Middlemarch MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

Middlemarch MCQs
Updated on: November 1, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 18 min

Middlemarch MCQs

1. What was the primary reason Miss Brooke preferred plain dress?

A. Economy
B. Religious conviction
C. Provincial dislike
D. Social snobbery

B. Religious conviction.
Dorothea believed feminine fashion was incompatible with the anxieties and eternal consequences of a spiritual life.

2. What key difference existed between the sisters Dorothea and Celia?

A. Looks
B. Wit
C. Common-sense
D. Piety

C. Common-sense.
Dorothea was regarded as clever, but it was noted that her sister Celia possessed a greater amount of common sense.

3. What did Dorothea yearn for in life?

A. Fashionable society
B. Lofty conception of the world
C. Literary fame
D. Martyrdom

B. Lofty conception of the world.
Her mind was theoretical, seeking a grand conception of life that included the parish of Tipton.

4. What object did Sir James Chettam wrongly assume was the reason for Miss Brooke’s high interest?

A. His farming methods
B. Her sister Celia
C. His proposal to her
D. His horses

C. His proposal to her.
Dorothea only considered him a suitor for Celia, debating whether accepting him would be good for her sister.
5. What trait did Dorothea value most in a future husband?

A. Handsome figure
B. Wealthy estate
C. Paternal guidance and wisdom
D. Equal age

C. Paternal guidance and wisdom.
She desired a husband who was like a father, capable of teaching her, even subjects like Hebrew.

6. What immediate plan did Dorothea take up after meeting Mr Casaubon?

A. Learning Greek
B. Drawing cottage plans
C. Organizing documents
D. Reading Pascal

B. Drawing cottage plans.
Dorothea began drawing plans for village buildings she had started, delighting in architectural work.

7. What jewelry did Dorothea decide to keep after dividing them with Celia?

A. Amethyst necklace
B. Pearl cross
C. Emerald ring and bracelet
D. All the ornaments

C. Emerald ring and bracelet.
She kept the emerald ring and bracelet, enjoying their beauty, which she tried to justify religiously.

8. What was Mr Casaubon’s key scholarly project?

A. History of the Vaudois
B. Key to all Mythologies
C. Greek grammar
D. Biblical Cosmology

B. Key to all Mythologies.
Mr Casaubon was engaged in a great work on religious history titled ‘Key to all Mythologies’.

9. What did Celia point out about Mr Casaubon that made him seem unattractive?

A. His sallow complexion
B. His deep eye-sockets
C. His reserved silence
D. Two white moles with hairs

D. Two white moles with hairs.
Celia explicitly asked if Locke, whom Dorothea admired, had the two white moles with hairs on them.
10. How did Dorothea view her marriage to Mr Casaubon?

A. A chance for romance
B. A means to independence
C. A spiritual deliverance
D. A necessary social step

C. A spiritual deliverance.
She hoped it would deliver her from ignorance and guide her along the grandest path of duty.

11. What did Mrs. Cadwallader attribute to Mr Casaubon’s coat of arms?

A. Three cuttlefish sable
B. A commentator rampant
C. A book open
D. A scholar couchant

A. Three cuttlefish sable.
Mrs. Cadwallader speculated on his family quarterings being three cuttle-fish sable, and a commentator rampant.

12. How did Lydgate initially regard Dorothea?

A. As a great scientific mind
B. As a troublesome, earnest woman
C. As an ideal wife
D. As entirely too clever

B. As a troublesome, earnest woman.
Lydgate thought she was a good creature but a little too earnest and difficult because she demanded reasons.

13. What was Lydgate’s great scientific ambition?

A. To discover the source of the Nile
B. To reform the Coroner’s office
C. To unify medical and surgical knowledge
D. To prove Bichat’s theory

C. To unify medical and surgical knowledge.
Lydgate intended to resist the irrational separation between medical and surgical knowledge in practice.

14. What first attracted Lydgate to Rosamond Vincy?

A. Her wealth
B. Her intelligence
C. Her melodic charm
D. Her piety

C. Her melodic charm.
Rosamond gave the impression of exquisite music and had the true melodic charm that attracted Lydgate.
15. What was Fred Vincy’s main immediate financial burden?

A. College fees
B. Gambling debt secured by Caleb Garth
C. Inheriting a poor farm
D. Buying a horse

B. Gambling debt secured by Caleb Garth.
Fred owed Mr. Bambridge 160 pounds, which was secured by Caleb Garth’s signature on a renewed bill.

16. Why did Mrs. Garth have money saved?

A. For family debt
B. For Fred’s college fund
C. For Alfred’s engineering premium
D. For new furniture

C. For Alfred’s engineering premium.
Mrs. Garth had saved ninety-two pounds specifically to pay for Alfred’s premium to Mr. Hanmer’s.

17. What was Caleb Garth’s fundamental view of ‘business’?

A. An unpleasant necessity
B. The acquisition of wealth
C. The most honourable work
D. A path to social rise

C. The most honourable work.
Caleb held ‘business’ to be the sublime labour by which the social body is sustained and most honourable.

18. What condition did Mary Garth place on marrying Fred?

A. He must inherit Stone Court
B. He must leave Middlemarch
C. He must find honourable secular work
D. He must apologize to her father

C. He must find honourable secular work.
Mary would not marry him if he lacked manly independence or entered the Church for mere gentility.

19. Who did Featherstone leave his residual property to?

A. Fred Vincy
B. Jonah Featherstone
C. Joshua Rigg
D. Solomon Featherstone

C. Joshua Rigg.
The remainder of the property, including the land, was left to Joshua Rigg, who took the Featherstone name.
20. What did Featherstone attempt to make Mary do on his deathbed?

A. Fetch the doctor
B. Pray for him
C. Burn the second will
D. Give Fred a message

C. Burn the second will.
The old man wanted Mary to unlock his chest and burn the latest document, offering her money to do it.

21. Why did Mary refuse to destroy the will?

A. It was illegal
B. She feared suspicion
C. She wanted to honour her father
D. It was against her faith

B. She feared suspicion.
Mary declined the request, stating she would not do anything that might lay her open to suspicion.

22. What made Fred Vincy abandon his plan to sell his damaged horse?

A. It was already sold
B. He felt remorse over the debt
C. He ran out of time
D. The horse was too valuable

B. He felt remorse over the debt.
Dread of breaking his word to Caleb Garth and love for Mary forced Fred to confess his failure.

23. What discovery shattered Dorothea’s ‘bridal life’ in Rome?

A. Mr Casaubon’s coldness and intellectual futility
B. The prevalence of pagan art
C. Her lack of knowledge
D. The unsuitability of Italian food

A. Mr Casaubon’s coldness and intellectual futility.
The large vistas she expected in her husband’s mind were instead ante-rooms leading nowhere.

24. What did Mr Casaubon suspect about Dorothea regarding Will Ladislaw?

A. She was sending Will money
B. She encouraged Will’s opposition to him
C. She was secretly meeting him in Rome
D. She was destroying his research

B. She encouraged Will’s opposition to him.
Casaubon suspected Dorothea was encouraging Will’s communications, which he saw as criticism of his actions.
25. What surprising fact did Mr Casaubon reveal about his health to Dorothea?

A. He needed to retire
B. He must stop working immediately
C. He had a possibly fatal heart condition
D. He was completely recovered

C. He had a possibly fatal heart condition.
Lydgate told Casaubon he suffered from fatty degeneration of the heart, often resulting in sudden death.

26. What restriction did Mr Casaubon place on Dorothea in his codicil?

A. She must finish his research wishes
B. She must remain at Lowick
C. She must not question his faith
D. She would forfeit her property if she married Will Ladislaw

D. She would forfeit her property if she married Will Ladislaw.
His codicil stated the bulk of the property would go away from her if she married Ladislaw.
27. What did Dorothea believe was her duty regarding Mr Casaubon’s will?

A. To fulfill his research wishes
B. To give Will Ladislaw part of the property
C. To renounce the whole estate
D. To keep the money for the poor

B. To give Will Ladislaw part of the property.
She felt Casaubon owed Will a share due to the injustice done to Will’s grandmother.

28. Why did Dorothea want Lydgate’s medical advice after her husband’s death?

A. To treat a nervous condition
B. To help the Hospital
C. To learn if Casaubon hid a diagnosis
D. To talk about Will Ladislaw

C. To learn if Casaubon hid a diagnosis.
She wanted to know if Casaubon had hidden any depressing change in symptoms from her before he died.

29. What was Lydgate’s feeling about receiving a loan from Bulstrode?

A. Unmixed joy
B. Grateful relief mingled with scorn for himself
C. Suspicion about the motives
D. Contempt for the amount

B. Grateful relief mingled with scorn for himself.
He was overjoyed at the relief, but felt an unpleasant thought of contrast in having to accept the obligation.
30. Who was John Raffles?

A. Lydgate’s relative
B. Bulstrode’s former disreputable partner
C. The railway engineer
D. A Middlemarch innkeeper

B. Bulstrode’s former disreputable partner.
Raffles was a former associate from Bulstrode’s early pawnbroking business who threatened public exposure.

31. What fact about Bulstrode did Raffles expose to Caleb Garth?

A. Bulstrode’s gambling habit
B. Bulstrode’s early dishonourable business
C. Bulstrode’s political corruption
D. Bulstrode’s excessive pride

B. Bulstrode’s early dishonourable business.
Raffles revealed that Bulstrode gained his fortune through a dishonourable, near-criminal pawnbroking concern.

32. How did Caleb Garth respond to the discovery of Bulstrode’s past?

A. He informed the town council
B. He said nothing but continued working
C. He immediately resigned as Bulstrode’s agent
D. He confronted Raffles publicly

C. He immediately resigned as Bulstrode’s agent.
Caleb was forced to resign all business dealings with Bulstrode, as it hurt his conscience to profit from him.

33. What was the immediate result of Raffles’s sickness at Stone Court?

A. Lydgate cured him completely
B. Bulstrode defied him openly
C. Bulstrode’s secret about his past was endangered
D. Lydgate was dismissed from the Hospital

C. Bulstrode’s secret about his past was endangered.
Raffles became unstable and uncontrollable, increasing Bulstrode’s fear of imminent public disgrace and exposure.

34. What was Lydgate’s strict medical order regarding Raffles’s treatment?

A. To give him moderate opium
B. To give him cold water
C. To give him no alcohol
D. To give him strengthening cordials

C. To give him no alcohol.
Lydgate strictly ordered that Raffles should be denied all liquor in his present condition.
35. What ultimately happened to Raffles?

A. He recovered and fled
B. He became violent and was arrested
C. He died at Stone Court
D. He confessed to Lydgate

C. He died at Stone Court.
Raffles died soon after Bulstrode gave Mrs Abel the key to the wine-cooler, which was a terrible outcome.

36. What public suspicion fell on Lydgate after Raffles’s death?

A. That he was a charlatan
B. That he stole Featherstone’s money
C. That he took a bribe to let Raffles die
D. That he was too proud to help the poor

C. That he took a bribe to let Raffles die.
The town suspected Lydgate of accepting Bulstrode’s money as a bribe to keep silent about foul play.

37. What effect did the scandal have on the professional opinion of Lydgate?

A. It gave him respect
B. It made his name utterly damned
C. It helped his practice
D. It was quickly forgotten

B. It made his name utterly damned.
Lydgate foresaw his practice and reputation were utterly damned in Middlemarch society by the suspicions.

38. What was Lydgate’s dominant desire after the scandal broke?

A. To pay off his debts quickly
B. To expose Bulstrode
C. To stay and fight the calumny
D. To leave Middlemarch immediately

C. To stay and fight the calumny.
Lydgate resolved not to retreat before calumny; he would face it out in Middlemarch to the utmost.

39. How did Rosamond immediately react to Lydgate’s disgrace?

A. Supportive loyalty
B. Sympathetic grief
C. Justified repugnance and isolation
D. Resigned calm

C. Justified repugnance and isolation.
Rosamond returned home with a sense of justified repugnance towards the husband who had become the centre of shame.
40. What was Rosamond’s chief desire after the scandal?

A. For Lydgate to clear his name
B. To move to London
C. To seek help from Sir Godwin
D. To join the Hospital Board

B. To move to London.
Rosamond was intensely set on Lydgate leaving Middlemarch and settling in London.

41. Who provided Lydgate with the thousand pounds to pay his debts?

A. Mr. Vincy
B. Sir James Chettam
C. Mr. Farebrother
D. Dorothea Casaubon

D. Dorothea Casaubon.
Dorothea wrote Lydgate a note and enclosed a check for a thousand pounds to pay off his debt to Bulstrode.

42. What belief about Lydgate did Dorothea cling to intensely?

A. He would get rich quickly
B. He would soon fall in love with her
C. He would never do anything dishonourable
D. He would leave Rosamond

C. He would never do anything dishonourable.
Dorothea was convinced that Lydgate had not acted basely and was determined to vindicate his high character.

43. What did Rosamond tell Dorothea about Will Ladislaw during their final talk?

A. That Will had left her
B. That Will had loved only Dorothea
C. That Will would soon return
D. That Will hated Lydgate

B. That Will had loved only Dorothea.
Rosamond confessed that Will was only using her to discuss his love for Dorothea, not Rosamond herself.

44. What was Dorothea’s initial reaction upon seeing Will and Rosamond together?

A. Calm curiosity
B. Triumphant anger
C. Jealous fear
D. Terrifying certainty filling up all outlines

D. Terrifying certainty filling up all outlines.
She saw them, paused motionless, and felt a terrifying illumination of certainty fill up all the outlines.
45. What had been the one continuous solace for Dorothea after her marriage troubles?

A. Her charity work
B. Her quiet talks with Will Ladislaw
C. Her reading and study
D. Her bond with Celia

B. Her quiet talks with Will Ladislaw.
The only person she found receptive was Will, and her chats with him were like a glimpse of sunny air.

46. What was Will Ladislaw’s immediate reaction when Rosamond taunted him about Dorothea?

A. Laughter
B. Outburst of rage
C. Denial of affection for Dorothea
D. Polite retreat

B. Outburst of rage.
Will darted from her, declaring he never had a preference for Rosamond, only for Dorothea.

47. Why did Will initially return to Middlemarch from London?

A. To help his mother
B. To investigate his parentage
C. To see Dorothea
D. To campaign for Mr. Brooke

C. To see Dorothea.
Will’s resolve to stay away had melted due to being very hungry for the vision of a certain form.

48. What did Dorothea say she hated, which led to her acceptance of Will’s love?

A. Marriage
B. Poverty
C. Her wealth
D. Middlemarch

C. Her wealth.
She hated her wealth because it was the sole impediment that Will felt honorably separated them.

49. What literary characters did Victor Hugo link with prolonged, happy old love?

A. Romeo and Juliet
B. Daphnis and Chlöe
C. Dido and Aeneas
D. Penelope and Ulysses

B. Daphnis and Chlöe.
Hugo states that Daphnis and Chloë are made into Philémon and Baucis, symbolizing lasting love.
50. What was the main motivation for the final marriage of Dorothea and Will?

A. Financial convenience
B. Defying Casaubon’s will
C. Mutual and fervent love
D. Social acceptance

C. Mutual and fervent love.
Their final union was driven by overwhelming love, defying the monetary obstacles and social opinions.

Brief Overview

Middlemarch is a novel written by George Eliot. It explores Dorothea Brooke, who is a thoughtful young woman. She wants a life of great meaning.

She marries the older, scholarly Mr. Casaubon. Their marriage is sad and distant. Casaubon’s young cousin, Will Ladislaw, loves Dorothea.

Ambitious Dr. Lydgate marries the beautiful but selfish Rosamond Vincy. Lydgate soon falls deep into debt. Meanwhile, Rosamond’s brother, Fred Vincy, struggles with idleness. He pursues Mary Garth, who demands he prove his worth.

The banker Nicholas Bulstrode has dark secrets. A man named Raffles threatens to reveal them. Raffles falls ill, and Lydgate attends him. Bulstrode gives Lydgate a large loan. When Raffles dies, the town believes Lydgate took a bribe to keep silent.

Casaubon dies, leaving a will that disinherits Dorothea if she marries Will. Lydgate is disgraced. Dorothea, believing Lydgate is innocent, tries to help. Rosamond confesses that Will truly loves Dorothea. Will and Dorothea marry, accepting a life of poverty for love.

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