Classic Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 185
Which author wrote the 1722 novel 'Colonel Jack' that you might read if stranded on a desert island?
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daniel defoe
In which 1897 novel by Bram Stoker does the character Lucy Westenra become a vampire?
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dracula
Which character is adopted in the last chapter of a famous Charles Dickens novel and could have had the surname Brownlow instead?
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oliver twist
Which novel features the character Jake Barnes?
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sun also rises
What is the name of the hero in the Old English poem who dies while killing a dragon that attacked the Geats?
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beowulf
What classic French novel had a first sequel titled 'Twenty Years After'?
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three musketeers
In Edgar Allan Poe's 1835 work 'The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall', where does Hans Pfaall journey to after traveling 231,920 miles in a balloon?
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moon
Which one-shoed girl is known by names such as Rashin Coatie, Aschenputtel, and Zezolla in different versions of a popular fairy tale?
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cinderella
In which literary work is a prioress named Madame Eglentyn one of the pilgrims traveling to Becket's tomb?
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canterbury tales
Which novel by Alexandre Dumas features a Chapter 21 titled 'My Lady de Winter'?
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three musketeers
Which author wrote the 1865 novel 'From the Earth to the Moon' that has a launch site near Tampa, Florida?
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jules verne
In Gilbert & Sullivan's classic rhyme, what is described as 'skim milk masquerades as'?
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cream
Which Dickens novel features the characters Mr. Jaggers, Herbert Pocket, and Pip?
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great expectations
What is the title of Richard Wright's 1940 novel about the character Bigger Thomas?
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native son
Which feline character from 'Alice in Wonderland' is known for disappearing slowly, starting with its tail and ending with its grin?
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cheshire cat
In which George Orwell novel does Big Brother serve as the dictator of Oceania?
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1984
In which Wilkie Collins novel does Sergeant Cuff investigate a missing diamond?
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moonstone
What is the title of Mario Puzo's saga about the Corleone family, which was one of the best-selling novels of the 1970s?
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godfather
Which book by Robert Louis Stevenson features a frontispiece with a detailed map?
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treasure island
In which collection of Chaucer's tales can 'The Miller's Tale' be found, known for its bawdy humor?
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canterbury tales
Which tragedy by Shakespeare featured singers and dancers playing the witches during the Restoration?
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macbeth
What is the famous 'gift' described in Book II of Virgil's 'The Aeneid'?
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trojan horse
Which tale features a sleepy Dutch colonist who encounters the spirits of Henry Hudson's crew playing ninepins?
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rip van winkle
Which classic by Johann Wyss was inspired by 'Robinson Crusoe'?
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swiss family robinson
Who is the boy that Bagheera, the black panther, watches over in 'The Jungle Book'?
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mowgli
Which literary character saw Jacob Marley's face on his front door when he went home on Christmas Eve?
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ebenezer scrooge
Which author wrote the 1835 short story 'Young Goodman Brown' that explores themes of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts?
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nathaniel hawthorne
Which Dickens novel, published in the 19th century, introduced the characters Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit?
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martin chuzzlewit
In the novel where Princess Elizabeth Tverskoy serves as a mediator, who is the title heroine connected to Count Vronsky?
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anna karenina
In which Dostoyevski novel are Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha the title characters?
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brothers karamazov
Who is the main character in the Cervantes novel who becomes obsessed with chivalry and decides to be a knight errant?
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don quixote
Which author wrote the first published version of 'Berenice' in 1835, considered one of his most horrifying tales?
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edgar allan poe
Which title literary character is hanged for the murder of a sadistic master-at-arms named Claggart?
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billy budd
In which 1667 Milton poem do Adam and Eve confront God about their eviction, reminiscent of a talk show confrontation?
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paradise lost
Which character is followed by detective Fix in 'Around the World in Eighty Days,' under the suspicion that he is a bank robber?
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phileas fogg
In which novel by Upton Sinclair is the story of a Lithuanian immigrant family working in the meat-packing industry depicted?
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jungle
Which poet, whose name could be interpreted as 'So fair art thou, my bonnie lass, / So deep in luve am I; / And I will luve thee still, my dear, / Till a' the seas gang dry,' is known for writing love poetry?
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robert burns
Which author wrote a sea tale in 1850 called 'White-Jacket' and followed it with a story about a white object?
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herman melville
Who is the title character of Thomas Love Peacock's 1822 novel that also features Robin Hood?
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maid marian
In which Shakespearean drama does the character Trinculo appear as a jester in a 'stormy' setting?
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tempest
Who wrote the famous line 'There was an old man with a beard, who said 'It is just as I feared''?
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edward lear
In which 1862 novel does ex-convict Jean Valjean steal silverware from the Bishop of Digne?
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les misérables
What 1837 novel by Charles Dickens is both picaresque and has a title that sounds like its adventurous nature?
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pickwick papers
In which 1840s novel does Little Nell's grandfather lose his store to the evil Daniel Quilp?
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old curiosity shop
In which Russian novel are the father and one of the title siblings rivals for a woman named Grushenka?
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brothers karamazov
In which 1860 novel do Miss Havisham's clocks remain stopped?
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great expectations
In which Bronte novel is Cathy described as 'the queen of the country-side' at fifteen, having no peer?
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wuthering heights
Which novel by Voltaire begins in the noble castle of Baron Thunder-Ten-Tronckh in Westphalia?
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candide
Who authored the book that covers the life of Amory Blaine, who is part of the Lost Generation, in 'This Side of Paradise'?
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f. scott fitzgerald
According to Edgar Allan Poe's essay 'The Philosophy of Composition', which poem did he describe as his best-known work?
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raven
In which Old English poem does part of the action take place in Hrothgar's great hall Heorot?
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beowulf
In 1846, which sisters published a collection of poems using the pen names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell?
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brontë sisters
What is the first name of the characters 'Lapham' by William Dean Howells and 'Marner' by George Eliot?
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silas
In Albert Payson Terhune's 1919 story, 'Lad' is what type of animal?
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dog
What is the title of Emily Bronte's only novel, published just one year before her tragic death?
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wuthering heights
Which author's 'Northanger Abbey' features the character Catherine Morland, a country parson's daughter?
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jane austen
In the epic poem 'Beowulf', who is the monster that devours Hondscio, one of Beowulf's men?
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grendel
Who is the boar that becomes the dictator of all the animals in George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'?
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napoleon
Who is the author of 'Vanity Fair' whose middle name was Makepeace?
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william makepeace thackeray
What is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling in the novel by Emily Bront�?
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wuthering heights