Left on the Shelf Trivia Quiz

Answer: Queen Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Ann Boleyn, whom he executed for alleged adultery, of which she may have been guilty and for alleged incest with her brother George, of which she almost certainly was not. After the death of her mother, Elizabeth was declared illegitimate.

Her half sister Mary, the daughter of Katherine of Aragon, Henry's divorced first wife succeeded to the throne after the death of her half brother Edward. Mary was actually married (to Philip II of Spain) but left no children, though she had suffered at least one phantom pregnancy. Elizabeth then became queen and declared her intention of being "married to her people" and was known as "The Virgin Queen". She roundly defeated the Spaniards and broke their sea power, ushering in a new golden age for England.

Answer: Joan of Arc

Modern young people have different heroines but around the turn of the century many young girls were fascinated by the story of the "Maid of Orleans". Joan of Arc was born in Domremy in North East France in 1412. During her trial later she called herself Jehanne La Pucelle or Joan the Maid. From the age of twelve she had had visions and heard voices, which she interpreted as messages from God.

These experiences seem to have been set off or strengthened by the sound of bells. She felt that her mission was to defeat the English forces and establish the Dauphin on the throne as Charles VII, the rightful king of France. Though Roman Catholics revere her as a saint, some modern medical men are of the opinion that she was either an epileptic or a schizophrenic.

This is supported by the fact that the noise of bells appears to provide a trigger for the visions. In any event she was burned at the stake as a heretic rather than a witch or a rebel.

Answer: Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte was born in 1818. Her father was the Rev. Patrick Bronte, the parson of Haworth in Yorkshire, England. Some of her siblings died in childhood- two of the older girls of a fever contracted while away at school. This was a memory relived in the epidemic that swept Lowood school in Charlotte Bronte's book "Jane Eyre". Only Emily, Charlotte, Anne and brother Branwell grew to adulthood. Branwell had talent as a writer and an artist but was a ne'er-do-well and a drunkard. All the girls had literary talent and published books but Emily was arguably the most talented if not the most prolific. "Wuthering Heights" was her only novel. Because of prejudice against women writers the sisters published under the pseudonyms of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell. Like her siblings, she succumbed to tuberculosis.
Charlotte was the only one of the sisters to marry only to die seven months later.
The Bronte museum in Haworth has memorabilia on display.

Answer: Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was a very strong minded Victorian lady whose sheer determination resulted in a tremendous change in the perception of the role of women in society, as well as in the conditions of hospitals in theatres of war.
She was born into a wealthy family and as such was expected only to pursue "accomplishments" and to marry suitably. Consequently she had to fight hard for the opportunity to train as a nurse. Nursing was emphatically not considered a suitable occupation for a well brought up young woman. She persisted however and eventually was responsible for the military hospital in Scutari, in Turkey during the Crimean war. Romantic legends have grown up around her. She went round the wards at night and it is said that men kissed the shadow of "The Lady with the Lamp".
Her stated one wish was that she should not linger into undignified old age but ironically she survived into her nineties. She was also a gifted mathematician.
She received many honours though some have said that the truest heroine of the Crimean hospital scene was West Indian Mary Seacole, who certainly achieved a great deal with far less support and recognition.
Edith Cavell was a heroine of the first World War whose final word was "Patriotism is not enough."
Elizabeth Fry was a prison reformer.

Answer: Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born in 1775 in Hampshire, one of the seven children of a country clergyman. She did not lack suitors but she never married though she came close to it once. In fact she accepted one admirer but withdrew her consent the next morning. She wrote five major novels and her wit and social comments are unrivalled. Of the heroines mentioned in the question, Lizzie and Jane are two of the daughters of Mr and Mrs Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice", arguably her best work. (Winston Churchill reread it every year!) Emma is the eponymous heroine of a novel about the life and loves of a meddlesome yet charming young lady.

Answer: Harper Lee

Writer Harper Lee was born and grew up in Alabama in the twenties and thirties, when racial prejudice was at a cruel and all pervasive peak but it was not until 1959, that she finished the manuscript for her Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller "To Kill a Mockingbird".
The work's essentially central character, in many ways epitomising the writer's own experiences as a young girl of the same age is a young girl nicknamed Scout. With her brother Jem and their friend Dill she explores their growing tentative relationship with a mysterious and somewhat infamous neighbourhood character named Boo Radley, who ultimately saves Scout from a life threatening attack by her father's enemies.
Another aspect of the novel reflects racial prejudices in the South. Their attorney father, Atticus Finch, tries to help a black man who has been unjustly charged with raping a white woman to get a fair trial and to prevent him from being lynched by angry whites in a small town.

Answer: Lizzie Borden

In 1892, a Massachusetts couple Andrew and Abby Borden made headlines when they were found hacked to death in their provincial home. Shortly afterwards their younger daughter was arrested for their murder. There seemed to be no convincing motive however and she was eventually acquitted for lack of evidence. It remains a mystery but would you have risked marrying her?
However mud sticks and she is regarded as guilty in popular culture as the well known rhyme bears witness. It is wrong however. Far fewer blows than that were actually inflicted.
Of the alternative answers, Myra Hindley was one of the two more recent Moors Murderers, Mary Bell a 12 year old child killer and Rosemary West's crimes are best not mentioned! She WAS married and her husband was convicted along with her. Lizzie Borden remained single!

Answer: Helen Keller

Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. In 1882, she fell ill and was struck blind, deaf and consequently mute. Helen's teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her make tremendous progress with her ability to communicate, and Keller went on to college, graduating in 1904. During her lifetime, she received many honours in recognition of her accomplishments.

Answer: Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice, daughter of a teacher mother and a minister father, became in 2005 Secretary of State under George W Bush.
At 39 she had been appointed the youngest University Provost, at the same time becoming also its first black and first female, provost.
She has never been married.
Theresa May is a British politician; Chelsea Clinton is the daughter of President Bill Clinton; Serena Williams is an American tennis star.

Answer: Mother Teresa

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who died in 1997, was an Albanian Roman Catholic Religious Sister and missionary to India. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, who engage in medical and social relief.
Mother Teresa was the recipient of numerous honours including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2003, she was beatified as "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta".
A controversial figure both during her life and after her death, Mother Teresa was widely admired by many for her charitable works, but also widely criticised, particularly for opposing contraception and for allegedly substandard conditions in the hospices for which she was responsible. One supposes that much criticism comes from those who do not share her humanity.