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Quiz about The Clergy in English Literature

The Clergy in English Literature Quiz

The clergy has figured largely in English literature over the centuries. Here are a few questions about fictional clerics.

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

Author
TabbyTom

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
171,461

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
564

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. One of Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims was a parson. Which pilgrim was the parson's brother? Hint

The Miller

The Plowman

The Friar

The Monk

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Question 2 of 10

2. Among the early English ballads are several about Robin Hood and his merry men. One of the band is a friar. What is his name?

Answer: (Two Words - first word is Friar)

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Question 3 of 10

3. In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," who is the friar who acts as the confidant of the two lovers and supplies the sleeping draught for Juliet? Hint

Friar Joseph

Friar John

Friar Lawrence

Friar James

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Question 4 of 10

4. "The Monk" was an English novel in the Gothic tradition, published in 1796. Who wrote it? Hint

Ann Radcliffe

William Beckford

M. G. Lewis

Horace Walpole

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Question 5 of 10

5. Clerical life and intrigues figure largely in the Barsetshire novels of a mid-nineteenth-century English writer. Who is he? Hint

Anthony Trollope

William Makepeace Thackeray

Charles Dickens

Wilkie Collins

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Question 6 of 10

6. Major Barbara, a Salvation Army officer, is the eponymous character in a play by which dramatist? Hint

J. B. Priestley

Oscar Wilde

George Bernard Shaw

John Galsworthy

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Question 7 of 10

7. What is the name of the priest-detective created by G. K. Chesterton? Hint

Father Green

Father Black

Father Brown

Father White

8. "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" recently appeared among Britain's 100 favourite novels, as selected by BBC TV viewers. In this novel, what is the name of the church in Mugsborough, whose incumbent is the Reverend Mr Bosher? Hint

The Church of the Golden Calf

The Church of the Scribes and Pharisees

The Church of Judas Iscariot

The Church of the Whited Sepulchre

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Question 9 of 10

9. A novel called "A Clergyman's Daughter" was published in 1935. Who was its author? Hint

Aldous Huxley

Arnold Bennett

D. H. Lawrence

George Orwell

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Question 10 of 10

10. Which novel by Graham Greene is set in Mexico and has as its main characters an unnamed Priest and an unnamed Lieutenant ? Hint

The End of the Affair

The Heart of the Matter

The Confidential Agent

The Power and the Glory

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. One of Chaucer's Canterbury pilgrims was a parson. Which pilgrim was the parson's brother?

Answer: The Plowman

"With hym ther was a Plowman, was his brother" (Prologue, line 531). Generally speaking, Chaucer's ecclesiastics are an unedifying bunch. The Friar, the Summoner and the Pardoner see their flock only as a source of money. The Monk and the Prioress are very worldly characters. By contrast, the Parson (a parish priest) is depicted as a genuinely pious man, teaching goodness by example rather than precept, and devoting himself to his parishioners.

The Canterbury Tales conclude with the Parson's sermon on the seven deadly sins.

2. Among the early English ballads are several about Robin Hood and his merry men. One of the band is a friar. What is his name?

Answer: Friar Tuck

Tuck appears in the ballad of "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar," where he gets the better of Robin. The ballad probably dates from the late fifteenth century, though the earliest extant manuscript text was written about two centuries later.

3. In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," who is the friar who acts as the confidant of the two lovers and supplies the sleeping draught for Juliet?

Answer: Friar Lawrence

Friar John is Lawrence's companion who is unable to deliver Lawrence's message about the sleeping draught to Romeo. The other two choices are imaginary.

4. "The Monk" was an English novel in the Gothic tradition, published in 1796. Who wrote it?

Answer: M. G. Lewis

"The Monk," a tale of debauchery, murder and a pact with the devil, is perhaps the most sensational of all the Gothic novels of the time, and made such an impact that its author became widely known as "Monk Lewis."

5. Clerical life and intrigues figure largely in the Barsetshire novels of a mid-nineteenth-century English writer. Who is he?

Answer: Anthony Trollope

The clergy play a prominent part in most of the Barsetshire novels - especially in "Barchester Towers," which involves rivalries for a bishopric and a deanery.

6. Major Barbara, a Salvation Army officer, is the eponymous character in a play by which dramatist?

Answer: George Bernard Shaw

Shaw called the play "a discussion in three acts," possibly accepting the widespread criticism that he was more interested in debating ideas than in portraying action.

7. What is the name of the priest-detective created by G. K. Chesterton?

Answer: Father Brown

The Father Brown stories were published in five collections between 1911 and 1935. The word frequently used of Chesterton's detective is "intuitive": he relies on the knowledge of the human mind and soul which he has probably gained over the years in the confessional.

Answer: The Church of the Whited Sepulchre

The novel is the story of the hardships of a group of house-painters in the early twentieth century. They are "philanthropists" because they work entirely for the wellbeing and prosperity of others, i.e. their employers. "Whited Sepulchre" is a reference to Matthew 23:27, where Christ denounces the scribes and Pharisees as being like painted tombs, beautiful when seen from the outside but full of corruption.

The novel is based on the author's own working life in my home town of Hastings.

9. A novel called "A Clergyman's Daughter" was published in 1935. Who was its author?

Answer: George Orwell

The eponymous heroine is the daughter of an East Anglian vicar. During and after a bout of amnesia, she spends some time as a hop-picker in Kent, a beggar in London and a teacher in an appalling private school. It shows Orwell's skill as a social reporter rather than as a novelist.

10. Which novel by Graham Greene is set in Mexico and has as its main characters an unnamed Priest and an unnamed Lieutenant ?

Answer: The Power and the Glory

Greene admitted that the novel was "written to a thesis," but the novel is much more than a simple allegory.

Source: Author TabbyTom

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