The Women of "Poldark" II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rosina

When your first fiance turns out to be a traitor to his neighbours and your second fiance goes back to his first love, well, what's a girl to do? Take up with the local Methodist preacher, perhaps? The one who just happens to be the brother of Fiance II, and of Mistress Demelza Poldark? That's an idea. Of course, there's that little matter of the treacherous girl down the street--Love was never without pitfalls for Rosina, but her matter-of-fact and practical nature kept her on course.

She also had an earlier storyline in which she came triumphantly through illness, with some help from the kind local doctor and her own determined spirit. An admirable character, is Rosina.

Answer: Andromeda

Miss Andromeda "Drommie" Page made her brief appearance wearing feathers, bangles, jewels, and sneering expressions. Her guardian (and, it would seem, a little something more than that) was a dangerous Member of Parliament named Monk Adderley. The salacious Adderley, busy with trying to seduce Demelza, palmed Drommie's company off on Ross, probably in an attempt to distract him (nice try). Andromeda's take on the Poldarks' marriage reflected the class-conscious snobbery of her times and station in life. Ross dismissed her comments ever so politely.

Answer: Emma

Emma Tregirls portrayed herself as the village fast girl, but she was more talk than action when it came to the men. She even flirted with one of the village thugs who were employed by the ever-so-corrupt George Warleggan---ugh! Emma amused herself by promising Preacher Sam Carne, brother of Demelza, that she would come to his Methodist prayer meetings and work on her spiritual life if Sam entered into, and won, a fight competition at the Feast of St. Sawle.

Not the best way to get parishioners into the fold, but it made for good drama.

Answer: Esther

Esther expected a wicked stepmother - or rather, she had decided that any woman who took her late mother's place was wicked, in her book. Esther didn't count on Verity's quiet, firm resolve or on her ability to be kind and set boundaries at the same time. Verity had won over other characters in the story (Demelza was terrified, initially, to have such a well-bred lady for a cousin-in-law.... and yet they became deeply bonded friends) and she was determined to do so with Esther as well.

Answer: Lady Whitworth

Lady Whitworth was not PHYSICALLY abusive, but she found all sorts of other ways to make daughter-in-law Morwenna's life absolute hell - child custody issues and threats of unwarranted institutionalization, for example. Lady W. could never understand why her precious son (a sleazy vicar who strutted around giving a bad name to clergymen everywhere just by his behaviour) hadn't inspired Morwenna's devotion (actually, what he inspired was Morwenna's revulsion). Lady Whitworth was one of those paradoxical women who was strong and domineering herself, but generally found girls "useless to anyone," as she put it.

Answer: Bessie

Why, you may wonder, put Bessie into this quiz, when most of what she did in the series was merely baby-carrying and toddler-shepherding for the Warleggans? Because Bessie typified the servant of a great house, for better and for worse. As expected, she stood or sat quietly and impassively waiting for instructions to take the children, all the while as family fights ran rampant in the room, physical and mental illness in turn pervaded the house, and at one point a riot developed at the doorstep! Through the turmoil of an unstable and unpredictable environment, Bessie appeared to be the only glimmer of quiet strength for little Valentine and baby Ursula. One had to wonder what Bessie was thinking about her employers, their impact on the villagers, and the fate of the children.

Answer: Tess

Tess Tregeddin appeared as a "new" character to the "Poldark" world; in other words, she wasn't created by "Poldark" book series author Winston Graham. Tess was a creation of Debbie Horsefield, who wrote the "Poldark" remake and included, via series five, a fill-in of the years that elapsed between the events of the somewhat-earlier and the later books. Tess would be considered a difficult young woman in any era.

A pseudo-revolutionary, she was basically out for one person - Tess. Not only did she create trouble in and around Sawle, but she relished doing it.

Answer: Kitty

Catherine "Kitty" Despard was different from the other female characters in one very important way - she was a real person rather than a fictional one. Kitty and her husband Ned Despard were true historical figures who were brought into the "Poldark" world by screenwriter Debbie Horsefield.

In reality, Kitty's life before marriage to Ned is mostly a mystery, but most historians agree that Kitty was born to a freedwoman and therefore not, as her series character was, a former slave. In real life and in the series, Kitty was an abolitionist and, as a result of the conditions which her husband endured whilst in the Cold Bath Fields penitentiary, a champion of prison reform. Kitty had several powerful scenes in which she spoke publicly and eloquently against slavery and tyranny.

Answer: Margaret

Margaret, an early character in the series, was a lady of the evening who frequented card games as well as bedrooms. Either she actually had a gift for palm reading, or she was just a judge of character who could play off being a fortuneteller as well as her other profession. For a time, Francis Poldark availed himself of Margaret's favours, when his marriage to Elizabeth appeared to be going sour.

It was very unusual for Elizabeth to find herself in the position of the betrayed woman rather that that of the femme fatale.

Answer: Jinny

Villager Jinny Carter is also from the early part of the series. Her situation became dire after her husband was arrested for poaching. She was overjoyed when Demelza, who had only recently become mistress of Nampara, appeared at Jinny's doorstep and offered her a place in the Nampara kitchen.

This was a step for Demelza, who did not yet see herself fully in the role of lady of the house, and was still coming into her own. Ross had assigned Demelza the task of hiring her own servants in an effort to help her feel the part.