Wednesday, March 7, 2012

'Northanger Abbey' Quiz Answers


Well, I see that someone out there has done their homework!  Way to go! Pat yourself on the back - you are the only persons brave enough to answer all 18 questions of the quiz (let alone one). Some of the answers in the book may vary a bit, so here they are. (Taken from So You Think You Know Jane Austen?: A Literary Quizbook by John Sutherland & Deirdre Le Faye.)

1) Q. How many children do the Reverend Mr and Mrs Morland have? How many of their Christian names do we know?

A. The Moreland's have 10 children. At the beginning of the narrative Catherine is 17 (18 when she marries). She has 3 older brothers, James (about 22), Richard (about 20), and a third, unnamed (about 18). Sarah ('Sally') is 16. When Catherine returns to Fullerton and the end of the novel we are briefly introduced to the two youngest of the family, George (6) and Harriet (4). There are 3 unnamed boys between Sally and George (we assume they are boys because they are away at school).

2) Q. Where did Henry go to university?
A. Oxford. But he in no way resembles his fellow Oxonian, Thorpe.

3) Q. What are the 'friends of Henry's solitude' at Woodston?
A. 'A large Newfoundland puppy and 2 or 3 terriers'

4) Q. What aspect of Catherine's walk does General Tilney particularly admire?
A. The elasticity, meaning Catherine's gait is springy, lithe, light-footed.

5) Q. What do we know of Henry's complexion and what does this mean?
A. He has 'brown skin, with dark eyes, and rather dark hair'. Fair and pallid complexions were more fashionable. Henry's color suggests an outdoor life. His brother, Captain Fredrick Tilney, has a florid complexion suggestive of a dissipated mode of life which his brother, Henry, avoids.

6) Q.What color dress (as Mrs Allen's needle-sharp eye notes) does Miss Tilney 'always wear'?
A. White. It means the Tilneys have a full compliment of servants. She need not wear clothes more than once before they are laundered. In Mansfield Park, Mrs Norris believes in turning away maids who presume to wear white - that colour is above their station in life.

7) Q. Who says, 'after all the romancers may say, there is no doing without money'?
A. Isabella Thorpe, gold-digger that she is.

8) Q. For what does the General rebuke Fredrick on the day the rest of the family leave Bath?
A. Being late for breakfast.

9) Q. Why, having just arrived at Bath (to arrange accommodations for himself and his father and his sister) does Henry suddenly leave, and what should we deduce from his departure?
A. He returned to Woodston to take a Sunday service, declining to leave it to his curate. His conscientiousness contrasts with that of the two truanting Oxonians.

10) Q. On the trip to Northanger Abbey we are informed that Catherine has a 'new writing desk'. What may we deduce from it?
A. She is dutifully thinking of writing letters, and, needless to say, this is a good quality in Austen's fictional world. Catherine must have bought it with money given her for clothes. Isabella, doubtless, would have not wasted her substance on a writing desk.

11) Q. Why does Catherine not, as she plans, steal out at midnight to investigate the 'mysterious apartments' in which, she is convinced, the General's poor wife is secretly incarcerated?
A. She falls asleep.

12) Q. Why does Jane Austen specifically tell us that Catherine has a 'charming game of play with a litter of puppies just able to roll about' in Henry's stable-yard at Woodston?
A. Catherine is an instinctively affectionate country-bred girl, without any squeamish fears of getting her hands or dress dirty, and Henry observes her kindheartedness.

13) Q. In the company of Henry and Eleanor, General Tilney clearly seems to think that Catherine is the Allens' heiress (basing this on John Thorpe's misinformation). Are Eleanor and Henry similarly deceived as to Catherine's wealth and handsome prospects?
A. Surely not. Eleanor would have noted Catherine's lack of valuable jewels and modest wardrobe.

14) Q. Catherine thinks Isabella is now engages to Captain Tilney and that the Captain will gallop back to his father (as James rushed back to Fullerton) for paternal permission. Henry's guess is that his brother's marrying Isabella is 'not probable'. Has he know this from the first?
A. Yes.

15) Q. Why has Catherine, even before the General's wrathful return, suggested that she should, perhaps, leave?
A. She will be intruding, she says, and intruding on the privileges of a guest. One presumes the Morlands have brought their children up to be well mannered.

16) Q. Why is Henry not at Northanger Abbey when Catherine is summarily banished?
A. It is Sunday and he is taking the service at Woodston.

17) Q. How long is it before Henry appears at Fullerton to propose?
A. Three days. He has taken a whole day to consider his rebellious action. It is a rational decision, he has, of course, his ('very considerable') personal fortune from his mother's 'settlements'.

18) Q. How long do Henry and Catherine have to wait for parental consent?
A. One year.


5 comments:

Lit~Lass said...

Ah, I kept intending to make the time to search for the answers I didn't know and post them. But even though I hadn't quite finished the task in time, it made me do some more careful thinking on the one of The Great Six with which I'm least familiar. (I feel vaguely like my failure to answer the questions in time is a failing for which Mr. Knightley should scold me.)

The answer to #9 was the most interesting. I read a discussion once about whether or not Edmund gave up his first living when he got the Mansfield one, and whether he would be inconsistent with his high profession in leaving it to a curate. I'm proud of Henry!

I must watch the most recent NA soon; the pictures are so lovely.

Esther said...

I won't tell Mr Knightly. :) Yes, you should watch this version. I'd like to know what you think. I really enjoyed your post on the new Jane Eyre movie. I wish I had thought of the Pre-Raphaelite feel: Once you pointed it out it seemed so obvious! I also liked your take on Fassbender's Rochester. I had the same thoughts, but could not articulate them as well. You pointed out little things which I should've noticed but didn't. I'm not nearly as proficient in the book as you are though! What I'm saying is, let's see the other 6 pages! :)

Lit~Lass said...

Yes, I definitely want to see that new NA soon.

I'm glad you enjoyed my JE2011 post. Actually those six pages are very random comments, so if I can't organize them into something with flow I'll just post them as a comment on the review and then tell you. ;)

Lit~Lass said...

Some extra thoughts are now up in the comments to my JE post, if you're still interested. :)

Esther said...

I am! I'll check it out.