Pi's Who's Who in Haiku Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shylock

Shylock is the villain in the play 'The Merchant of Venice' by William Shakespeare. Bassanio is a young nobleman who, having wasted all his fortune, wants a loan from his friend, Antonio, who is the merchant in the title. The reason that Bassanio wants the money is to court Portia, a rich heiress. Antonio does not have the money but agrees to be the guarantor when Bassanio borrows it from Shylock, the moneylender. Shylock is reluctant to enter into the transaction because Antonio, who hates Jews, has treated him harshly in the past. Finally he agrees but only on condition that if Antonio defaults he must give the moneylender a pound of his flesh. Things go wrong when the merchant's ships are lost at sea and Shylock demands his fee. A dramatic court case ensues, which contains two of Shakespeare's most famous speeches, '"Hath not a Jew eyes'" spoken by Shylock and "The quality of mercy" spoken by Portia. Antonio is saved and Bassanio succeeds in the test that those who want to marry Portia must go through: a test in which they must pick from a gold, a silver or a lead casket. Bassanio picks the correct one, the lead casket, and the marriage takes place.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Alice

The girl is Alice from Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'. In this story Alice follows a white rabbit, who is carrying a pocket watch, down a hole and enters a land where nothing is as it seems. She has many adventures, including tea with the March Hare and the Mad Hatter, meeting the disappearing Cheshire cat, getting advice from a blue caterpillar smoking a hookah and seeing a croquet match in the Queen's Croquet Ground, played with flamingos as mallets and with hedgehogs as balls. The Red Queen is constantly shouting, "Off with his head!" whenever anything happens that she dislikes. There are many more characters and incidents in this wonderful book, which I have read many times.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Pollyanna

'Pollyanna' is a classic children's book, written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter. Set in Vermont, it tells the story of Pollyanna Whittier, a poor orphan who is sent to live with her rich aunt Polly Harrington. Aunt Polly's life is dull and devoted to duty, but Pollyanna's indomitable cheerfulness gradually conquers her aunt as well as most of the other residents of the town. Pollyanna's way of coping with life's trials is to play 'The Glad Game' (as taught to her by her father), in which you have to look for something to be glad about in any given situation.

The moral of the story is that cheerfulness conquers adversity, and there is a deeply Christian message behind it - which doesn't prevent it being very funny in places.

Question by Invinoveritas

Answer: Harry Potter

From the first book, 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', the adventures of J K Rowling's 11-year-old wizard won a place in the hearts of adults and children alike. The seven books in the 'Harry Potter' series each covered one year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, following Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione battling against the evil of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The books have won many awards, as have the films based on the books. J K Rowling was honoured with the OBE in 2000 and in 2012 was granted the Freedom of the City of London.

Question by Jennifer5

Answer: Jane Marple

Miss Marple is Agatha Christie's most famous female heroine. Two others are Ariadne Oliver, a mystery novel writer, and Tuppence Crowley, of the 'Tommy and Tuppence' series. Alvira Meehan is a Mary Higgins Clark character who, with her husband, embarks on a life of adventure (solving crimes along the way) after winning the lottery.

Question by Angelic54

Answer: Frodo

Frodo is the hero of 'The Lord of the Rings'. Written between 1937 and 1949, 'The Lord of the Rings' is J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. At heart it is a classic tale of good versus evil, and the bravery of a small band of adventurers determined to stop their world from being destroyed. In Middle Earth Tolkien created a complete fantasy world in which magic was commonplace, dragons still lived, and a very ordinary little hobbit from the rural Shire would take on the mantle of hero to save everything he held dear. Since it was first published it has never been out of print. The influence of the trilogy can be seen in many other works of fantasy and role playing games.

Question by Christinap

Answer: Stanley Yelnats

Stanley Yelnats is the hero of Louis Sachar's 'Holes', about an adolescent boy who - no - read it yourselves! It has a few plot 'holes' in it, but is worth the read!

Question by angelic54

Answer: Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is a character from Charles Dicken's classic "Great Expectations". She was the daughter of a wealthy brewer and when he died she inherited most of his large fortune. A swindler named Compeyson courted her and she fell in love with him and a marriage was arranged. Compeyson was in league with her half-brother, Arthur, and together they managed to get their hands on a great deal of her money. Then, on the morning of her wedding day, while she was dressing, she received a letter from Compeyson saying that the marriage would not go ahead. She had a breakdown from which she never recovered. She lived the rest of her life in her wedding dress, wearing the one shoe that she had on when the note arrived. The reception room, with the wedding cake on the table, was left exactly as it had been. She is an important character in the book, as her actions had a strong influence on the life of Philip Pirrip ('Pip'), who is the person with the 'Great Expectations'.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Charlotte

E.B. White wrote 'Charlotte's Web' in 1952. The story of a runt piglet destined for slaughter, given a reprieve because of the farmer's daughter's protestations, then rising to stardom, has touched many a child's heart. Charlotte, the spider who lives in the barn above Wilbur's pen, helps to save him from a second date with death when she finds out that the farmer's intention is for Wilbur to take pride of place on the dinner table at Christmas. She decides evasive action is needed and begins to extol Wilbur's virtues in the spinning of her webs. The words evolve with amazing regularity and the farmer decides that he must be "some pig" indeed. Wilbur is feted and finally wins a prize at the county fair, ensuring his longevity. Charlotte, on the other hand, reaches the end of her natural life but leaves, as part of her Magnum Opus, an egg sac which contains her living legacy. As someone who has owned and loved a pet pig as a child, this is one of my particular favourites.

Question by barbarini

Answer: Titania

This question is about Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. The plot, like so many of Shakespeare's, is complicated, and there are actually three different stories being told. Most of it isn't relevant to this question, so we will stick to the bits that are!

The ass's head belongs to Bottom the Weaver, who has been given it by Puck, the servant of Oberon, King of the Fairies, as a joke. Oberon has used the juice of a magic flower to anoint the sleeping eyelids of Titania, Queen of the Fairies; the spell is to make her fall in love with the first thing she sees when she awakes. Needless to say, it's the ass's head of Bottom the Weaver.

Question by Invinoveritas