George Eliot

Study question George Eliot

Facts about George Eliot

➾ She was born Mary Anne Evans but famously wrote under the male pseudonym George Eliot.

➾ She was forced to leave school at 19 to keep house for her father after her mother died.

➾ She became fluent in languages like German and Italian and translated complex philosophical works.

➾ She renounced her Christian faith after translating critical works like D.F. Strauss’s The Life of Jesus Critically Examined.

➾ For two years, she served as the uncredited, behind-the-scenes editor of the prestigious Westminster Review.

➾ She lived with George Henry Lewes as his wife, despite the scandal, because he was legally unable to divorce his estranged wife.

➾ Lewes registered the four children his estranged wife had with her lover, Thornton Hunt, under his own name.

➾ Her beloved brother Isaac cut off all contact with her for over two decades due to her common-law marriage.

➾ The humiliation she felt after a short, controversial visit to R.H. Brabant inspired the character of Mr. Casaubon.

➾ Despite her literary fame, she had to endure increasing personal criticism for her unconventional life choices.

➾ After Lewes’s death, she married John Cross, who was more than 20 years her junior, seven months before she died.

George Eliot MCQs

1. What was the birth name of the author who used the pseudonym George Eliot?

A. Mary Anne Lewes
B. Marian Cross
C. Mary Anne Evans
D. Dorothea Brooke

C. Mary Anne Evans
She chose a male pseudonym. A shocking move for a Victorian woman. It ensured her work was taken seriously, free from the romantic stereotypes attached to female writers.

2. In which year was George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) born?

A. 1839
B. 1851
C. 1819
D. 1880

C. 1819
Born in the same year as Queen Victoria.

3. George Eliot was born at Arbury Farm, located in which English county?

A. London
B. Derbyshire
C. Warwickshire
D. Coventry

C. Warwickshire
The rural landscape of her childhood was everything. It provided the rich, authentic setting for her early novels, like Adam Bede.

4. What was George Eliot’s father’s job on the estate where she was born?

A. Journalist
B. Land agent (manager)
C. Publisher
D. Baptist minister

B. Land agent (manager)
Her father’s practical work gave her a unique insight. She saw the lives of both the gentry and the working tenants. This perspective fueled the realism in her novels.

5. Mary Anne Evans was the youngest of how many children?

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

C. Five
She formed a deep, complex bond with her older brother Isaac—a relationship later dramatized in The Mill on the Floss.

6. At what age did Mary Anne Evans leave school after her mother’s death?

A. 15
B. 19
C. 21
D. 22

B. 19
Her formal education ended early. She had to run the household. But her intellectual journey was just beginning. She became a voracious self-teacher.

7. Which two languages did Mary Anne learn with her father’s help after leaving school?

A. Latin and Greek
B. German and Italian
C. French and Spanish
D. Hebrew and French

B. German and Italian
This wasn’t just a hobby. It was serious scholarship. Her command of these languages allowed her to translate major philosophical works from the Continent.

8. After moving to Foleshill in 1841, with whom did Mary Anne Evans become friends?

A. John Chapman and George Lewes
B. Charles and Cara Bray
C. Herbert Spencer and R.W. Mackay
D. The Hennells and D’Albert Durade

B. Charles and Cara Bray
The Brays were a game-changer. They were free-thinkers. They introduced her to a radical intellectual circle that challenged her religious faith and expanded her worldview.

9. Through the Brays, Mary Anne Evans was introduced to which American philosopher?

A. Herbert Spencer
B. Thornton Leigh Hunt
C. Ralph Waldo Emerson
D. Girolamo Savonarola

C. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Meeting Emerson was a big deal. It connected her to the American Transcendentalist movement. Her intellectual world was becoming truly international.

10. Renouncing her Christian faith caused a rift between Mary Anne Evans and whom?

A. Her brother Isaac
B. Her mother
C. Her father
D. Her friend Cara Bray

C. Her father
A painful break. Her refusal to attend church was an act of profound intellectual rebellion. It demonstrated her commitment to her newfound rationalist beliefs, whatever the personal cost.

11. In what year did Mary Anne’s father die, leaving her with little money?

A. 1839
B. 1841
C. 1849
D. 1851

C. 1849
This marked a turning point. It was a moment of grief, but also of liberation. She was now free to pursue an independent intellectual life in London.

12. After her father’s death, how much annual income did Mary Anne have?

A. £10,000
B. £800
C. £100
D. £3,000

C. £100
A meager sum. It forced her to be independent. She had to earn her own living through her intellect, a rare path for a woman at the time.

13. Which publisher asked Mary Anne Evans to be the behind-the-scenes editor for The Westminster Review?

A. William Blackwood
B. Charles Bray
C. George Henry Lewes
D. John Chapman

D. John Chapman
Chapman brought her to London. Working on the *Westminster Review* placed her at the very center of British intellectual life. She wasn’t just observing; she was shaping the conversation.

14. For approximately how many years did she work as the subeditor for The Westminster Review?

A. One year
B. Two years
C. Three years
D. Four years

B. Two years
Though her title was unofficial, she was the de facto editor. She commissioned articles and worked with the leading thinkers of the day. An incredible intellectual apprenticeship.

15. In what year did Mary Anne Evans meet George Henry Lewes?

A. 1849
B. 1851
C. 1854
D. 1856

B. 1851
This was the most important meeting of her life. Lewes was a philosopher, critic, and scientist. He saw her genius when no one else did.

16. Why was George Henry Lewes legally unable to divorce his wife, Agnes?

A. They were only common-law partners.
B. He had condoned her adultery.
C. He lacked sufficient funds.
D. Agnes refused to leave the country.

B. He had condoned her adultery.
A cruel legal technicality. Lewes had accepted his wife’s children with another man. This act of forgiveness legally barred him from ever divorcing her.

17. In what year did George Eliot and George Henry Lewes decide to live together?

A. 1851
B. 1854
C. 1857
D. 1860

B. 1854
A socially scandalous decision. They chose to live as husbánd and wife without the sanction of the law or the church. It was an act of courage that ostracized them from polite society.

18. Her decision to live with Lewes caused a break with which disapproving friends?

A. The Hennells
B. The Chapmans
C. The Brays
D. The Lewes family

C. The Brays
The irony was painful. Even her “free-thinking” friends couldn’t accept her unconventional relationship. It showed the limits of Victorian tolerance.

19. Which family member cut off all ties with George Eliot over her relationship with Lewes?

A. Her sister Chrissey
B. Her father
C. Her brother Isaac
D. John Cross

C. Her brother Isaac
This was the deepest cut. Her beloved brother, the model for Tom Tulliver, refused to speak to her for decades. The shunning was total.

20. What influential German work by D.F. Strauss did George Eliot translate?

A. Essence of Christianity
B. Problems of Life and Mind
C. The Life of Jesus Critically Examined
D. Ethics

C. The Life of Jesus Critically Examined
A monumental and difficult task. This work of German higher criticism treated the Bible as a historical text, not a divine one. Her translation was a major intellectual event in England.

21. What philosophical treatise by Ludwig Feuerbach did George Eliot also translate?

A. Das Leben Jesu kritisch bearbeitet
B. The Spanish Court
C. Essence of Christianity
D. Social Statics

C. Essence of Christianity
Another foundational text of 19th-century atheism. Feuerbach argued that humanity creates God in its own image. Her translation work shows her deep engagement with radical philosophy.

22. What work by Spinoza was George Eliot translating while in Germany with Lewes?

A. Ethics
B. An Inquiry Concerning the Origin of Christianity
C. Goethe’s Life
D. Daniel Deronda

A. Ethics
This shows the sheer breadth of her intellect. She was tackling one of the cornerstones of Western philosophy. Her mind was constantly working, constantly translating.

23. In which year did Mary Anne Evans begin her fiction writing career?

A. 1851
B. 1856
C. 1858
D. 1860

B. 1856
It was Lewes who encouraged her. He was convinced she had the talent to be a great novelist. He was right. The world of literature was about to change.

24. What pseudonym did Mary Anne Evans use for her first fictional tales, Scenes of Clerical Life?

A. Marian Evans
B. Mary Ann Lewes
C. George Lewes
D. George Eliot

D. George Eliot
“George” was for George Henry Lewes. “Eliot” was a “good, mouth-filling, easily-pronounced word.” The name was a shield, allowing her work to be judged on its own merits.

25. Which 1859 novel was described as “a country story—full of the breath of cows”?

A. The Mill on the Floss
B. Silas Marner
C. Adam Bede
D. Felix Holt, The Radical

C. Adam Bede
Her first full-length novel. It was a massive, instant success. Its realistic portrayal of rural life was revolutionary. Queen Victoria herself was a huge fan.

26. The plot for Adam Bede came from an anecdote about a girl condemned for what crime?

A. Murder of her husband
B. Child murder
C. Theft of gold
D. Political sedition

B. Child murder
The story was based on a real confession told to Eliot by her Methodist aunt. This grounding in reality gave the novel its powerful moral weight.

27. What is the title of George Eliot’s second and most autobiographical novel, published in 1860?

A. Adam Bede
B. Middlemarch
C. The Mill on the Floss
D. Romola

C. The Mill on the Floss
A deeply personal book. The story of Maggie Tulliver’s intellectual curiosity and her fraught relationship with her brother Tom mirrors Eliot’s own childhood.

28. The pain of children with absent mothers is a key theme in which of her novels?

A. Adam Bede
B. The Spanish Gýpsy
C. Middlemarch
D. The Mill on the Floss

D. The Mill on the Floss
Eliot’s own mother died when she was young. This theme of maternal loss and its impact on a clever, passionate girl like Maggie is explored with profound empathy.

29. The relationship between Tom and Maggie in which novel is based on Eliot’s relationship with her brother Isaac?

A. Daniel Deronda
B. Silas Marner
C. The Mill on the Floss
D. Felix Holt

C. The Mill on the Floss
The painful rift between Maggie and Tom is a direct reflection of Eliot’s estrangement from her own brother, Isaac, who disapproved of her life choices.

30. Which novel tells the story of a weaver whose lost gold is replaced by a child?

A. Janet’s Repentance
B. Silas Marner
C. Romola
D. Adam Bede

B. Silas Marner
Often read in schools, it’s a perfect fable. It argues that human connection and love are more valuable than hoarded wealth. A timeless theme.

31. Which of George Eliot’s novels was set in Renaissance Italy?

A. Romola
B. Felix Holt, The Radical
C. Middlemarch
D. The Spanish Gýpsy

A. Romola
An ambitious historical novel. It required immense research. While not her most popular work, it demonstrates her incredible intellectual range and historical imagination.

32. Which 1866 novel depicted the political controversy surrounding the Reform Bill of 1832?

A. Daniel Deronda
B. Romola
C. Felix Holt, The Radical
D. Adam Bede

C. Felix Holt, The Radical
Here, Eliot directly tackled contemporary politics. The novel examines the social and political turmoil surrounding the push for democratic reform in England.

33. What type of literary work was The Spanish Gýpsy, published in 1869?

A. A collection of essays
B. A philosophical treatise
C. A long narrative poem
D. A short story

C. A long narrative poem
A less-known work. It shows her ambition to succeed in forms beyond the novel. It’s a testament to her versatility as a writer.

34. When was George Eliot’s masterpiece, Middlemarch, serialized?

A. 1859
B. 1860–1861
C. 1871–1872
D. 1876

C. 1871–1872
Many consider this the greatest novel in English. Its serialized publication allowed for a vast, panoramic story with an interwoven cast of characters. A true epic.

35. A humiliating personal experience was drawn upon for the depiction of which Middlemarch character?

A. Dorothea
B. Mr. Casaubon
C. Caleb Garth
D. Fred Vincy

B. Mr. Casaubon
Casaubon, the dry, failed scholar, was partly inspired by Eliot’s own intellectual anxieties and the fear of a wasted life of fruitless research.

36. Which novel includes a Jewish hero who departs for Palestine?

A. Middlemarch
B. Felix Holt, The Radical
C. Daniel Deronda
D. Romola

C. Daniel Deronda
A controversial and forward-thinking book. Eliot’s sympathetic portrayal of Jewish identity and the exploration of Zionism were groundbreaking for their time.

37. In what year did George Eliot publish her final major novel, Daniel Deronda?

A. 1872
B. 1876
C. 1866
D. 1869

B. 1876
This was her final novel. It pushed the boundaries of the Victorian novel with its dual narrative structure and bold themes.

38. For how long did George Eliot and George Henry Lewes maintain their relationship?

A. Seven months
B. Nearly 25 years
C. Two years
D. 15 years

B. Nearly 25 years
Their “marriage” was a true partnership of minds. Lewes was her editor, agent, and greatest supporter. His love and belief in her made her career possible.

39. In what year did George Henry Lewes die?

A. 1876
B. 1878
C. 1880
D. 1859

B. 1878
Lewes’s death was devastating. She lost her partner, her intellectual companion, and the anchor of her life. She withdrew from society and stopped writing fiction.

40. What organization did George Eliot found to honor Lewes’s legacy?

A. The Westminster Review Society
B. The George Henry Lewes Studentship
C. The Arbury Farm Trust
D. The Victorian Writers Guild

B. The George Henry Lewes Studentship
A fitting tribute. She used her wealth to found a physiology studentship at Cambridge, honoring his passion for science and ensuring his intellectual legacy would continue.

41. Who did George Eliot marry in 1880?

A. Charles Bray
B. Herbert Spencer
C. John Walter Cross
D. John Chapman

C. John Walter Cross
A shocking decision to many. Cross was a much younger friend and financial advisor. The marriage was an attempt to find companionship in her loneliness after Lewes’s death.

42. At the time of their marriage, John Cross was how much younger than George Eliot?

A. Roughly the same age.
B. 10 years younger.
C. More than 20 years younger.
D. 15 years younger.

C. More than 20 years younger.
The age gap caused a stir. It was an unconventional choice that mirrored the unconventionality of her entire life.

43. In which month of 1880 did George Eliot marry John Cross?

A. January
B. May
C. July
D. December

B. May
Married on May 6, 1880. Her brother Isaac, who had shunned her for over two decades, finally wrote to congratulate her on her legal marriage.

44. How long did George Eliot’s marriage to John Cross last before her death?

A. Approximately two years
B. Less than one month
C. Only seven months
D. One year and two months

C. Only seven months
A tragically short union. Her health, always frail, declined rapidly after the marriage.

45. When did George Eliot die?

A. November 22, 1819
B. May 6, 1880
C. December 22, 1880
D. November 30, 1878

C. December 22, 1880
She died just over a year after Lewes, at the age of 61. England mourned the loss of its greatest living novelist.

46. Where was George Eliot buried?

A. At St. George’s, Hanover Square
B. In Warwickshire
C. Next to John Chapman
D. At Highgate Cemetery next to George Lewes

D. At Highgate Cemetery next to George Lewes
A final act of devotion. She was denied burial in Westminster Abbey because of her atheism and irregular life, but she rests beside the man she considered her husband.

47. At which school did Mary Anne Evans become extremely devout under Evangelical influence?

A. Griff House
B. Mrs. Wallington’s School at Nuneaton
C. The school at Coventry
D. Foleshill Private School

B. Mrs. Wallington’s School at Nuneaton
Before her turn to rationalism, she was intensely religious. This early evangelical phase gave her a deep understanding of faith, which she explored with great empathy in her novels.

48. What method of analysis, characteristic of modern fiction, did George Eliot develop?

A. The use of unreliable narrators
B. Stream of consciousness
C. Psychological analysis
D. Post-modern fragmentation

C. Psychological analysis
This was her great innovation. She went beyond just describing what characters did. She delved deep into their minds to explain *why* they did it, exploring their motivations and inner conflicts.

49. For which novel did Eliot accept a lower payment to avoid dividing it into 16 installments?

A. Adam Bede
B. Middlemarch
C. Romola
D. Daniel Deronda

C. Romola
The publisher wanted to serialize it in 16 parts, but Eliot felt this would damage the novel’s structure. She sacrificed a higher fee for artistic integrity.

50. What physical trait of George Eliot is noted in her portraits?

A. Dark, severe hair
B. A very fair complexion and gray-blue eyes
C. Only dark dresses
D. Bright green eyes and red hair

B. A very fair complexion and gray-blue eyes
Portraits often capture her serious, intellectual expression. Contemporaries frequently commented on her striking features, which defied conventional Victorian standards of beauty.

Silas Marner MCQs

1. How did Raveloe villagers typically view the linen-weavers?

A. Honest traders
B. Alien strangers
C. Local clergy
D. Skilled doctors

B. Alien strangers.
Weavers were emigrants from the town. Rustic neighbours regarded them with great suspicion and deep distrust.

2. What unique physical feature made Silas Marner appear mysterious to children?

A. His height
B. His pale face and protuberant eyes
C. His large hat
D. His bent back

B. His pale face and protuberant eyes.
Children feared his large brown eyes. They thought his dreadful stare could transmit sickness or bad luck.

3. What happened to Silas during a prayer meeting at Lantern Yard?

A. He saw a vision
B. He fell into a cataleptic fit
C. He confessed a crime
D. He spoke in tongues

B. He fell into a cataleptic fit.
Silas experienced a mysterious rigidity and suspension of consciousness. The church members mistook this for death.

4. Who was Silas’s closest friend in the religious sect?

A. Jem Rodney
B. Mr. Paston
C. William Dane
D. Mr. Macey

C. William Dane.
Silas lived in close friendship with William Dane. Their brethren often called them David and Jonathan.

5. What evidence was used to implicate Silas in the church robbery?

A. A bloody handprint
B. His pocket-knife found in the deacon’s room
C. An eyewitness account
D. A suspicious note

B. His pocket-knife found in the deacon’s room.
Silas’s pocket-knife was found in the bureau where the stolen church money had been carefully kept.

6. How did the Lantern Yard church decide Silas’s guilt?

A. A civil trial
B. Ministerial decree
C. Drawing lots
D. Public vote

C. Drawing lots.
The members of the church resolved on praying and drawing lots to find out the truth of the robbery.

7. What happened to Silas’s fiancée, Sarah, shortly after he was exiled?

A. She left town
B. She married William Dane
C. She became a nun
D. She remained devoted to Silas

B. She married William Dane.
Little more than a month after the church trial and suspension, Sarah married William Dane. This showed his betrayal.

8. How did Silas initially cope with the shock of being exiled to Raveloe?

A. He drank heavily
B. He worked ceaselessly in his loom
C. He tried to find a new faith
D. He sought medical help

B. He worked ceaselessly in his loom.
His first response after the painful shock was to work unremittingly at his loom, often late into the night.

9. What did Silas Marner begin hoarding after his first payment in Raveloe?

A. Books
B. Land deeds
C. Gold coins
D. Fine linen

C. Gold coins.
After finishing Mrs. Osgood’s linen, he received five bright guineas. This marked his new impulse for hoarding.

10. Why did Silas stop practising with medicinal herbs?

A. He forgot the recipes
B. He doubted their lawfulness without prayer
C. They brought him no money
D. The herbs did not grow in Raveloe

B. He doubted their lawfulness without prayer.
He questioned the lawfulness of the knowledge, believing herbs had no efficacy without prayer or God’s blessing.

11. What did Silas carry home with grief, showing lingering affection?

A. An empty bag
B. A broken brown earthenware pot
C. A dead bird
D. A shattered looking-glass

B. A broken brown earthenware pot.
Silas picked up the pieces of his old brown pot, which was his most precious utensil, and preserved the ruin as a memorial.

12. Where did Silas eventually hide his growing hoard of gold?

A. In the chimney
B. Under the floor bricks by the loom
C. In the thatch of the roof
D. Buried in the stone-pit

B. Under the floor bricks by the loom.
He made a hole under the loose floor bricks near his loom, where he kept his money in two leather bags.

13. What family tragedy contributed to the low level of order at the Red House?

A. The Squire’s wife had died
B. Godfrey was absent
C. The sons gambled too much
D. The house was too large

A. The Squire’s wife had died.
The lack of a wife and mother meant the Red House was without a fountain of wholesome love and fear.

14. Who was the handsome eldest son expected to inherit the Red House?

A. Dunstan Cass
B. Bob Cass
C. Godfrey Cass
D. Mr. Osgood

C. Godfrey Cass.
Mr. Godfrey Cass was the eldest son, considered good-natured and expected to come into the land someday.

15. What was the debt Godfrey needed Dunstan to help him resolve immediately?

A. A card game loss
B. His mother’s pawned pin
C. Fowler’s rent money
D. The farrier’s payment

C. Fowler’s rent money.
Godfrey needed Dunstan to repay the rent money from Fowler that he had given to his brother.

16. What secret about Godfrey did Dunstan use to blackmail him?

A. Godfrey stole the gold
B. Godfrey was secretly married to Molly Farren
C. Godfrey planned to sell the Red House
D. Godfrey was cheating at cards

B. Godfrey was secretly married to Molly Farren.
Dunstan threatened to tell the Squire that Godfrey was married to the drunken young woman, Molly Farren.

17. What did Dunstan decide to sell to get the money needed for Fowler’s debt?

A. His watch
B. His mother’s diamond pin
C. Godfrey’s horse Wildfire
D. A plot of land

C. Godfrey’s horse Wildfire.
Since Godfrey had no cash, Dunstan suggested he sell his fine hunting horse, Wildfire, at the next day’s hunt.

18. Why did Dunstan ride Wildfire recklessly to the hunt?

A. He was angry at Godfrey
B. He was full of brandy and confidence
C. He was being chased by enemies
D. He wanted to impress the judges

B. He was full of brandy and confidence.
His inclination for a run, boosted by brandy and confidence in luck, led him to take fences blindly.

19. How did Wildfire die?

A. Dunstan shot him
B. He drowned in a river
C. He was pierced by a hedge-stake
D. He broke his leg on the road

C. He was pierced by a hedge-stake.
Dunstan took one fence too many and got the horse pierced with a hedge-stake, killing poor Wildfire.

20. Why did Dunstan choose to walk to Silas Marner’s cottage afterward?

A. He felt remorse
B. He had too little money for a stable debt
C. He was tired of riding
D. He wanted to confess

B. He had too little money for a stable debt.
A check of his pocket revealed he lacked the small coins necessary to settle his debt at the Batherley stable.

21. Why was Silas Marner’s cottage door open when Dunstan arrived?

A. Silas was robbed earlier
B. Silas was in a trance
C. Silas felt it was not worth locking for a short errand
D. Dunstan had picked the lock

C. Silas felt it was not worth locking for a short errand.
Silas had stepped out for twine and felt locking the door was not worth the effort or delay of his supper.

22. Where did Dunstan find the bags of gold?

A. In the iron pot by the fire
B. Under the bed
C. Beneath the loose bricks near the loom
D. In a sack in the corner

C. Beneath the loose bricks near the loom.
Dunstan noticed a patch of covered sand near the loom’s treddles, concealing the money bags.

23. What was Silas’s immediate physical reaction upon discovering the theft?

A. He laughed strangely
B. He gave a wild ringing scream
C. He began weaving rapidly
D. He fell back into a trance

B. He gave a wild ringing scream.
After exhausting all false hopes, Silas put his hands to his head and let out a cry of desolation.

24. Who did Silas first suspect of taking his money?

A. William Dane
B. Dunstan Cass
C. Jem Rodney
D. The peddler

C. Jem Rodney.
Silas immediately thought of Jem Rodney, a known poacher, who had previously jested about the money.

25. Where did Silas go to immediately proclaim his loss?

A. To the church
B. To the Stone-pits
C. To the Rainbow inn
D. To the Red House

C. To the Rainbow inn.
Silas ran to the Rainbow, expecting to find the great people, like the constable and Squire Cass, assembled there.

26. How did the Raveloe men react when Silas burst into the Rainbow?

A. They laughed at him
B. They thought he was an apparition
C. They immediately called the constable
D. They ignored him completely

B. They thought he was an apparition.
Because the door was hidden by the high seats, they were startled, thinking they saw a ghost or a madman.

27. What was the total amount of money Silas lost in the theft?

A. £272, twelve and sixpence
B. £100
C. Five hundred guineas
D. Exactly £300

A. £272, twelve and sixpence.
Silas specified the exact amount lost was two hundred and seventy-two pounds, twelve and sixpence.

28. What item was found the next morning that led to a theory about the thief?

A. A hat
B. A bloody dagger
C. A tinder-box
D. A discarded coat

C. A tinder-box.
A tinder-box, flint, and steel were found half-sunk in the mud, suggesting a robber with human hands.

29. Who did Mr. Snell, the landlord, suspect based on the tinder-box clue?

A. Jem Rodney
B. A foreign peddler
C. Dunstan Cass
D. Mr. Macey

B. A foreign peddler.
Mr. Snell remembered a peddler with a swarthy complexion who had mentioned carrying a tinder-box.

30. What was Godfrey’s overriding hope after hearing Wildfire had been killed?

A. That his debt was paid
B. That Dunstan was unharmed
C. That his secret wife, Molly, might die
D. That Nancy would marry him immediately

C. That his secret wife, Molly, might die.
The crisis about the horse made him fear his secret would be exposed, but he hoped for deliverance from Molly.

31. What caused Molly Farren to eventually collapse in the snow?

A. Alcohol and exhaustion
B. Extreme cold and the effect of opium
C. A sudden fever
D. An attack by a wild animal

B. Extreme cold and the effect of opium.
Molly, enslaved to opium, took the drug which, combined with cold and weariness, caused her total collapse.

32. Where did Silas Marner receive the trance that allowed the child to enter?

A. By the loom
B. Standing at the open door
C. Sleeping in bed
D. Walking toward the village

B. Standing at the open door.
He was arrested by catalepsy while listening and gazing outside, holding his door open in the snow.

33. What did Silas mistake the child’s golden curls for when he first saw them?

A. Firelight
B. The return of his lost gold
C. A strange beast
D. A small toy

B. The return of his lost gold.
To his blurred vision, the heap of gold seemed to glow on the floor, but his hand encountered soft curls.

34. Why did the child, Eppie, walk toward the light in Silas’s cottage?

A. She heard music
B. She followed a bright glancing light on the snow
C. She was seeking her mother
D. She recognized Silas’s voice

B. She followed a bright glancing light on the snow.
The child’s eyes were drawn by a bright glancing light running towards her on the white ground.

35. Where was the mother’s body found?

A. Near the Red House
B. In the Stone-pit
C. Against a furze bush near Silas’s door
D. In a ditch near the Rainbow

C. Against a furze bush near Silas’s door.
Silas followed the small footprints back to a furze bush, where he found Molly’s body, half-covered by snow.

36. What did Silas say was his right to keep the child?

A. He was her relative
B. She was unbaptized
C. She had come to him
D. He was wealthy

C. She had come to him.
Silas said the child had come to him, declaring: “It’s come to me—I’ve a right to keep it.”

37. What name did Silas give the child?

A. Molly
B. Nancy
C. Hephzibah (Eppie)
D. Sarah

C. Hephzibah (Eppie).
Silas named the child Hephzibah, after his mother and sister, but it was shortened to Eppie.

38. Which neighbour became Silas’s most helpful ally in raising Eppie?

A. Mr. Macey
B. Mr. Crackenthorp
C. Dolly Winthrop
D. Doctor Kimble

C. Dolly Winthrop.
Dolly, the wife of the wheelwright, provided clothes and practical advice to Silas without imposing.

39. What did Dolly Winthrop insist Silas do for Eppie’s well-being?

A. Teach her weaving
B. Teach her to read
C. Have her christened
D. Buy her a pony

C. Have her christened.
Dolly strongly urged him to have the child christened and raised according to Christian custom.

40. What was Nancy Cass’s firm principle that made her refuse adoption?

A. Adoption was illegal
B. Adopted children always turned out badly
C. It was tempting Providence
D. They couldn’t afford it

C. It was tempting Providence.
Nancy believed adopting a child was willfully choosing one’s lot and defying God’s will.

41. What did Silas compare Eppie’s new influence on him to, metaphorically?

A. A painful bruise
B. A new piece of gold
C. An angel leading him from destruction
D. A fast-moving river

C. An angel leading him from destruction.
He felt Eppie’s hand led him forth gently from his isolated misery towards a calm and bright land.

42. Sixteen years later, what key change was made in Mr. Osgood’s fields?

A. A new fence was built
B. They installed a wind-mill
C. The fields were drained
D. A new road was built

C. The fields were drained.
The draining of Mr. Osgood’s fields (undertaken by Godfrey) caused the Stone-pit water level to drop suddenly.

43. What was found wedged between two stones in the dry Stone-pit?

A. Wildfire’s bones
B. Dunstan Cass’s skeleton and Silas’s gold
C. Molly Farren’s body
D. Jem Rodney’s hunting rifle

B. Dunstan Cass’s skeleton and Silas’s gold.
Dunstan’s body, his whip, and all the weaver’s money were found there after the draining.

44. What was Godfrey’s great relief when he learned the woman found dead years ago was his wife?

A. He would get his money back
B. He was finally free to marry Nancy
C. He no longer had to hide the secret
D. He could finally join the army

C. He no longer had to hide the secret.
The death of his wife Molly meant deliverance from his long bondage and the chance to lead an honest life.

45. What did Godfrey say his life with Nancy had lacked since his confession?

A. Enough money
B. Moral courage
C. A trusting gaze
D. Amends for lost time

D. Amends for lost time.
Godfrey acknowledged that debts of time (moral debts) cannot be repaid by paying extra for the years that slipped by.

46. What was Nancy’s greatest regret upon hearing Godfrey’s entire secret?

A. That she married him
B. That they had not adopted Eppie earlier
C. That he lost the money
D. That he did not love her

B. That they had not adopted Eppie earlier.
Nancy regretted that if she had known the truth, they could have done their duty by Eppie six years ago.

47. What reason did Eppie give Godfrey for refusing to become his adopted daughter?

A. She disliked fine clothes
B. She would be lonely without Silas
C. She feared his past
D. She liked farm work better

B. She would be lonely without Silas.
She could find no happiness without her father, Silas, and insisted she must cleave to him always.

48. Why did Silas decide to travel back to Lantern Yard?

A. To find old friends
B. To seek proof of his innocence
C. To invest his recovered money
D. To find a new minister

B. To seek proof of his innocence.
He wished to see Mr. Paston to find out if anything had been revealed to clear him of the robbery.

49. What was the condition of Lantern Yard when Silas returned to it?

A. It was exactly the same
B. It had been swept away and replaced by a factory
C. It was heavily flooded
D. It was rebuilt as a grand church

B. It had been swept away and replaced by a factory.
Silas discovered that Lantern Yard, including the chapel and graveyard, had been completely demolished and replaced by a large factory.

50. Who did Eppie marry in the novel’s conclusion?

A. Godfrey Cass
B. Jem Rodney
C. Aaron Winthrop
D. Mr. Tookey

C. Aaron Winthrop.
Eppie married Aaron Winthrop, and they chose to live with Silas, ensuring he would never be lonely.

Brief Overview

Silas Marner is a novel by George Eliot. It tells the story of Silas Marner, a lonely weaver of linen. His life is defined by loss, isolation, and eventual redemption through love.

The narrative begins in Lantern Yard, where Silas loses his faith after his friend, William Dane, falsely accuses him of theft. Shattered, Silas moves to the village of Raveloe. For fifteen years, his entire existence is consumed by weaving and hoarding gold coins.

Dunstan Cass, the reckless brother of the wealthy Godfrey Cass, steals the gold. Dunstan quickly dies and falls into a stone pit, where the gold remains hidden. Silas is devastated by the loss of his treasure.

Sixteen years later, a turning point occurs. Godfrey’s secret wife, Molly, dies in the snow near Silas’s cottage. Her small, golden-haired child, Eppie, crawls onto Silas’s hearth. Silas adopts the girl, and she brings love and faith back into his isolated life.

In the end, Dunstan’s body and the stolen gold are discovered. Godfrey confesses that Eppie is his biological daughter. He offers Eppie a comfortable, wealthy life, but she loyally chooses to stay with Silas. Eppie marries Aaron Winthrop, and the family finds lasting happiness.