Wednesday, July 18, 2018

A DOUBLE LITERARY QUIZ


As something different from my past practice, today I have a double literary quiz for you, and here’s how it works: the answers to the two quizzes are related in a significant way.


QUIZ A:  I’m thinking of a work of English literature in which all of the following details are present:

One: There is a principal character named “Diana”, who works actively to manage the lives of others;

Two: The cure of illness is a major theme of the story;

Three: There is a curious reference to a character being “chill(y) and tender”;

Four: There are notable references to “gates”;

Five: There are notable references to “fires”;

Six: There is a strong subtext of unsavory sex with a young woman, including a suggestion of the horrific Early Modern myth that sex with a virgin female would cure venereal disease in a man; and

Seven: There is a young rake who appears to have no scruples about seducing an unmarried virgin.


QUIZ B: I am thinking of another work of literature in which all of the following details are present:

One: Key action of the story takes place in a “watering-hole” seaside community with a name that begins with the syllable “Sand-“, a place that symbolizes the displacement of traditional country mores by a modern fever for profit and development;

Two: At the end of the story (in its final form), the young heroine travels to that watering-hole;

Three: There is a subtext pointing to Milton’s Paradise Lost;

Four: There is a predatory young rake who endangers a vulnerable young country woman.

Five: There is a woman involved in (or with) the story, who dies tragically, long before her time, in Winchester (or a place sounding a lot like Winchester).


What the two works of literature, and how are they related???

Cheers, ARNIE
@JaneAustenCode on Twitter



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