Mothers and Children in Literature Quiz

Answer: Telemachus

From Homer's "Odyssey": Penelope weaves while she waits for her husband Odysseus; her son Telemachus helps his dad eliminate her suitors in the end.

Homer's epic is more than 2500 years old. The main story is, of course, about Odysseus' travels, but the secondary plot, sometimes called the "Telemachela," describes the adventures of Telemachus. Scholars say Telemachus comes of age in the course of the epic, from a somewhat frightened boy to a confident, loyal, and courageous young man.

Polyphemus is the Cyclops. Scylla is a sea monster. Teiresias is a prophet.

Answer: Pearl

From "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne is forced to wear the letter A in red as a result of her adultery. The other result is her little girl, Pearl.

Hawthorne (1804-1864) was related to one of the judges in the 1692 Salem witch trials, a fact which disturbed him greatly, and probably contributed both to his belief in transcendentalism and its expression in "The Scarlet Letter." Herman Melville called Hawthorne "the American Shakespeare."

Priscilla, Josephine, and Fern are appropriately sweet old-fashioned names.

Answer: Harry Potter

In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Harry's mother Lily and father James are murdered before we meet any of them, and Harry is left scarred in more ways than one.

Rowling's Lily Potter sacrifices her own life to save her child, and the power of her love continues to protect and empower Harry against almost unimaginable evil.

Rowling wrote her first book at the age of 6. It was about a rabbit and was aptly entitled "Rabbit."

David Copperfield is the creation of Charles Dickens; Anne of Green Gables is that of L.M. Montgomery; Stephen Dedalus is that of James Joyce -- all highly recommended!

Answer: Hamlet

From William Shakespeare's "Hamlet": With shocking speed, Gertrude has married Hamlet's uncle immediately following Hamlet's father's death, and it's quite a problem for poor Hamlet.

Scholars continue to debate whether or not Gertrude was complicit in her first husband's death. His ghost, however, tells Hamlet to leave her to heaven, so we shall do the same.

Holden Caulfield is the protagonist of "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Bronte's novel of the same name. Bilbo Baggins is "The Hobbit" of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Answer: Tom

From John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath": Ma Joad, Tom Joad, and their family travel -- with great difficulty -- from Oklahoma to California in the Dust Bowl days, in search of a better life.

Steinbeck actually traveled from Oklahoma to California with a migrant family in preparation for writing "The Grapes of Wrath." It was published in 1939, and won the Pulitzer Prize the following year.

Frank, Dave, and Nick are my brothers-in-law.

Answer: Wendy

In J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" the Darlings leave Nana the dog in charge when they go out for the evening, only to have Peter fly in the nursery window and their little Darlings fly out.

Peter Pan's first appearance was in one chapter of a serialized novel published in 1902, "The Little White Bird." This was followed by the play, "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," in 1904. The story was inspired by Barrie's own childhood, both happy and unhappy: on the one hand, his childhood games of fighting pirates and flying; on the other, the early death of his brother -- a "lost boy."

There are many Janes, Beckys, and Emmas in literature. These names appear here in honor of the characters created by P.L. Travers in "Mary Poppins", Mark Twain in "Tom Sawyer," and Jane Austen in "Emma."

Answer: Roskolnikov

From "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Roskolnikov's mother may not have raised him quite right. Certainly something was amiss.

Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) spent eight months in prison for distributing socialist propaganda. He was sentenced to death and led before a firing squad to be executed; then he and the other prisoners were informed that it was only meant to frighten them. Later, he was sentenced to labor camp in Siberia, where he spent four more years. At the end of "Crime and Punishment," Roskolnikov is sent to a similar Siberian prison.

The other characters mentioned are from Dostoyevsky's "Brothers Karamazov," Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina," and Chekov's "Uncle Vanya."

Answer: Elizabeth

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen: Elizabeth is one of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's utterly charming -- and unmarried -- daughters.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was the daughter of a minister and his wife, the seventh of eight children. She was nearly married twice. Her first attachment was to a young Irishman whose parents discouraged the match based on her family's strained financial circumstances. The second engagement ended after only a few hours when Jane realized she was not in love with her wealthy suitor.

Juliet is the daughter of Lady Capulet in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Topsy is a slave in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin"; far from knowing who her mother is, she describes her origins by saying "I s'pect I growed." Darcy isn't anybody's daughter either; he eventually becomes Elizabeth Bennet's love interest in "Pride and Prejudice."

Answer: Mordred

In traditional Arthurian legends, as well as in T.H. White's novel "The Once and Future King," Morgause the witch is the mother of Mordred, King Arthur's nemesis.

T.H.White (1906-1964) studied medieval literature, including the earliest tales of King Arthur. Presumably his experiences in hunting, fishing, and falconry were useful in writing Book One of "The Once and Future King," in which Merlin the magician teaches the child Arthur about good government by turning him into a series of animals.

Arthur, Merlin, and Lancelot are all, of course, key characters in the legends and in White's novel.

Answer: Amy

From Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," Marmee is also the mother of Meg, Jo and Beth March.

"Little Women" is a fictionalized account of Alcott's early home life in Concord, Massachusetts. She and her three sisters were the models for the March girls. Like Jo, Louisa was an early feminist. The sisters were taught at home by their famous and eccentric transcendentalist father, Bronson Alcott, borrowing books from the library of his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. His wife, Abigail, however, was by far the stronger and more practical parent, inspiring the role good mother Marmee is forced to take in "Little Women."

Miranda is from Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Tabitha is a character in TV's "Bewitched." Megan is my daughter.

Thanks for playing my very first quiz. I hope it was fun.