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Quiz about Lawyers in AngloAmerican Literature

Lawyers in Anglo-American Literature Quiz

A few questions on fictional lawyers through the ages.

A multiple-choice quiz by TabbyTom. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
TabbyTom

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
173,119

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
346

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims include a Man of Law. Who is the subject of his tale? Hint

Constance

Chanticleer

Patient Griselda

Sir Thopas

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Question 2 of 10

2. In the famous courtroom scene in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", one of the characters appears disguised as a lawyer named Balthazar, and successfully defends Antonio. Who is Balthazar? Hint

Portia

Bassanio

Gratiano

Lorenzo

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Question 3 of 10

3. In one of Dickens's novels Serjeant Buzfuz, instructed by Messrs Dodson and Fogg, appears for the plaintiff in an action for breach of promise of marriage. Who is the defendant? Hint

Sam Weller

Samuel Pickwick

Ebenezer Scrooge

Martin Chuzzlewit

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Question 4 of 10

4. In which of Dickens's novels can you find lawyers called Mr Tulkinghorn and Mr Vholes, and the Chancery case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce? Hint

Edwin Drood

Pickwick Papers

Bleak House

Our Mutual Friend

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Question 5 of 10

5. In Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" Becky Sharp collects the proceeds of an insurance policy when Jos Sedley dies. In her claim against the insurance company she is represented by a firm of solicitors called Burke, Thurtell and Hayes. What is the significance of these names? Hint

They are the names of highwaymen

They are the names of Victorian lawyers who were jailed for malpractice

They are the names of Thackeray's literary agents

They are the names of murderers

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Question 6 of 10

6. Who wrote the Perry Mason stories? Hint

George Higgins

Louis Auchincloss

Agatha Christie

Erle Stanley Gardner

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Question 7 of 10

7. Among the heroic lawyers of American fiction is Atticus Finch. In which novel does he appear? Hint

An American Tragedy

Personal Injuries

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Firm

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Question 8 of 10

8. Antony Maitland, a young barrister, appeared in a long series of novels including "Bloody Instructions", "Murder's out of Tune" and "Naked Villainy". Who was the author? Hint

Sara Woods

Dorothy L. Sayers

P. D. James

Ruth Rendell

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Question 9 of 10

9. What is the name of the barrister created by John Mortimer, Q. C., who is often to be found appearing for the defence at the Old Bailey? Hint

Horace Rumpole

Edward Marshall Hall

Michael Mansfield

Helena Kennedy

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Question 10 of 10

10. In which novel by John Grisham does Rudy Baylor, a recently qualified lawyer, fight the Great Benefit insurance company over its refusal to pay for treatment for a leukaemia victim? Hint

The Client

The Pelican Brief

The Rainmaker

A Time to Kill

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims include a Man of Law. Who is the subject of his tale?

Answer: Constance

The Man of Law was a sergeant or serjeant, one of the highest ranking members of the profession. The story of the tribulations of Constance ("Custance" in Chaucer), a Christian emperor's daughter, who suffers at the hands of pagans in Syria and Britain, was a well known medieval tale. It can also be found in the "Confessio Amantis" of Chaucer's contemporary John Gower.

Answer: Portia

Antonio has borrowed three thousand ducats from the moneylender Shylock, and agreed to pledge a pound of his flesh as security. When he is unable to pay, Shylock gleefully demands his rights and is deaf to all pleas for mercy. But the tables are turned when Portia/Balthazar points out that the bond does not allow him to shed any blood in taking his pound of flesh.

3. In one of Dickens's novels Serjeant Buzfuz, instructed by Messrs Dodson and Fogg, appears for the plaintiff in an action for breach of promise of marriage. Who is the defendant?

Answer: Samuel Pickwick

The unscrupulous lawyers Dodson and Fogg persuade Pickwick's landlady, Mrs Bardell, to sue on the strength of a few innocuous notes written by Pickwick. Pickwick loses the case but refuses to pay damages or Mrs Bardell's costs, preferring to be incarcerated in a debtor's prison. Of course, all turns out for the best in the end.

4. In which of Dickens's novels can you find lawyers called Mr Tulkinghorn and Mr Vholes, and the Chancery case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce?

Answer: Bleak House

The case has been dragging on for as long as anyone in the novel can remember, and the entire value of the estate which is at stake is consumed in legal costs.

Answer: They are the names of murderers

William Burke, with his friend William Hare, murdered a number of people in Edinburgh and sold the corpses to a surgeon to be used in anatomy classes. John Thurtell was a gambler who murdered a companion called William Weare. Catherine Hayes murdered her husband. Thus Thackeray hints that the insurance company, which initially resists the claim, is justified in its suspicions about the circumstances of Jos's death.

6. Who wrote the Perry Mason stories?

Answer: Erle Stanley Gardner

Gardner is said to have started writing his Perry Mason thrillers to eke out his meagre earnings as a lawyer. The first Perry Mason story, "The Case of the Velvet Claws", was published in 1933. By the early twenty-first century, Gardner's books had sold more than 300 million copies.

7. Among the heroic lawyers of American fiction is Atticus Finch. In which novel does he appear?

Answer: To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus, who defies the prejudices of his fellow citizens in a small southern town to defend a black man falsely accused of rape, was memorably portrayed on the cinema screen by the late Gregory Peck.

8. Antony Maitland, a young barrister, appeared in a long series of novels including "Bloody Instructions", "Murder's out of Tune" and "Naked Villainy". Who was the author?

Answer: Sara Woods

Sara Woods was a pseudonym of Sara Hutton Bowen-Judd, who also wrote under the names of Margaret Leek, Mary Challis and Anne Burton. Maitland has been described as a British Perry Mason: he believes in his clients' innocence despite appearances, and he invariably wins his cases.

9. What is the name of the barrister created by John Mortimer, Q. C., who is often to be found appearing for the defence at the Old Bailey?

Answer: Horace Rumpole

Rumpole, an "Old Bailey hack" with an abiding passion for claret, Wordsworth and the presumption of innocence, has been portrayed in several British TV series by Leo McKern.
The other choices are real-life British defence barristers: Mr Mansfield and Ms Kennedy are active today, while Sir Edward Marshall Hall was a household word in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

10. In which novel by John Grisham does Rudy Baylor, a recently qualified lawyer, fight the Great Benefit insurance company over its refusal to pay for treatment for a leukaemia victim?

Answer: The Rainmaker

Baylor was played by Matt Damon in the movie.

Source: Author TabbyTom

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