic, and having it come out of Foghorn's beak was just too much of a temptation to pass up.

Mitchell began writing the future Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War novel in 1926, while recuperating from a car accident. Published in 1936 (just three years before the film was released), "Gone With The Wind" not only became a front-runner for the title of the 'Great American Novel', but also a poster child for the 'Mega-One-Hit-Wonder' category, as Mitchell never had another work published. She died on August 16, 1949, five days after being struck by a speeding car as she and her husband were crossing a street intersection.

Answer: Sancho Panza ("Don Quixote")

Miguel de Cervantes' (1547-1616) "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" (or simply "Don Quixote") was first published as one complete novel in 1617, but it was originally written as two separate volumes, the first published in 1605, the second a full ten years later.

While there has been controversy and criticism regarding many of the translations of "Don Quixote" throughout the years (several Spanish to English versions in particular), Cervantes' tale of the 'somewhat confused' knight-errant and his loyal squire (as well as Rocinante and Dapple, their trusty 'steeds') has been held in extremely high regard since it was first published.

The novel consistently receives high ratings in nearly all of the Classic Literature lists and 'Must-Reads' compiled by historians, scholars and authors, and many of these learned folks consider the second part of the novel as "the birth of modern literature".

Answer: Sherlock Holmes

While "consulting detective" Sherlock Holmes is at times mistakenly thought of as fiction's first 'true' criminal investigator (an honor reserved for C. Auguste Dupin, first appearing in Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 novel, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"), his legacy to the mystery/crime fiction genre is immeasurable, and his influence to modern-day forensic science by way of his trademark methods of using logic, reasoning and deduction to unravel clues cannot be underestimated. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) introduced Holmes in the 1887 novel "A Study in Scarlet" (which also marked the first appearance of Holmes' friend and 'partner in crime', Dr. John Watson), the first of four novels and 56 short stories which would feature the detective. I was surprised to learn that Holmes' infamous archenemy Professor James Moriarty, who is mentioned several times during Holmes' literary career, only had a direct role in two Holmes adventures, the 1893 short story "The Final Problem" and the 1915 novel "The Valley of Fear" (with "The Final Problem" being Moriarty's only actual appearance).

It is also interesting to note that Conan Doyle never actually described Holmes' hat as a 'deerstalker', but only as "his ear-flapped travelling cap". British illustrator Sidney Paget first supplied Holmes with the 'deerstalker' headgear (along with his Inverness-style cape) for the 1891 short story "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", and the association between the detective and the outfit soon became, as Holmes himself might say, "elementary".

Answer: Yosemite Sam as Captain Ahab ("Moby-Dick")

Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" was inspired by two events: the 1820 ramming (and subsequent sinking) of the whaleship Essex by a sperm whale, and the tales of an albino sperm whale which prowled off the coast of Chile nicknamed Mocha Dick. The character of Captain Ahab was more than likely born from an actual whaling captain who battled Mocha Dick, as described in an article written by author and explorer J.N. Reynolds.

While the book is now considered a classic example of the 'Great American Novel', the reviews the novel garnered when it was published in 1851 were for the most part extremely negative. By all accounts, Melville (1819-1891) was completely taken aback by the harsh treatment his novel received, as he considered "Moby-Dick" his master-work, and his career never fully recovered.

It wasn't until the early 1920's that the author and "Moby-Dick" began to receive the recognition they truly deserved.

Answer: D'Artagnan ("The Three Musketeers")

It was obvious to me that only Pepé Le Pew could fill the shoes of D'Artagnan, the young lovestruck hero of Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers". First featured as a serial publication in 1844, the novel, along with "Twenty Years After" (1845) and "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later" (serialized 1847-1850 and included "The Man in the Iron Mask") form the trilogy that would collectively be known as the "D'Artagnan Romances". Dumas (1802-1870) based his fictional version of D'Artagnan on fellow French author Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras's 1700 publication titled (are you ready?) "Mémoires de M. d'Artagnan, capitaine lieutenant de la première compagnie des Mousquetaires du Roi", or as we would say in English during casual conversation "Memoirs of Mister d'Artagnan, Lieutenant Captain of the first company of the King's Musketeers". Sandras's semi-factual/semi-fictionalized (take your pick) 'memoirs' of Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan (1611-1673), who actually was a Musketeer who served Louis XIV during the mid 1600's.

The original "Three Musketeers" were also loosely based on actual Musketeers as well: Armand de Sillègue d'Athos d'Autevielle (1615-1644), Isaac de Porthau (1617-1712) and Henri d'Aramitz (1620-1655 or 1674) for Athos, Porthos and Aramis, respectively.

Answer: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ("Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde")

Scotland's Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), already a well-known and respected author due to the popularity of 1883's "Treasure Island", strengthened his reputation even further with the success of his short story (or 'novella') "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", published in 1886. Within a year of publication, the story had been adapted to the stage, and because of the many different interpretations the work inspired regarding the concept of 'good versus evil' (even to this day), many people who did not normally read fiction bought a copy, most notably within the religious circles of America and the United Kingdom. I remember that when I first read "Jekyll and Hyde" many years ago, I thought it was a pretty nifty story, but I had no idea until now how many concepts and themes have surrounded and attached themselves to its pages (including split personalities, Victorian morality vs. Victorian homosexuality, Freudian theories, social hypocrisies, religious allegories and multiple concepts of 'dualities', to name a few).

While I will leave the debate to those much more knowledgeable than myself, I can't help but envision Stevenson and Freud pausing during an important discussion and looking down on us, with Stevenson commenting "You know, Sigmund, you were quite correct with your observations. Sometimes a cigar IS just a cigar, and sometimes a story ... is just a story."

Answer: Victor Frankenstein / The 'Monster'

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) literally dreamed up the concept which would become "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" in the summer of 1816, at the age of 18. As guests of Britain's famed poet, Lord Byron, at his summer home by Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Shelley, her future husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (she used the surname 'Shelley' even before her marriage) and others spent much of their time telling ghost stories and engaging in conversation which included the experiments of Italian scientist Luigi Galvani (who studied the effects of electricity on the muscles of dead animals). Soon after, Shelley would see in her dream "a pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out..." It would be close to a year before Shelley would complete her novel, which was not published until January, 1818, and as it was first introduced anonymously (with a preface written by her husband), many assumed it was written by him.

While the critics did not hold "Frankenstein" in high regard at first, the novel was publicly very successful, and it is today considered by many literary historians (including Brian Aldiss, a Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America) to be the "first true science fiction story." Shelley has a very cool double-meaning regarding her sub-title "The Modern Prometheus", which refers to the mythological Greek Titan who defied Zeus by returning the gift of fire to man, and (according to some legends) was the creator of man in the first place (these same legends credit Zeus with the creation of the first woman, Pandora). While the "creation of man" theme is obvious, Shelley also used the sub-title as a warning about the dangers of rapid progress, specifically the current (at that time) Industrial Revolution. Interestingly, it was the German philosopher Immanuel Kant who first used the "Modern Prometheus" term, describing none other than Benjamin Franklin.

Answer: The Tasmanian Devil as 'The Tornado' ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")

Before L. (Lyman) Frank Baum (1856-1919) 'followed the yellow brick road' to fame and fortune with "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (published 1900), he had already made a name for himself as an author of children's books. The former stage actor and newspaper editor published his first, the fairly successful "Mother Goose in Prose" in 1897, followed by the best-selling "Father Goose, His Book" in 1899, which is notable for the beginning of the short-lived partnership between Baum and illustrator W. W. Denslow, who would not only illustrate "Wizard" but would also share the copyright. Extremely successful from the start, the book's 10,000 first edition copies and most of the 15,000 second editions would be sold within a month of initial distribution.

The stage adaptation, under the shortened (and now more commonly used) "The Wizard of Oz" opened in 1902, and also enjoyed considerable success. However, it also marked the end to the relationship between Baum and Denslow due to arguments over the shares of royalties from the play.

Originally, Baum had no intention of writing a sequel to "Wizard" (much less a series), but responded to the thousands of children's requests to do so with "The Marvelous Land of Oz" (published 1904 and illustrated by John R. Neill). He eventually wrote twelve more "Oz" books before his death in 1919, after which the series was continued with another 21 books by author Ruth Thompson. Obviously, the iconic 1939 film version with Judy and company (and its numerous appearances on television) have kept Baum's visions of the Emerald City alive and well even today.

Answer: Sydney Carton ("A Tale of Two Cities")

With works such as "The Adventures of Oliver Twist" (1837), "The Old Curiosity Shop" (1840), "A Christmas Carol" (1843) and "David Copperfield" (1849), Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is not generally known as an author of historical fiction, yet 1859's "A Tale of Two Cities", with over 200 million copies sold since its publication, easily sits at the top of the list as one of the most well-known and widely read novels ever to be written. Alternating between Paris and London (hence the title), the 'tale' (which I've always considered a story of love and redemption with a historical background, not the other way around) begins in the year 1775, takes the reader into the very heart of the French Revolution, and ends approximately 17 years later with Sydney Carton's ultimate sacrifice. Dickens also created two of literature's most famous tag-lines with "Tale"'s introduction ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...") and Carton's final thoughts to close the book ("It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."), which for the most part are instantly recognizable even to those who have never read it before. Like most of his Victorian era contemporaries such as William Thackeray, Thomas Hardy and R.L. Stevenson, Dickens first published the novel in a serial format, submitting weekly installments from April to November of 1859.

As for analyzing the themes, messages and symbolism that are sure to abound in a book of this magnitude, I again leave that to the more learned and knowledgeable. However, I will say that if you have not had the opportunity to read "A Tale of Two Cities" (or any of the books mentioned in this quiz), do yourself a favor and make some time to do so. You won't be disappointed.