The Woodlanders MCQs

Author's Photo
Have a specific topic you'd like me to cover? Feel free to contact me with your suggestions.
Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 13, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 16 min

The Woodlanders MCQs

1. What runs almost meridionally from Bristol to the south shore?

A. Forsaken coach-road
B. Railway line
C. Coastal path
D. Main highway

A. Forsaken coach-road.
The old coach-road runs almost in a meridional line towards the south shore of England.

2. Who drives the carrier’s van seen on the road?

A. Mrs. Dollery
B. Barber Percombe
C. Marty South
D. Mr. Melbury

A. Mrs. Dollery.
The vehicle loomed into view, and the waiting gentleman recognized it as Mrs. Dollery’s van.

3. What is Little Hintock compared to, requiring a candle to find?

A. A little small place
B. Dark forest
C. Hidden Valley
D. Secret garden

A. A little small place.
Mrs. Dollery describes Little Hintock as small, needing a candle and a lantern to find.

4. Who is the gentleman seeking Little Hintock in the van?

A. Barber Percombe
B. Mr. Fitzpiers
C. Giles Winterborne
D. John South

A. Barber Percombe.
A passenger identifies the curious gentleman as Barber Percombe, a master-barber, a genteel shop owner.
5. What does Barber Percombe want Marty South to sell?

A. Her abundant hair
B. Her spars
C. Her land
D. Her tools

A. Her abundant hair.
Percombe asks Marty if she agrees to let him snip off her abundant chestnut hair.

6. How much does Marty earn per thousand spars?

A. Eighteenpence money
B. One shilling
C. Two pounds
D. Five shillings

A. Eighteenpence money.
Marty reluctantly states that she earns eighteenpence per thousand spars she manufactures for Mr. Melbury.

7. Why does Marty keep her door ajar?

A. Chimney smokes so
B. To let in light
C. To watch for visitors
D. The lock is broken

A. Chimney smokes so.
Marty explains to Percombe that she cannot shut her door because the chimney smokes so much.

8. What is John South afraid will kill him?

A. A tall elm tree
B. A storm
C. Old age
D. A falling branch

A. A tall elm tree.
Marty’s father constantly moans and worries that the tall elm tree will eventually be the death of him.

9. Who is Marty South’s employer for making spars?

A. Mr. Melbury
B. Giles Winterborne
C. Barber Percombe
D. Mrs. Charmond

A. Mr. Melbury.
Marty tells the barber she is making spars for Mr. Melbury, the local timber-dealer.
10. What plan does Melbury have for his daughter, Grace?

A. Marry Giles Winterborne
B. Become a teacher
C. Move to London
D. Marry a doctor

A. Marry Giles Winterborne.
Melbury tells his wife his plan is for Grace to marry Giles Winterborne to right a past wrong.

11. Why did Melbury promise Grace to Winterborne?

A. Wronged Giles’s father
B. Giles is wealthy
C. Grace loves Giles
D. Business partnership

A. Wronged Giles’s father.
Melbury vowed to let Grace marry Giles because he had grievously wronged Giles’s father previously.

12. What does Melbury secretly look at in the garden path?

A. Track of her shoe
B. A hidden message
C. A lost coin
D. Footprints of a stranger

A. Track of her shoe.
Melbury removes a tile in the path to look at the imprint of Grace’s shoe before she goes away.

13. Who correctly guesses that Marty South did the spar work herself?

A. Giles Winterborne
B. Mr. Melbury
C. Barber Percombe
D. Grace Melbury

A. Giles Winterborne.
Giles examines the beautifully split hazels and tells Marty he believes she did the spar work.

14. How does Giles Winterborne describe Marty’s head after cutting her hair?

A. Apple upon a gate-post
B. Like a boy’s
C. Smooth and round
D. Very fashionable

A. Apple upon a gate-post.
Giles, seeing her short hair, remarks that her head looks like an apple upon a gate-post.
15. What trade connections do the Melburys and Winterbornes have?

A. Family alliance tie
B. Business competitors
C. No connection
D. Former partners

A. Family alliance tie.
Giles’s aunt had married Mr. Melbury’s brother, forming a standing social alliance between them.

16. What specific articles of clothing does Robert Creedle wear?

A. Soldier’s jacket and top boots
B. Farmer’s smock
C. Gentleman’s suit
D. Leather apron

A. Soldier’s jacket and top-boots.
Creedle wears a cast-off soldier’s jacket under his smock and hunting top-boots picked up by chance.

17. Why did Melbury keep Grace at boarding school so long?

A. To avoid scornful laughter
B. To learn languages
C. To keep her safe
D. She wanted to stay

A. To avoid scornful laughter.
Melbury vowed his children would never suffer scorn for ignorance, as he did when young.

18. What profession is Mr. Fitzpiers said to have adopted in Little Hintock?

A. A young doctor
B. A lawyer
C. A teacher
D. An artist

A. A young doctor.
A passenger mentions a clever young doctor, later named Fitzpiers, who settles there for practice.

19. What does Farmer Bawtree suggest about the new doctor’s books?

A. Science or black-art
B. Medical journals
C. Religious texts
D. Poetry collections

A. Science or black-art.
Bawtree spreads a rumor that the doctor ordered books on mysterious science or black-art from London.
20. What act does Melbury perform on the gray horse before Giles leaves for Sherton?

A. Blacked the yellow hoofs
B. Brushed its coat
C. Trimmed its mane
D. Fed it oats

A. Blacked the yellow hoofs.
Melbury used a blacking-brush to touch over the animal’s yellow hoofs for a respectable turnout.

21. When Giles meets Grace, what is he holding as an advertisement?

A. Specimen apple tree
B. A sign
C. Samples of timber
D. A basket of apples

A. Specimen apple tree.
Giles was standing, as usual, holding a specimen apple tree to advertise his business wares.

22. Where is Grace looking as Giles drives her home?

A. A far remoter scene
B. The passing fields
C. Giles’s face
D. The road ahead

A. A far remoter scene.
Instead of the homely farmsteads, she beholds a fashionable lawn in a city suburb.

23. What comparison does Giles make about their past intimate conversation?

A. Child’s tattle
B. Serious commitment
C. Fond memory
D. Forgotten words

A. Child’s tattle.
Grace dismisses their former talk about marriage as being merely young children’s tattle.

24. Whom does Grace see sitting with Mrs. Charmond’s coachman?

A. Marty South
B. Grammer Oliver
C. Her father
D. Giles Winterborne

A. Marty South.
Giles points out Marty South, recognizable by her dress, sitting with Mrs. Charmond’s coachman.
25. What colors does the light from Fitzpiers’s house change to?

A. Sapphire through violet to red
B. Red to green to blue
C. Yellow to white
D. Steady blue light

A. Sapphire through violet to red.
The light from the doctor’s house changed color, moving from blue to violet, then eventually to red.

26. What did Grammer Oliver agree to sell Fitzpiers?

A. Her body after death
B. Her cottage
C. Fresh produce
D. Her services as a nurse

A. Her body after death.
Grammer agrees to accept ten pounds for her body to be used as a ‘natomy’ (anatomy/dissection subject).

27. Who does Grace see watching her in the woods?

A. Mr. Fitzpiers
B. Giles Winterborne
C. Her father
D. A poacher

A. Mr. Fitzpiers.
Giles suddenly sees a handsome, gentlemanly personage, who must be Mr. Fitzpiers, watching Grace.

28. What is Giles Winterborne’s marvellous power concerning trees?

A. Making trees grow
B. Cutting them down
C. Identifying species
D. Climbing them

A. Making trees grow.
Giles possesses a marvellous power of making the trees he plants take hold and grow successfully.

29. What does Mrs. Charmond propose to Grace?

A. Dictate travel impressions
B. Become her companion
C. Teach her languages
D. Manage her estate

A. Dictate travel impressions.
Mrs. Charmond wants Grace to dictate her ‘New Sentimental Journey’ impressions of foreign travel.
30. Which classical tragedy author is referenced in connection with Hintock dramas?

A. Sophoclean
B. Shakespearean
C. Aeschylean
D. Euripidean

A. Sophoclean.
Dramas of grandeur and unity, truly Sophoclean, are sometimes enacted in this sequestered, intense place.

31. What does Melbury insist Grace must do to ensure her happiness?

A. Marry well
B. Return to school
C. Learn a trade
D. Stay single

A. Marry well.
After the insult by the huntsman, Melbury insists that Grace must marry well for societal respect.

32. What event leads Melbury to believe Grace has lost favor with Mrs. Charmond?

A. Attending Giles’s party
B. Her father’s behavior
C. Grace’s refusal to help
D. A rumor in town

A. Attending Giles’s party.
Melbury suspects Mrs. Charmond heard about Grace mingling with villagers at Winterborne’s jovial party.

33. The life-holds on Winterborne’s houses depend on the life of which character?

A. John South
B. Mr. Melbury
C. Giles himself
D. Mrs. Charmond

A. John South.
If John South dies, the houses, held on lives, will fall into Mrs. Charmond’s hands.

34. Why does Giles hesitate to cut down South’s elm tree?

A. Belonged to Mrs. Charmond
B. South loved it
C. It was sacred
D. It was too large

A. Belonged to Mrs. Charmond.
Giles was scrupulous about cutting down Mrs. Charmond’s timber without proper permission from her agent.
35. What was the unexpected result of cutting down the elm tree?

A. John South died
B. South recovered
C. The house collapsed
D. Nothing happened

A. John South died.
South was overwhelmed by shock and paralyzed by amazement at the tree’s removal, and died.

36. How does Mrs. Charmond reply to Giles’s letter requesting lease renewal?

A. Refuses the renewal
B. Grants it immediately
C. asks for more money
D. Ignores the letter

A. Refuses the renewal.
Mrs. Charmond’s reply stated that as she was a life-tenant herself, she could not grant Giles a renewal.

37. Where does Giles find the charcoal writing about him losing Grace?

A. Whitewashed rough case
B. On a tree trunk
C. On the church door
D. In a letter

A. Whitewashed rough case.
Giles read the lines, “you’ve lost your dwelling-place… you’ll lose your Grace,” on his house’s whitewashed front.

38. Where does Fitzpiers suggest he and Grace should marry?

A. At a registry office
B. In the local church
C. In London
D. At Hintock House

A. At a registry office.
Fitzpiers dislikes the local church ceremony and suggests a quieter registry office wedding instead.

39. What ancient objects does Fitzpiers’s mind wander to when he sees Grace?

A. Ideal world, philosophy
B. Medical instruments
C. Ancient ruins
D. Nature scenes

A. Ideal world, philosophy.
Fitzpiers was primarily an idealist, preferring abstract philosophy and the perfect idea to the real world.
40. On Midsummer Eve, what ritual do the local girls plan to try?

A. Sowing of hemp-seed
B. Dancing round a fire
C. Picking wildflowers
D. Telling ghost stories

A. Sowing of hemp-seed.
The girls were attempting a form of black-art connected with the magical sowing of hemp-seed.

41. Who intercepts Grace when she rushes round the fatal bush on Midsummer Eve?

A. Mr. Fitzpiers
B. Giles Winterborne
C. Her father
D. Suke Damson

A. Mr. Fitzpiers.
Fitzpiers quickly steps in front of Giles and captures the running Grace as if she were a bird.

42. Who does Fitzpiers pursue and kiss immediately after capturing Grace?

A. Suke Damson
B. Marty South
C. Grammer Oliver
D. Another village girl

A. Suke Damson.
Fitzpiers impulsively pursues Suke Damson after mistaking her identity and kisses her.

43. What is the nationality of the gentleman who lost his way near Hintock House?

A. Italianized American
B. French
C. German
D. Spanish

A. Italianized American.
The emotional stranger tells Giles he is an Italianized American, having fled his homeland.

44. Why does Grace conclude Fitzpiers is underestimating Giles Winterborne?

A. Calls him “that fellow”
B. Ignores him
C. Laughs at him
D. Refuses to speak

A. Calls him “that fellow”.
Fitzpiers refers to Giles as “that fellow,” which Grace finds supercilious and rude, given their shared past.
45. What discovery convinces Grace that Fitzpiers lied to her about Suke Damson?

A. Suke’s teeth are intact
B. Suke confessed
C. She saw them together
D. Found a letter

A. Suke’s teeth are intact.
Grace asks Suke about her teeth, and Suke opens her mouth to show a full set.

46. Where does Grace find the turnpike ticket showing Fitzpiers’s long ride?

A. Husband’s overcoat pocket
B. On the floor
C. In his desk
D. In the carriage

A. Husband’s overcoat pocket.
Grace finds a turnpike ticket from Middleton Gate in Fitzpiers’s overcoat breast-pocket.

47. What does Melbury do immediately after Fitzpiers confesses his love for Felice Charmond?

A. Throws him off the horse
B. Challenges him to a duel
C. Orders him to leave
D. Strikes him with a whip

A. Throws him off the horse.
Melbury, in a rage, seized Fitzpiers and violently flung him headlong into the road.

48. What ultimately prevents Grace’s marriage to Giles after Fitzpiers’s absence?

A. Divorce law is inadequate
B. Giles refuses her
C. Fitzpiers returns
D. Her father objects

A. The divorce law is inadequate.
Fitzpiers’s conduct was not sufficiently cruel, meaning the new law could not break the bond.

49. What fatal mistake does Grace make that immediately precedes Winterborne’s death?

A. Stays in his damp hut
B. Leaves him alone
C. Sends him away
D. Refuses his help

A. Stays in his damp hut.
Grace stays in Giles’s hut, forcing him into the cold and damp, which exacerbates his illness.
50. Why does Marty South feel that Winterborne is now exclusively hers?

A. Grace has forgotten ‘ee
B. She bought his house
C. He left her everything
D. No one else cared

A. Grace has forgotten ‘ee.
Marty whispers to Giles’s grave that Grace has forgotten him, making his memory only hers.

Brief Overview

The Woodlanders is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in book form in 1887. It is a tragic novel set in the rural English community of Little Hintock. The novel centers on a complex love triangle, examining themes of social class and the destructive conflict between natural tradition and artificial modernity.

The story is set among the trees and orchards of Little Hintock. Giles Winterborne, a man of simple goodness and deep connection to nature, loves Grace Melbury.

Grace is the educated daughter of the timber-dealer, Mr. Melbury. Mr. Melbury initially supports their union, but later decides Giles is not refined enough for Grace after her schooling.

Grace is convinced to marry Dr. Fitzpiers, a handsome but morally complex man. Fitzpiers soon proves unfaithful by beginning a relationship with Mrs. Charmond, the wealthy owner of Hintock House. Fitzpiers is severely injured in a fall and later leaves the country with Mrs. Charmond.

Melbury learns of a new law that might allow Grace to divorce Fitzpiers, and he encourages her to return to Giles. Giles, acting out of pure loyalty, gives up his home to shelter Grace when she flees her returning husband. Giles becomes seriously ill from the resulting exposure and tragically dies.

After Giles’s death, Grace reunites with Fitzpiers following an accident that convinces her of his renewed love. They move away from the village. Only Marty South, a simple girl who admired Giles, remains behind, silently mourning his pure character.

5/5 - (1 vote)

Related Posts

Leave a comment

SpunkNotes

Typically replies within few hours

Hello, Welcome to the site. If you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact.