Charles Dickens

Study question Charles Dickens

Facts about Charles Dickens

➾ As a boy, Charles Dickens was the only member of his immediate family not sent to a debtor’s prison.

➾ Dickens literally worked himself to death, collapsing during physically shattering public reading tours that sped up his demise.

➾ The heroic self-sacrifice in A Tale of Two Cities was inspired by an acting role Dickens himself played on stage.

➾ At the height of his fame, roughly one out of every ten people in Victorian England was an avid reader of his work.

➾ Dickens rehearsed his novels by acting out his characters in a mirror before writing them down.

➾ The traumatic factory job he despised as a child became the single greatest resource for his famous novels.

➾ The personal turmoil of separating from his wife during an affair directly coincided with his writing of the revolutionary classic, A Tale of Two Cities.

➾ A painful rejection by his first love fueled the emotional drama in some of his most famous characters, like David Copperfield.

➾ He often wrote his serialized novels at a breakneck pace, sometimes finishing an installment just days before it was published.

➾ His stories were so popular that even those who couldn’t read knew them, thanks to as many as 20 London theatres performing adaptations at once.

➾ He died so suddenly that his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

Charles Dickens MCQs

1. When was Charles Dickens born?

A. February 7, 1820
B. December 9, 1812
C. February 7, 1812
D. June 9, 1870

C. February 7, 1812

Dickens was one of the most famous authors of the Victorian era in England.

2. In what English city was Charles Dickens born?

A. London
B. Chatham
C. Coketown
D. Portsmouth

D. Portsmouth

He was born in Portsmouth, a city on the southern coast of England where his father worked for the Navy Pay Office.

3. What was Charles Dickens’s father, John Dickens, employed as?

A. A schoolmaster
B. A clerk for the Naval Pay office
C. A solicitor
D. A factory manager

B. A clerk for the Naval Pay office

His father’s job was respectable, but his inability to manage money caused the family great hardship.

4. Why was Dickens’s father imprisoned when Charles was young?

A. For theft
B. For debt
C. For political treason
D. For libel

B. For debt

His father’s imprisonment for debt was a humiliating experience that deeply affected Dickens’s life and writing.

5. At what age did Dickens first go to work at a blacking warehouse?

A. Ten
B. Twelve
C. Fifteen
D. Sixteen

B. Twelve

This difficult period of child labor gave him a firsthand understanding of poverty and industrial hardship.

6. Which novel recounts Dickens’s experiences with poverty semi-autobiographically?

A. Great Expectations
B. David Copperfield
C. Oliver Twist
D. A Tale of Two Cities

B. David Copperfield

Many events in this novel, especially David’s time working in a factory, are based on Dickens’s own childhood.

7. What major theme grew out of his experiences in the blacking warehouse?

A. Romantic love
B. Historical accuracy
C. Social justice and reform
D. The beauty of nature

C. Social justice and reform

His early experiences with poverty made him a lifelong advocate for social reform in his novels.

8. Who was a major influence on Dickens’s imagination as a young boy?

A. His father, John Dickens
B. His nursemaid, who told him stories
C. Lord Crew
D. Miguel de Cervantes

B. His nursemaid, who told him stories

The scary and vivid stories his nursemaid, Mary Weller, told him had a lasting impact on his imagination.

9. What characteristic of picaresque novels influenced his idea to serialize his works?

A. Their focus on nobility
B. Their use of high prose
C. Their series of loosely linked adventures
D. Their short length

C. Their series of loosely linked adventures

The structure of these adventure stories was well-suited for publishing in separate, exciting monthly installments.

10. How did Dickens launch his career as a journalist with little formal schooling?

A. He inherited money for tuition.
B. He taught himself shorthand.
C. He secured a letter of recommendation.
D. He was taught by his father.

B. He taught himself shorthand.

His skill in shorthand allowed him to work as a reporter, giving him material for his stories and novels.

11. At what age did Dickens get a job as a court reporter?

A. Twelve
B. Fourteen
C. Sixteen
D. Twenty

C. Sixteen

He started his journalism career at a very young age due to his skill and determination.

12. The newspaper A Mirror of Parliament reported on the decisions of which body?

A. The Monarchy
B. The courts
C. Parliament
D. The Royal Society

C. Parliament

His time as a parliamentary reporter gave him a cynical view of politics and government bureaucracy.

13. To aid in his writing, Dickens was known to act out characters using what tool?

A. A stage
B. The mirror
C. A puppet
D. The pen

B. The mirror

He would make faces and speak his characters’ dialogue in a mirror to bring them to life before writing.

14. After becoming disillusioned with politics, Dickens contributed to which type of publication?

A. A scholarly journal
B. A financial newspaper
C. A radical newspaper, the True Sun
D. A children’s magazine

C. A radical newspaper, the True Sun

His disillusionment with mainstream politics led him to contribute to more radical publications.

15. What was Dickens doing professionally until the end of his life, besides writing novels?

A. Acting on stage
B. Editing magazines and continuing journalistic work
C. Practicing law
D. Teaching at a university

B. Editing magazines and continuing journalistic work

Dickens was a respected magazine editor, publishing his own work and that of other writers.

16. How many substantial novels did Charles Dickens complete?

A. Eight
B. Ten
C. Fifteen
D. Twenty

C. Fifteen

He was an incredibly productive writer, completing fifteen major novels in his lifetime.

17. What was the title of the novel Dickens left unfinished?

A. Barnaby Rudge
B. Our Mutual Friend
C. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
D. Bleak House

C. The Mystery of Edwin Drood

He died before completing this mystery novel, and the solution to the central crime remains unknown.

18. Which serialized work gave Dickens his first true success?

A. Oliver Twist
B. The Pickwick Papers
C. A Christmas Carol
D. Great Expectations

B. The Pickwick Papers

The monthly installments of this comic novel were a publishing sensation and made Dickens famous.

19. How many copies of each monthly issue of The Pickwick Papers were sold?

A. Under ten thousand
B. Exactly twenty thousand
C. Over forty thousand
D. Over one hundred thousand

C. Over forty thousand

The immense popularity of the series made Dickens a household name across Britain.

20. What major publishing practice did Dickens make profitable?

A. Writing historical fiction
B. Serialization of novels
C. Using famous illustrators
D. Publishing in hardback

B. Serialization of novels

By publishing his novels in cheap monthly or weekly parts, he made them accessible to a huge audience.

21. In 1836, Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of whom?

A. A close relative
B. Lord Crew
C. A fellow co-worker at his newspaper
D. His publisher

C. A fellow co-worker at his newspaper

He married the daughter of George Hogarth, the editor of the paper where he worked as a young journalist.

22. How many children did Dickens and Catherine Hogarth have?

A. Three
B. Six
C. Eight
D. Ten

D. Ten

Despite having a large family, his marriage to Catherine was not a happy one and ended in separation.

23. When did Dickens and Catherine Hogarth separate?

A. 1843
B. 1850
C. 1858
D. 1868

C. 1858

Their separation after a long marriage was a major public scandal at the time, especially given his fame.

24. What two early novels followed The Pickwick Papers?

A. Bleak House and Great Expectations
B. Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby
C. A Tale of Two Cities and Barnaby Rudge
D. Hard Times and Little Dorrit

B. Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby

These novels cemented his fame and showed his growing interest in social criticism and memorable characters.

25. Which 1843 work reflects Dickens’s disenchantment with society’s obsession with money?

A. David Copperfield
B. A Christmas Carol
C. Martin Chuzzlewit
D. The Old Curiosity Shop

B. A Christmas Carol

This famous holiday story is a powerful moral tale about greed, poverty, and personal redemption.

26. In which decade did Dickens’s travels abroad begin?

A. The 1820s
B. The 1840s
C. The 1850s
D. The 1860s

B. The 1840s

His travels to America and Italy in the 1840s provided material for travel books and his novels.

27. Which of Dickens’s weekly periodicals published A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations?

A. The Daily News
B. The Morning Chronicle
C. Household Words (later All the Year Round)
D. Bentley’s Miscellany

C. Household Words (later All the Year Round)

As an editor, he serialized some of his most famous novels in his own popular magazines.

28. Which book inspired him to write A Tale of Two Cities?

A. Shakespeare’s histories
B. Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution
C. Don Quixote
D. Arabian Nights

B. Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution

Dickens drew heavily on Carlyle’s vivid historical account for the events and atmosphere of his novel.

29. Dickens was inspired by his role in which play by Wilkie Collins?

A. The Woman in White
B. The Frozen Deep
C. The Moonstone
D. No Name

B. The Frozen Deep

His performance as a man who sacrifices himself for his rival gave him the core idea for *A Tale of Two Cities*.

30. In 1859, A Tale of Two Cities premiered in which new journal?

A. The True Sun
B. A Mirror of Parliament
C. All the Year Round
D. The Daily News

C. All the Year Round

This was the successor to his earlier magazine, *Household Words*, and a major vehicle for his later work.

31. What activity began to exact a great physical toll on Dickens in the 1860s?

A. Running the blacking warehouse
B. Public readings of his works
C. Editing The Daily News
D. Touring Europe

B. Public readings of his works

His dramatic public performances were immensely popular but were also physically and emotionally exhausting.

32. A series of readings in which country sped Dickens’s decline?

A. France
B. America
C. Italy
D. Scotland

B. America

An extensive and grueling reading tour in America left him in poor health from which he never fully recovered.

33. When did Charles Dickens die?

A. February 7, 1812
B. May 1, 1869
C. June 9, 1870
D. December 25, 1870

C. June 9, 1870

He died of a stroke at the age of 58, leaving his final novel, *The Mystery of Edwin Drood*, unfinished.

34. Where was Charles Dickens buried?

A. Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey
B. Portsmouth Cathedral
C. Gad’s Hill
D. London’s Royal Cemetery

A. Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey

Despite his wish for a private burial, he was given a national honor and interred in the famous London abbey.

35. In terms of fame, Dickens is considered second only to whom among English writers?

A. William Wordsworth
B. Jane Austen
C. William Shakespeare
D. Thomas Carlyle

C. William Shakespeare

His enduring popularity and vast cast of memorable characters place him second only to Shakespeare in English literature.

36. What were two of Dickens’s earlier jobs that provided him with knowledge?

A. Teacher and doctor
B. Law clerk and court reporter
C. Factory worker and soldier
D. Actor and stage manager

B. Law clerk and court reporter

These jobs gave him intimate knowledge of London’s legal world, which he often criticized in his novels.

37. What did Dickens’s writing provide a sympathetic chronicle of?

A. The plight of the aristocracy
B. The plight of the urban poor in nineteenth-century England
C. The history of Parliament
D. The wealth of factory owners

B. The plight of the urban poor in nineteenth-century England

His novels are famous for their vivid and compassionate portrayal of the struggles of the poor in Victorian cities.

38. The influx of urban workers in Dickens’s novels was associated with what?

A. The Age of Enlightenment
B. The Renaissance
C. The Industrial Revolution
D. The Agricultural Revolution

C. The Industrial Revolution

Dickens’s novels capture the massive social changes and urban poverty created by the Industrial Revolution.

39. Who was the actress Dickens fell in love with, leading to his separation?

A. Lucie Manette
B. Ellen Ternan
C. Catherine Hogarth
D. Maria Beadnell

B. Ellen Ternan

His relationship with the young actress Ellen Ternan was a major factor in the breakdown of his marriage.

40. The love triangle in The Frozen Deep became the basis for which novel?

A. Great Expectations
B. David Copperfield
C. A Tale of Two Cities
D. Oliver Twist

C. A Tale of Two Cities

The plot of self-sacrifice for a rival in love was directly inspired by the play he acted in.

41. Which novel was Dickens’s only historical fiction before A Tale of Two Cities?

A. Nicholas Nickleby
B. Barnaby Rudge
C. Dombey and Son
D. Little Dorrit

B. Barnaby Rudge

*Barnaby Rudge*, set during the Gordon Riots of 1780, was his first major attempt at a historical novel.

42. A Tale of Two Cities showed Dickens in transition before writing which two later novels?

A. Sketches by “Boz” and The Pickwick Papers
B. Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend
C. Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol
D. Martin Chuzzlewit and Bleak House

B. Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend

This novel marks a shift towards the more complex and psychologically deep novels of his late career.

43. In which town did Dickens spend his happiest childhood years?

A. London
B. Portsmouth
C. Chatham
D. Dover

C. Chatham

His time in Chatham, before his family’s financial troubles, was a period of relative stability and happiness.

44. Which character in David Copperfield dramatizes his father’s failings?

A. Bill Sikes
B. Mr. Micawber
C. Fagin
D. Sydney Carton

B. Mr. Micawber

The financially troubled but ever-optimistic Mr. Micawber is a famous and affectionate caricature of his own father.

45. Dickens resented his mother for wanting him to stay at work where?

A. At his law clerk job
B. In the blacking warehouse
C. As a court reporter
D. At the Naval Pay office

B. In the blacking warehouse

He never forgave his mother for wanting him to continue working at the factory after his father was released from prison.

46. Dickens’s rejection by Maria Beadnell is reflected in David Copperfield’s adoration of whom?

A. Lucie Manette
B. Dora Spenlow
C. Catherine Hogarth
D. Little Nell

B. Dora Spenlow

David’s youthful and impractical love for the charming but childish Dora mirrors Dickens’s own frustrating early romance.

47. What did Dickens write in 1836, besides novels?

A. Two historical novels
B. Two plays and a pamphlet
C. Two scholarly articles
D. Three short stories

B. Two plays and a pamphlet

In addition to his fiction, Dickens was also active in the theatre and wrote non-fiction on social issues.

48. What type of novel did Dickens attempt with Barnaby Rudge?

A. Comic satire
B. Picaresque novel
C. Historical novel
D. Romance novel

C. Historical novel

This was his first attempt at the genre, preceding the more famous *A Tale of Two Cities*.

49. What innovation did Oliver Twist contribute to English fiction?

A. A focus on purely factual education
B. An occasion for pathos and social criticism
C. A means of elevating the aristocracy
D. A focus on the joys of city life

B. An occasion for pathos and social criticism

*Oliver Twist* was groundbreaking for using the story of a poor orphan to criticize social institutions like the workhouse.

50. Who was the illustrator for Sketches by “Boz” and Oliver Twist?

A. “Phiz” (Hablot K. Browne)
B. George Cruikshank
C. Thomas Carlyle
D. Wilkie Collins

B. George Cruikshank

Cruikshank’s famous illustrations helped create the iconic images of characters like Fagin and the Artful Dodger.

A Tale of Two Cities MCQs

Introduction

Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is set in London and Paris during the violent French Revolution. The story begins when Dr. Manette is freed from the Bastille after eighteen years. His daughter, Lucie, whom he has never met, brings him back to life and sanity in England with the help of banker Jarvis Lorry.

In London, Lucie meets two very different men who love her. She marries Charles Darnay, a kind French aristocrat who has left his cruel family behind.

The other man is Sydney Carton, a brilliant but hopeless lawyer who looks precisely like Darnay. Lucie’s kindness deeply moves Carton, and he promises to sacrifice anything for her.

When the Revolution intensifies, Darnay travels to Paris to save a former servant. He is immediately arrested because he is a member of the hated Evrémonde family.

The revolutionaries, especially the vengeful Madame Defarge, want all aristocrats dead. Despite Dr. Manette’s efforts, Darnay is condemned to the guillotine.

To save the man Lucie loves, Sydney Carton fulfills his promise. He uses his identical appearance to enter Darnay’s prison cell, drugs him, and switches places. Darnay escapes to London with his family, while Carton goes to the guillotine, finding peace and redemption in his ultimate sacrifice.

A Tale of Two Cities MCQs

1. What year does the novel state as the period of the events described?

A. 1770
B. 1776
C. 1775
D. 1789

C. 1775.

The story begins in 1775, years before the French Revolution. This early date sets the historical context for the coming social upheaval.

2. What political figures are mentioned as being on the throne of England in 1775?

A. A large-jawed king and a queen with a fair face
B. A large-jawed king and a queen with a plain face
C. A king and queen both with plain faces
D. A fair-faced king and a plain-faced queen

B. A large-jawed king and a queen with a plain face.

Dickens describes the large-jawed King George III. This detail satirizes the ineffective political leadership and stagnation of the era.

3. In France, a youth was sentenced to be tortured and burned alive for failing to do what?

A. Attend Mass regularly
B. Pay homage to a nobleman
C. Kneel down to honor a procession of monks
D. Confess a crime

C. Kneel down to honor a procession of monks.

This extreme sentence for a trivial offense illustrates the severe judicial cruelty. It highlights the oppression present in pre-Revolutionary France.

4. What terrible historical object is foreshadowed as being made from trees marked by Fate (the Woodman)?

A. A hanging scaffold
B. A movable framework with a sack and a knife
C. A prison cell door
D. A burning stake

B. A movable framework with a sack and a knife.

The “movable framework” is an allegorical foreshadowing of the terrifying mass executions. This terrifying machine is the infamous guillotine.

5. What vehicle was struggling on the road to Dover?

A. A tumbril
B. The Dover mail
C. A private carriage
D. A post-chaise

B. The Dover mail.

The Dover mail coach carries the initial message of “Recalled to Life.” The tense journey establishes the mood of fear and secrecy.

6. If any passenger had proposed walking ahead into the mist and darkness, what was the risk?

A. Getting lost
B. Getting shot instantly as a highwayman
C. Catching a severe cold
D. Missing the connection

B. Getting shot instantly as a highwayman.

The threat of being instantly shot as a highwayman highlights the pervasive violence and lawlessness present on the English roads during that time.

7. What was the name of the messenger who came galloping up to the stopped coach?

A. Tom
B. Joe
C. Jerry
D. Lorry

C. Jerry.

Jerry Cruncher is the messenger who meets Lorry. His arrival sets the central secret mission and the primary plot device in motion.

8. What specific Bank did the passenger, Mr. Lorry, belong to?

A. The Bank of England
B. Tellson’s Bank
C. Temple Bar Bank
D. The French Credit Bank

B. Tellson’s Bank.

Tellson’s Bank is an old, rigid firm symbolic of tradition and secrecy. Mr. Lorry serves as its loyal, old-fashioned agent and employee.

9. What answer did Mr. Lorry send back via the messenger, Jerry?

A. “Mission accomplished”
B. “Recalled to Life”
C. “Waiting at Dover”
D. “Will depart tomorrow”

B. “Recalled to Life”.

“Recalled to Life” is the central thematic phrase of Book One. It refers to Dr. Manette’s liberation from his long imprisonment in the Bastille.

10. How long had the buried person been buried, according to the spectral answers in Mr. Lorry’s mind?

A. Five years
B. Ten years
C. Almost eighteen years
D. Twenty-five years

C. Almost eighteen years.

Dr. Manette was imprisoned for nearly eighteen years. This immense separation highlights the devastating human cost of aristocratic tyranny.

11. What was Mr. Lorry’s most profound current of impression during the night journey?

A. That he was being pursued.
B. That he was on his way to dig someone out of a grave.
C. That he was late for a meeting.
D. That the horses were unfit for the journey.

B. That he was on his way to dig someone out of a grave.

Lorry feels as if he is “on his way to dig someone out of a grave.” This reflects the spiritual state of the long-imprisoned Doctor Manette.

12. What furniture made Miss Manette’s room look funereal?

A. Stone benches and straw
B. Iron chains and bars
C. White linen and fine carpets
D. Black horsehair and heavy dark tables

D. Black horsehair and heavy dark tables.

The dark, heavy furniture in Lucie’s room mirrors the somber and funereal nature of the secret Mr. Lorry is about to reveal to her.

13. What did Mr. Lorry refer to himself as when addressing Miss Manette about business?

A. A wise counselor
B. A mere dull man of business
C. A speaking machine
D. An élderly gentleman

C. A speaking machine.

Mr. Lorry calls himself a “speaking machine.” This reflects his belief that professional duty requires him to suppress all personal feelings.

14. The history of Lucie’s father would have been the history of the unfortunate gentleman, the Doctor of what city?

A. Paris
B. Saint Antoine
C. Beauvais
D. Temple Bar

C. Beauvais.

Dr. Manette was the well-regarded Doctor of Beauvais before his imprisonment. This establishes his former identity and respectable social status.

15. Who arrived to tend to Miss Manette after she fainted?

A. The waiter
B. The coachman
C. A strong woman
D. Jerry Cruncher

C. A strong woman.

Miss Pross, the strong woman, arrives to tend to Lucie after she faints. Miss Pross is Lucie’s fierce, protective governess and servant.

16. How did the strong woman (Miss Pross) indignantly address Mr. Lorry?

A. You business man
B. You in brown
C. Sir, you are a fool
D. Old gentleman

B. “You in brown”.

Miss Pross indignantly calls Mr. Lorry “You in brown.” This immediately establishes her fierce and unique protective devotion to Lucie Manette.

17. What liquid was spilled and broken in the street outside the wine-shop in Saint Antoine?

A. Water
B. Oil
C. Wine
D. Brandy

C. Wine.

The spilled wine highlights the people’s desperate poverty. Its color symbolically foreshadows the coming blood and violence of the revolution.

18. What did the miserable people in Saint Antoine have as an inscription on the baker’s shelves, even in his scanty stock of bad bread?

A. Poverty
B. Filth
C. Despair
D. Hunger

D. Hunger.

The inscription of “Hunger” reflects the terrible, widespread starvation in Saint Antoine. This deep suffering is the primary cause of the revolution.

19. What was Madame Defarge doing with apparent calmness and repose of spirit?

A. Reading a book
B. Cleaning the counter
C. Knitting
D. Counting money

C. Knitting.

Madame Defarge is perpetually knitting. This seemingly calm act is actually a secret register of those marked for execution in the coming revolution.

20. What distant landmark could be seen through the grating while ascending the staircase?

A. The Bastille
B. The two great towers of Notre-Dame
C. The Seine River
D. The King’s Palace

B. The two great towers of Notre-Dame.

The sight of Notre-Dame suggests Dr. Manette is isolated yet still close to civilization. This highlights his removal from society.

21. Who were the “chosen few” Defarge showed the shoemaker to, referred to as “real men of my name”?

A. Tellson’s agents
B. Revolutionaries
C. Jacques
D. The Patriots

C. Jacques.

The “Jacques” are the revolutionaries whom Defarge introduces to the Doctor. They witness the suffering caused by the aristocracy, fueling their rage.

22. What was the peculiar nature of the shoemaker’s voice?

A. It was deep and harsh.
B. It was the faintness of solitude and disuse.
C. It was cheerful and welcoming.
D. It was loud and angry.

B. The faintness of solitude and disuse.

The shoemaker’s voice had the “faintness of solitude and disuse.” This reveals the deep psychological damage from his long isolation in the Bastille.

23. When asked for his name, what did the shoemaker reply?

A. Alexandre Manette
B. Doctor of Beauvais
C. One Hundred and Five, North Tower
D. Citizen Jacques

C. One Hundred and Five, North Tower.

Manette replies with his prison number and location. He has lost his true identity to his long, terrible imprisonment.

24. What type of shoe was the shoemaker currently working on?

A. Practical boot
B. Lady’s walking-shoe in the present mode
C. Child’s shoe
D. A simple slipper

B. Lady’s walking-shoe in the present mode.

Manette was making a “Lady’s walking-shoe in the present mode.” This suggests his mind retains some fleeting memories of his previous life and skills.

25. What did Manette tear in a frenzy upon uttering “Whose voice was that”?

A. His clothes
B. His white hair
C. The packet
D. The shoe

B. His white hair.

Manette tears at his white hair in a frenzy upon hearing a voice. The voice reminded him of his dead wife, signifying his deep mental distress.

26. What object did the prisoner ask for miserably before getting into the coach?

A. Food and water
B. His shoemaking tools and unfinished shoes
C. The paper found in the cell
D. A new suit of clothes

B. His shoemaking tools and unfinished shoes.

The prisoner asks for his shoemaking tools. This signifies his fear of losing the only mental coping mechanism that has sustained him through prison.

27. What year did the second book, “The Golden Thread,” begin?

A. 1775
B. 1780
C. 1789
D. 1792

B. 1780.

Book Two, “The Golden Thread,” begins in 1780. This five-year leap establishes Lucie and her father’s new, recovered life in London.

28. What attributes were the partners of Tellson’s Bank proud of?

A. Their generosity and modernity
B. Its smallness, darkness, ugliness, and incommodiousness
C. Its respectability and wealth
D. Its large size and good location

B. Its smallness, darkness, ugliness, and incommodiousness.

Tellson’s Bank is intentionally antiquated, small, and gloomy. The partners’ pride in this symbolizes the resistance to change and reform.

29. What was Charles Darnay indicted for?

A. Forgery
B. Robbery
C. Treason
D. Murder

C. Treason.

Darnay is charged with treason against the King of England. This forms the legal drama of his first trial and is a major plot point.

30. What precaution was taken in the courtroom against “gaol air and gaol fever”?

A. Windows were opened.
B. The court was strewn with herbs and sprinkled with vinegar.
C. Guards wore masks.
D. Fires were kept burning constantly.

B. The court was strewn with herbs and sprinkled with vinegar.

The herbs and vinegar were a common precaution. They were meant to ward off “gaol fever” from contagious prisoners. This highlights the court’s unsanitary condition.

31. What was the name of the “unimpeachable patriot” witness for the Crown?

A. Roger Cly
B. John Barsad
C. Mr. Stryver
D. Sydney Carton

B. John Barsad.

John Barsad is revealed to be a professional spy and informant. His testimony, though patriotic in veneer, is actually mercenary and dishonest.

32. What was the name of the virtuous servant who testified against Darnay?

A. Gaspard
B. Theophile Gabelle
C. Roger Cly
D. Joe

C. Roger Cly.

Roger Cly, another perjuring spy, testifies against Darnay. Jerry Cruncher later proves that Cly’s death and funeral were a sham.

33. What was the singular circumstance that arose in the case, discrediting a witness?

A. The witness admitted he was lying.
B. The witness confused him with the Judge.
C. The striking resemblance between Darnay and Mr. Carton.
D. The witness was blind.

C. The striking resemblance between Darnay and Mr. Carton.

The resemblance is the key plot device that saves Darnay’s life at his first trial. It creates reasonable doubt among the jurors.

34. Who was the first person to notice Lucie fainting and call for assistance?

A. Mr. Lorry
B. Doctor Manette
C. Sydney Carton
D. The Judge

C. Sydney Carton.

Sydney Carton is the first to notice Lucie fainting. This small, unnoticed act reveals his hidden attentiveness and deep compassion for her.

35. What name did Lucie give to the influence that united her father to his past and present beyond his misery?

A. The silver cord
B. The golden thread
C. The quiet light
D. The happy echo

B. The golden thread.

Lucie is the “golden thread” who figuratively weaves together her father’s shattered life and sanity. She represents purity and emotional restoration.

36. Why did Carton say he hated Darnay?

A. Darnay stole his career.
B. Darnay was too proud.
C. Darnay showed him what he had fallen away from.
D. Darnay was marrying Lucie.

C. Darnay showed him what he had fallen away from.

Carton hated Darnay because Darnay represented the worthy, successful man he could have been. This emphasizes Carton’s deep self-loathing and wasted potential.

37. What professional relationship existed between Sydney Carton and Mr. Stryver?

A. They were co-counsels.
B. Carton was the client, Stryver the lawyer.
C. Carton was the jackal, Stryver the lion.
D. Carton was the student, Stryver the tutor.

C. Carton was the jackal, Stryver the lion.

Carton was the “jackal” who did the legal research and preparation. Stryver was the “lion” who presented the work in the courtroom and took all the credit.

38. What item of his former life did Doctor Manette keep in a corner of his bedroom in London?

A. The Bastille Calendar
B. The disused shoemaker’s bench and tools
C. A portrait of Lucie’s mother
D. A safe from Tellson’s

B. The disused shoemaker’s bench and tools.

Dr. Manette kept the shoemaker’s bench as a dark symbol of his mental relapse. It represents his psychological vulnerability to past trauma.

39. What name did Miss Pross call Lucie?

A. My dear
B. Ladybird
C. Darling pretty
D. Miss Manette

B. Ladybird.

“Ladybird” is Miss Pross’s term of fierce endearment for Lucie. It highlights Miss Pross’s intense, singular, and deeply protective devotion.

40. How many strong men, besides the Cook, were required to assist Monseigneur in taking his morning chocolate?

A. Two
B. Three
C. Four
D. Six

C. Four.

Four strong men were required to serve Monseigneur his chocolate. This detail satirizes the extreme and ridiculous arrogance of the French aristocracy.

41. Whose child was killed when the Marquis’s carriage dashed through the streets?

A. Gaspard’s
B. Defarge’s
C. The mender of roads’
D. Gabelle’s

A. Gaspard’s.

Gaspard, the peasant, is the father whose child is killed by the Marquis’s carriage. This brutal act is the direct spark for Gaspard’s vengeance.

42. Who threw the gold coin back into the Marquis’s carriage?

A. Gaspard (the wretched father)
B. Madame Defarge
C. Defarge
D. An anonymous member of the crowd

B. Madame Defarge.

Madame Defarge throws the coin back. This is an early, non-verbal act of defiance. It signals the revolutionary’s cold rejection of aristocratic charity.

43. What was the Marquis’s governing philosophy?

A. Repression is the only lasting philosophy.
B. Liberty for all.
C. Justice and mercy.
D. Honesty and tradition.

A. Repression is the only lasting philosophy.

The Marquis’s cold doctrine justifies the complete cruelty and oppression of the aristocracy. This belief directly leads to his assassination.

44. What was scrawled on the paper around the knife hilt in the dead Marquis’s chest?

A. “Justice for Gaspard”
B. “Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques.”
C. “Repression is dead”
D. “Recalled to life”

B. “Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques.”.

The note reveals the Marquis was killed by Gaspard, signifying the lethal and growing power of the commoners’ revolutionary movement.

45. For nine days after Lucie’s wedding, Doctor Manette suffered a relapse into what state?

A. Deep depression
B. Shoemaking seclusion
C. Agitated frenzy
D. Physical illness

B. Shoemaking seclusion.

Dr. Manette relapsed into shoemaking seclusion for nine days. This mental break was caused by Darnay revealing his true family identity.

46. What action did Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross take regarding the shoemaker’s bench?

A. They kept it safe.
B. They hacked it to pieces and burned it.
C. They sold it.
D. They moved it to the garden.

B. They hacked it to pieces and burned it.

Lorry and Pross destroyed the bench during Manette’s absence. This symbolic act was an attempt to destroy the painful trauma of his past.

47. During the storming of the Bastille, Defarge of the wine-shop worked furiously, eventually demanding to be shown what cell?

A. The governor’s office
B. The North Tower, One Hundred and Five
C. The armory
D. The wine cellar

B. The North Tower, One Hundred and Five.

Defarge demanded to see the North Tower cell where Manette was imprisoned. He sought to confirm the details of the Doctor’s suffering for the revolution.

48. What did Defarge find in a hole in the chimney of the North Tower cell?

A. Weapons
B. A written paper
C. Gold and jewels
D. Food and water

B. A written paper.

Defarge found the written paper containing Dr. Manette’s long, forgotten denunciation of the Evrémonde family. This document is central to the plot.

49. What rumor, which proved true, sent the people of Saint Antoine into a blind frenzy?

A. The King was escaping.
B. Old Foulon, who told the starving to eat grass, was alive.
C. The Bastille had been retaken.
D. All prisoners were to be released.

B. Old Foulon, who told the starving to eat grass, was alive.

The discovery that Foulon, a symbol of aristocratic cruelty, was alive drove the people to a blind, frenzied act of vengeance and mob justice.

50. What was the urgent communication that drew Charles Darnay back to France?

A. A note from Doctor Manette
B. A letter from Gabelle from the Abbaye prison.
C. A threat from the Marquis
D. A summons from the Republic

B. A letter from Gabelle from the Abbaye prison..

Darnay felt honour-bound to save Gabelle, the faithful agent. This compassionate act put Darnay directly into the path of the dangerous French Revolution.