➾ 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.
