Jane Austen's Sibling Sets Trivia Quiz

Answer: Elliot

The three Elliot sisters appeared in 'Persuasion' and were the daughters of Sir Walter Elliot, an impoverished baronet who was forced to rent out their family home, Kellynch Hall, in order to pay his debts. In addition to Elizabeth, Anne and Mary, who were born in 1785, 1787 and 1791 respectively, Sir Walter and his wife had also had a still-born son in 1789. Anne Elliot, the heroine of the novel, was a sensible and intelligent woman who was described by Austen as having "an elegance of mind and sweetness of character". By contrast her elder sister Elizabeth was a vain, self-centred and proud woman whose character closely resembled that of their father and her younger sister Mary was an attention-seeking hypochondriac.

Mary had married before the events of 'Persuasion', so was known throughout the novel as Mary Musgrove. Anne's marriage to Captain Frederick Wentworth took place at the end of the novel, where Austen also reported that Elizabeth remained single as "no one of proper condition" had shown any interest in her.

Answer: Dashwood

The Dashwood siblings were all the children of Mr Henry Dashwood who was killed off by Austen in the very first chapter of 'Sense and Sensibility'. However, they didn't all share the same mother - John Dashwood was the son of Henry Dashwood's first wife, while Elinor, Marianne and Margaret were the daughters of the second Mrs Dashwood. This meant that John Dashwood had the double fortune of inheriting a large fortune from his mother as well as his father's estate, while his half-sisters and stepmother were left to live on the relatively modest sum of £10,000.

Elinor and Marianne Dashwood were the main characters of the novel. Practical Elinor represented the "sense" while romantic Marianne represented the "sensibility". At the start of the novel Margaret was just thirteen years old, and as such was just a supporting character.

Answer: Bertram

Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia Bertram were the four children of Sir Thomas Bertram and his wife, the former Miss Maria Ward. They were the inhabitants of the eponymous Mansfield Park and the 'rich relations' when compared to Lady Bertram's family (Austen made no mention of Sir Thomas's extended family at any point during the novel). Of the four siblings, Edmund, the younger son, was the only one who was not spoiled rotten by his parents and maternal aunt, Mrs Norris. Tom was the heir to the estate and as such had no occupation other than partying and gambling with his similarly rich friends, while Maria and Julia were brought up to believe that their beauty was the only thing they needed to secure a rich husband. Edmund by contrast was raised with the knowledge that he would have to work for his living by becoming a clergyman - although he didn't have things that tough, as his father was able to give him a job as the rector of the nearby parish of Thornton Lacey and later the parish of Mansfield itself.

Answer: Knightley

George and John Knightley appeared in Jane Austen's 'Emma'. John Knightley was married to Isabella, the elder sister of the novel's heroine, Emma Woodhouse, while his elder brother (who was generally referred to as "Mr Knightley") was Emma's love interest. Although the two brothers eventually married two sisters there was a large age gap amongst the group - Mr Knightley was about 17 years older than Emma.

The elder Mr Knightley was the owner of the grand estate of Donwell Abbey, just outside the village of Highbury in Surrey. Mr John Knightley was a lawyer who worked in London and lived there with his wife and five children. Despite being a notorious matchmaker, for the vast majority of the novel Emma Woodhouse was determined that she would never marry and was almost equally determined that Mr Knightley should remain single as well. While she attributed this to a desire for her eldest nephew to inherit Donwell Abbey, it turned out to reflect the fact that she was in love with Mr Knightley but had failed to notice that the respect she had felt for him as a much older brother-like figure during her childhood had changed into romantic affection when she became an adult.

Answer: Tilney

The Tilney siblings grew up at Northanger Abbey, the eponymous estate whose status as an abbey caused great excitement for the novel's heroine, Catherine Morland, thanks to her almost obsessive interest in Gothic fiction. The eldest son, Frederick Tilney, was a captain in the army despite the fact that he was heir to a great estate, while the younger brother, Henry, was a clergyman who held a living in the village of Woodston, around 20 miles from his ancestral home. The head of the Tilney family was their somewhat formidable father, General Tilney, a demanding man who appeared to require the obedience of his children - particularly his daughter - and was more interested in the wealth of their future partners rather than their happiness in marriage.

Their father's opinion on appropriate spouses for his offspring most affected Henry and Eleanor. He threw Catherine Morland - Henry's preferred bride - out of his home when he discovered that she wasn't as wealthy as he had been led to believe and Eleanor was unable to marry the man she loved until he unexpectedly inherited a fortune and a title. Jane Austen avoided creating any sympathy in her readers for Captain Tilney's happiness in marriage by portraying him as a womaniser who caused Catherine's friend, Isabella Thorpe, to break off her engagement to Catherine's brother on what turned out to be the futile belief that he would marry her instead.

Answer: Ferrars

Edward and Robert Ferrars and their sister Mrs Fanny Dashwood appeared in Jane Austen's 'Sense and Sensibility'. While their sister had obtained some independence by marrying John Dashwood (the half-brother of the heroines of the novel), the fortunes of both Edward and Robert remained under the control of their domineering mother. Mrs Ferrars particularly wanted her eldest son to marry the wealthy daughter of a lord and both she and Fanny took a great dislike to Elinor Dashwood who had fallen in love with Edward.

Therefore, she got a nasty shock when she discovered that Edward had been secretly engaged for several years to a young woman named Lucy Steele, who was even poorer than Eleanor. As a result, Mrs Ferrars disinherited Edward and instead gave all of her fortune to her younger son Robert. Ironically, he then promptly eloped with Lucy, leaving Edward and Elinor to settle down to a happy, if not wealthy, married life together.

Answer: Darcy

Fitzwilliam and Georgiana were the first names of Mr and Miss Darcy from 'Pride and Prejudice'. Mr Darcy's unusual first name came from his mother, who was Lady Anne Fitzwilliam before her marriage to his father. It was only mentioned twice in the novel, once in the signature of a letter he gave to Elizabeth Bennet and once in a recollection made by Elizabeth's Aunt Gardiner.

Mr Darcy and Georgiana were particularly close siblings despite the fact that she was more than ten years younger than him. Their mother and father had both been dead for a number of years and Mr Darcy was Georgiana's co-guardian along with their cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Austen noted several things that pointed to Darcy's great care of his sister, including the fact that he had decided to visit her unexpectedly at Ramsgate and his purchase of an expensive new piano for the musically gifted young woman to play at Pemberley.

Answer: Wentworth

Two of the three Wentworth siblings appeared in Jane Austen's 'Persuasion', while the third got a couple of brief mentions. Captain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer, was the hero of the novel. Prior to its events he had been the fiancé of Anne Elliot, but after she called off their engagement thanks to the persuasion of her friend, Lady Russell, he had returned to sea and left her behind to nurse a broken heart. Eight years later her impoverished father was forced to rent out the Elliot's family estate and the new tenants were Admiral and Mrs Croft - who turned out to be Captain Wentworth's sister Sophy and her husband. This coincidence allowed Captain Wentworth and Anne to meet up again, resolve their differences, get engaged for a second time and eventually marry - definitely a case of 'better late than never'!

The third sibling, Edward Wentworth, was a clergyman whom Captain Wentworth had been visiting when he first met Anne. By the time in which the novel was set, Edward had moved away from the area and therefore did not appear in the events that followed.

Answer: Bennet

Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of 'Pride and Prejudice' had four sisters, who all had completely disparate personalities. The eldest sister Jane was quiet, demure and unfailingly kind; Mary was studious, devout and conceited; Kitty (or Catherine) was easily led; and Lydia was boisterous, out-spoken and extroverted. Elizabeth's key positive character traits were her wit, intelligence and liveliness. However, she was also judgemental, stubborn and prone to becoming prejudiced against people - a trait that she famously displayed when she unfairly misjudged Mr Darcy's character and believed Mr Wickham's defamatory lies about him.

By the end of the novel, only two of the sisters retained the Bennet surname - Mary and Kitty. Lydia had married Mr Wickham to avoid a scandal, Jane had married the equally kind and friendly Charles Bingley and Elizabeth had married Mr Darcy - a famous literary romance that still inspires other writers, over two centuries after Austen set pen to paper.

Answer: Price

Fanny Price was one of ten children, but was not close to the majority of her siblings thanks to the fact that she had been sent to live with her mother's rich sister and brother-in-law at Mansfield Park when she was just ten years old. While Sir Thomas Bertram had been concerned about the danger of her becoming romantically attached to one of her rich, male cousins while living in their home, her other aunt, Mrs Norris, had claimed that would be "morally impossible" if they were "brought up...always together like brothers and sisters". In the end it turned out that both were wrong - Mrs Norris because Fanny fell in love with and married her cousin Edmund, and Sir Thomas because he was happy for the couple.

In contrast to their rich cousins, the Price children (with the exception of the youngest, Betsy) were unspoiled and hardworking. With the help of their uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, the boys had been established in suitable careers once they were old enough - William, Richard and Sam were enrolled in the navy and John had a job as a clerk in London - while Susan was practical and helpful around the house. At the time of Fanny's return to her father's home in Portsmouth, Tom and Charles were still at school and Betsey was just five years old. Mary had died several years earlier - the loss of at least one child from a poor family in the early 19th century being something that would have been painful but unsurprising to their parents.