Literary Analogies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Flies

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) wrote "The Lord of the Rings", and William Golding (1911-1993) penned "The Lord of the Flies".
"The Lord of the Rings" comprises the volumes "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King". The trilogy is a mixture of fairy-tale and classic mythology, and narrates of heroic adventures in imaginary Middle-Earth. The movie series based on Tolkien's novels have been among the most successful cinematic adaptations of a literary work.
In his novel "The Lord of the Flies", William Golding tells the story of a group of children who land on a deserted island because of a plane crash. Step by step, he shows how their attempts to organise their new lives according to traditional social patterns, fail miserably. His pessimistic conclusion is that human beings are strictly tied to society, and without its morals and rules, they would fall again into savagery and anarchy.

Answer: Hastings

Both Dr. Watson and Captain Hastings are the faithful companions of two famous detectives.
Masterful Sherlock Holmes and his cohort and chronicler, Dr Watson, are certainly the most iconic team in the history of crime fiction. Thanks to his exceptional powers of observation and deduction, Sherlock Holmes solves every case he investigates. Among his most glorious successes are: "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and "The Valley of Fear". The stories were penned by British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930).
Hercule Poirot, the eccentric Belgian detective, and his reliable friend, Captain Hastings, were born from the fantasy of Agatha Christie (1890-1976). Poirot applied his "little grey cells" in mystery novels such as "Death on the Nile", "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", and "Murder on the Orient Express".

Answer: Dorset

Yorkshire played the same significant role for Charlotte Bronte as Dorset for Thomas Hardy.
Charlotte Bronte (1816-1854), like her sisters Emily (1818-1848) and Anne (1820-1849), was born and lived in West Yorkshire, Northern England. Their father was curate of Haworth, a village located amidst a wild, windswept area. The dramatic scenery around the parsonage, with heather, rolling hills and moors, fuelled the sisters' imagination, and became the ideal setting for their tempestuous stories. Three of the Bronte Sisters' most celebrated novels are "Jane Eyre" (Charlotte), "Wuthering Heights" (Emily), and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (Anne).
The novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was born in West Dorset, Southern England. In his works, he immortalised his native county as "Wessex", after the ancient kingdom of Alfred the Great. Many of his stories and poems are set against the bleak and rugged landscape of his Wessex. Among Hardy's finest novels are "Tess of the "D'Urbervilles" and "Far from the Madding Crowd".

Answer: Pere Lachaise

Highgate and Père Lachaise are two of the most famous cemeteries in the world.
Highgate Cemetery is located in North London. It is a beautiful "garden cemetery" with a gothic atmosphere, typical of the Victorian era. Although its most popular inhabitant is probably Karl Marx, the father of communism, Highgate is also the burial place of many other illustrious people, such as George Eliot, Michael Faraday, and Henry Moore.
"Le Cimitière du Père Lachaise" in Paris is reputed the most visited cemetery in the world. Situated in the 20th arrondissement, it was established by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. Père Lachaise is a civil graveyard, so people have always been able to erect here what ever graves they fancied, from the most modest tombs to the most sumptuous mausoleums. Innumerable celebrities are interred here, including Molière, Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Proust, Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison, and Maria Callas. A curiosity: although forbidden, Oscar Wilde's admirers traditionally kiss his gravestone, so this is marked by lipsticks in all colours.

Answer: Albatross

"The Raven" is Poe's most acclaimed poem, and the albatross plays a central role in Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
"A Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance" is the subtitle of "The Raven", the narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). Renowned for its hypnotic rhythm and dream-like atmosphere, the poem tells of the visit of an ominous raven to a lover who mourns the death of his beloved.
The poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is the story of a seaman's journey in the Antarctic region, his shooting "for no reason" of an albatross, "a bird of good omen", and the frightening events that follow.
"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from the emotion recollected in tranquillity": a statement from the preface to "Lyrical Ballads" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and his friend William Wordsworth (1770-1850), in which they formulated the manifesto of the Romantic Movement in England.

Answer: Constance

Count Vronsky was Anna Karenina's lover, and Oliver Mellors was the lover of Constance, better known as Lady Chatterley.
Anna Karenina, in the eponymous tale by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), feels miserable in her loveless marriage, begins a passionate liaison with the fascinating Count Vronsky, and, shunned by society, commits suicide: a simple plot for one of the greatest novels of all time.
A love affair is also at the centre of the notorious novel by English novelist D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930), "Lady Chatterley's lover". After a war injury leaves her husband paralysed, Constance Chatterley finds satisfaction of her physical desires in an ardent relationship with the manor's gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Because of its sexual content and explicit language, Lawrence's novel faced numerous trials for obscenity.

Answer: Saul Bellow

1973 was the year in which Patrick White won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The same award was bestowed on Saul Bellow in 1976.
Patrick White (1912-1990) was Australia's most acclaimed novelist and playwright "who opened a new continent to literature" (as in the prize's official motivation). His epic writings are populated with outsiders, isolated from society for their sexuality, age or race, and a theme runs through them like a leitmotif: man's search for meaning. His work includes novels ("The Solid Mandala"), plays ("The Season at Sarsaparilla"), short stories and poems.
Saul Bellow's (1915-2005) novels, such as "The Adventures of Augie March", and "Herzog", with their quixotic characters struggling to survive in an overwhelming world, have largely influenced American Literature in the years after World War II. When he died, Philip Roth said: "The backbone of 20th century American literature has been provided by two novelists - William Faulkner and Saul Bellow."

Answer: Pollyanna

Orphan Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly, and also Pollyanna, another famous orphan of children's fiction, is sent to live with her rich aunt Polly, after the death of her parents.
In "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", American novelist and journalist Mark Twain (1835-1910) introduced to world literature the immortal characters of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The novel describes Tom's and Huck's escapades in a small town on the banks of the Mississippi river.
The heart-warming story of "Pollyanna" was penned by American writer Eleanor Hodgman Porter (1868-1920), and became a best-seller immediately after publication. The name of the loveable heroine has now entered the English language to signify a cheerfully optimistic person (in some cases even excessively cheerful).

Answer: Historical

Epistolary defines a story told as a series of letters. Historical denotes a novel that takes place in a realistic historical setting.
"Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady", by English novelist Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) is written in the epistolary format. Probably the longest novel that has ever been penned in the English language, is centred around a virtuous young girl who falls a prey to a seducer, and consents to elope.
"Ivanhoe" is a classic novel by Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). The hero, the noble knight Wilfred of Ivanhoe, returns to England after fighting alongside King Richard the Lionheart in the Holy Land. He finds his land reigned by Prince John and his followers. John is plotting to depose his brother, King Richard, and Ivanhoe is involved in the struggle for the English throne.

Answer: Drug overdose

The question refers to the cause of Ernest Hemingway's and Jack London's death.
"All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true story-teller who would keep that from you", stated Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) in "Death in the Afternoon". The American writer ended his own story with a suicide: after a fascinating life full of adventures and triumphs, but also of alcoholic excesses and tragedies, he shot himself in the head. The author of novels like "The Sun also Rises" and "A Farewell to Arms" was awarded the Nobel Prize of literature in 1954.
The circumstances of Jack London's death have always been mysterious. Jack London was found in a coma, with an almost empty vial of morphine on the floor. Although four doctors tried to reanimate him, he died. Since then there have been various speculations. Some biographers talk of suicide, some believe he took an overdose by accident to kill his pain, some attribute his death to natural causes. The American novelist and journalist (1876-1916) is best remembered for novels and short stories as adventurous as his own life: "The Call of The Wild", "The Sea-Wolf" and "White Fang".

Answer: Macbeth

This was, maybe, a little tricky. Hamlet was assassinated by Claudius, and Duncan was killed by Macbeth.

Hamlet, in the eponymous tragedy by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), was the name of both father and son. Claudius murdered his own brother and Prince Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, then married the widow Gertrude, and usurped the throne.

In the Shakespearean play of the same name, Macbeth, persuaded by his wife Lady Macbeth, assassinated King Duncan, and assumed the Scottish throne. At the end, Macbeth is killed by general Macduff, and Duncan's son, Malcolm, is crowned as the rightful King of Scotland.

Answer: "A buen fin no hay mal principio"

Both are Spanish titles of William Shakespeare's plays.
"Trabajos de amor perdidos" is the Spanish translation of "Love's Labour's Lost", "La fierecilla domada" is "The Taming of the Shrew", and "Mucho ruido y pocas nueces" refers to "Much Ado about Nothing".

Answer: Vienna

"The Da Vinci Code" is set in Paris, whereas "The Third Man" takes place in Vienna.
The thriller "The Da Vinci Code", by American writer Dan Brown, is one of the best-selling books of all time. It revolves around the murder of the curator of the Louvre, whose body is found surrounded by secret ciphers and in the same position as Leonardo da Vinci's famous "Vitruvian Man". The detectives have to solve a riddle which is not only connected with Da Vinci's work, but also with the history of the Catholic Church. The novel was also made into a successful movie, starring Tom Hanks.
"The Third Man" originated in an opposite fashion. The novella by Graham Greene, the English novelist, playwright and journalist (1904-1991) was originally intended as a film treatment. In the preface, the author himself writes: "The Third Man was never to be read but only to be seen." After the great success of the movie, though, also the novel became a best-seller. The setting is a desolate Vienna just at the end of the second World War.

Answer: Sci-Fi

Both Edgar and Hugo are literary awards.
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (also called "Edgars") are named in honour of Edgar Allan Poe, the inventor of the detective story. Sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, they have been given annually since 1946 for the best mystery works in several categories. Among the winners are John Le Carré, Dick Francis, and Ken Follett.
The Hugo Award, or Science Fiction Achievement Award, is named for Hugo Gernsback, founder of the science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, and considered one of the creators of the fantasy genre. It has been presented annually since 1954 by the World Science Fiction Society. The list of Hugo Award laureates includes Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov.

Answer: Ted Hughes

Elizabeth Barrett was married to Robert Browning, and Sylvia Plath was Ted Hughes' wife.
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways": so begins the most celebrated of the "Sonnets from the Portuguese" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), the greatest of English poetesses. The collection is a sequence of 44 love poems that Elizabeth addressed to her husband, poet and playwright Robert Browning (1812-1889). Their marriage was one of the most romantic love stories in the literary world.
Another famous literary couple, although not as happy, were British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes (1930-1998) and American poet Sylvia Plath (1933-1963). Their tumultuous marriage ended, after seven years, tragically with Sylvia Plath's suicide.

Answer: Harpagon

Argan and Harpagon are the main characters of two of Molière's plays, respectively "Le malade imaginaire" (The Imaginary Invalid) and "L'avare" (The Miser).
Molière (1622-1673) was the "nom de plume" of French dramatist Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. He wasn't only playwright, but also actor, director, and stage manager. Amazingly prolific and versatile, he wrote comedies, farces, masques and ballets for the entertainment of the court. He is especially acclaimed for his great comedies of character, in which he genially plays around a single character trait.
Harpagon is a rich, mean, and greedy widower, who is keen to marry off his children because they cost him too much. The hypochondriac Argan stays seated during the whole play, coughing constantly to convince relatives and physicians of the serious state of his health. For a strange quirk of fate, while playing the imaginary invalid on stage, Molière famously coughed blood, and died that same night.

Answer: Victorian

Ben Jonson, along with William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and others, was an Elizabethan playwright, because he wrote during the Renaissance era named after Queen Elizabeth I. Novelist George Eliot lived while Queen Victoria was on the throne.
Dramatist Ben Jonson (1572-1637), although author of classic tragedies and poetry, is best remembered for his comedies. Widely regarded as his masterpiece is "Volpone, or The Fox". The play takes place in Venice, but it satirises London's emergent merchant class. Jonson was appointed England's poet laureate in 1616.
George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans (1819-1890). Her relationship with the married writer and editor George Henry Lewes scandalised the rigid Victorian society, but didn't hinder her literary fame. She achieved great popularity with novels, mostly portraits of provincial life, such as "The Mill on the Floss", "Silas Marner", and "Middlemarch". She published them under a male pen name to ensure, as she said, they would be regarded with respect, but after their success, her identity became known.

Answer: Belgium

Umberto Eco is Italian, and Georges Simenon is Belgian.
Umberto Eco, author of best-sellers such as "The Name of the Rose", "The Foucault's Pendulum", and "Baudolino", was born in 1932 in Alessandria, Northern Italy. The list of the cultural fields to which he contributed is long. He is one of the most esteemed semioticians (theorist of signs and symbols in language) of our time, journalist, literary critic, philosopher, historian specialised in medieval age, and lecturer at several Italian universities.
Georges Simenon (1903-1989), creator of the memorable, pipe-smoking Commissaire Maigret, was born in Liège, Belgium. Although he lived in Paris and in the United States, he remained a Belgian citizen until his death. Simenon's novels have been translated into 50 languages, have been sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, and have inspired innumerable movies.

Answer: O. Henry

Both John Le Carré and O. Henry are pseudonyms.
John Le Carré was born in 1931 in Poole, Dorset, Southern England. He worked five years for the British Foreign Service, and applied his profound knowledge of international espionage to produce some of the most popular spy thrillers of our time. His best-known hero is George Smiley, protagonist of a trilogy, comprising "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold".
Short-story writer O. Henry (1862-1910) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He started writing his stories in jail, where he was serving three years for embezzlement. Imaginative and prolific, O. Henry penned about 300 stories whose most famous feature are the surprise endings. Most of them are set in New York, and have ordinary people as protagonists.

Answer: Existentialism

Emile Zola was the founder of the naturalist movement, whereas Albert Camus was an existentialist writer.
Naturalism as a literary movement applies scientific principles of objectivity to its approach and study of human life. Emile Zola (1840-1902), the principal theorist on Naturalism, wrote in his essay "Le Roman expérimental" (The Experimental Novel) that the novelist is like a scientist who examines impartially, without moralising, all phenomena in life, then draws his conclusions. The naturalists don't focus on the internal qualities of their characters, but underline the role that surroundings and heredity have on human beings. Zola's best-known novels are "Nana" and "Germinal".
Existentialism is a philosophical movement centred on the individual existence. It emphasises the isolation of the human being in an adverse or indifferent environment, and denies that the universe has any intrinsic meaning or purpose. Most notable existentialists were Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir. Novelist and philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960), although profoundly connected with the existentialist thinking, preferred to call himself an absurdist. He introduced his philosophy of the absurd in his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus". For his literary work, including the novels "The Stranger" and "The Plague", he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1957.