Thomas Hardy

Study question Thomas Hardy

Facts about Thomas Hardy

➾ Hardy was a healthy yet fragile child who showed unusual sensitivity to music and could read almost before walking.

➾ While apprenticed to an architect, Hardy intensely self-studied Greek daily between four and eight in the morning.

➾ His final architectural job, restoring a church in Cornwall, was how he met his first wife, Emma Lavinia Gifford.

➾ Hardy’s first published novel, Desperate Remedies, required him to advance £75, most of which was eventually returned.

➾ He stopped writing novels after the severe critical backlash and controversy caused by the publication of Jude the Obscure.

➾ Hardy often altered novels like Tess to soften his social satire and make them suitable for family readers during magazine serialization.

➾ He believed in ‘meliorism’ (gradual improvement of the world) until 1914, when the horrors of World War I shattered that view.

➾ Hardy’s love for architecture, music, and country folklore was fostered by the varied interests of his stonemason father and reading mother.

➾ Although his first marriage was unhappy, the death of his wife Emma in 1912 prompted him to write some of his most profound poetry.

➾ Hardy secretly wrote his own authorized autobiography, which was later published under the name of his second wife, Florence Dugdale.

➾ Hardy had a divided burial: his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey while his heart was buried separately at Stinsford near his ancestors.

Thomas Hardy MCQs

1. When was Thomas Hardy born?

A. January 11, 1928
B. September 2, 1840
C. June 2, 1840
D. June 22, 1840

C. June 2, 1840
He was born on this date in Dorset, England.

2. In what location was Thomas Hardy born?

A. Dorchester, Dorset
B. Stinsford, Dorset
C. Higher Bockhampton, Stinsford, Dorset
D. Max Gate, Dorchester

C. Higher Bockhampton, Stinsford, Dorset
He was born in England, in a small cottage in this hamlet, where his father lived.

3. What was the primary business of Thomas Hardy’s father?

A. Farming and agriculture
B. Stone masoning and building
C. Teaching and schooling
D. Church restoration

B. Stone masoning and building
Thomas Hardy Sr. was a master mason and local builder.

4. Hardy was sensitive to which art form, often playing the dance fiddle for his family?

A. Painting
B. Drama
C. Architecture
D. Music

D. Music
Music, particularly local folk music, was a lifelong passion and influence on his writing.

5. Which ancient language did Hardy begin studying at the age of twelve?

A. Greek
B. French
C. Latin
D. German

C. Latin
He began the study of Latin at age twelve.

6. At what age did Hardy become a student of the architect John Hicks?

A. Twelve
B. Sixteen
C. Eighteen
D. Twenty-two

B. Sixteen
He began his apprenticeship in architecture under Hicks in Dorchester in 1856.

7. How did Hardy pursue his Greek studies while apprenticed to Hicks?

A. By attending night classes in Dorchester.
B. By receiving tutoring from John Hicks.
C. By studying between four and eight in the morning.
D. By reading books supplied by George Meredith.

C. By studying between four and eight in the morning.
This commitment to self-education highlights his early intellectual ambition.

8. Which Dorset poet, who kept a school next to Hicks’ office, influenced Hardy?

A. George Meredith
B. Horace Moule
C. Arthur Blomfield
D. The Reverend William Barnes

D. The Reverend William Barnes
Barnes, known for his dialect poetry, encouraged Hardy’s literary interests.

9. In what year did Hardy go to London to work for the architect Arthur Blomfield?

A. 1856
B. 1862
C. 1867
D. 1870

B. 1862
He moved to London to further his architectural career.

10. In what year did ill health force Hardy to leave London and return to Dorchester?

A. 1865
B. 1867
C. 1870
D. 1874

B. 1867
London life proved detrimental to his health, forcing him back to Dorset.

11. What was the title of Hardy’s first novel, which was rejected by publishers?

A. Desperate Remedies
B. Under the Greenwood Tree
C. The Poor Man and the Lady
D. A Pair of Blue Eyes

C. The Poor Man and the Lady
This novel, never published, dealt with social class and romantic ambition.

12. Which critic advised Hardy regarding his first rejected novel?

A. Horace Moule
B. Arthur Blomfield
C. George Meredith
D. The Reverend William Barnes

C. George Meredith
Meredith, working as a reader for Chapman and Hall, recommended Hardy abandon the book but try again.

13. Where did Hardy meet his first wife, Emma, while on a restoration job?

A. Higher Bockhampton
B. Weymouth
C. St. Juliot in Cornwall
D. Max Gate

C. St. Juliot in Cornwall
He met Emma Gifford in 1870 while surveying the restoration of a church there.

14. In what year did Thomas Hardy marry Emma Lavinia Gifford?

A. 1870
B. 1871
C. 1874
D. 1878

C. 1874
They married in London, coinciding with the success of Far From the Madding Crowd.

15. What was the title of Hardy’s first published novel in 1871?

A. Under the Greenwood Tree
B. Desperate Remedies
C. The Return of the Native
D. Far From the Madding Crowd

B. Desperate Remedies
This complex melodrama was his first novel to reach publication.

16. Which 1872 novel was Hardy’s first popular success?

A. A Pair of Blue Eyes
B. The Poor Man and the Lady
C. Under the Greenwood Tree
D. Tess of the d’Urbervilles

C. Under the Greenwood Tree
This gentle novel was his second published work and proved popular with critics and readers.

17. Which 1874 novel’s success allowed Hardy to give up architecture?

A. Desperate Remedies
B. The Mayor of Casterbridge
C. Far From the Madding Crowd
D. The Woodlanders

C. Far From the Madding Crowd
Its serialization in the Cornhill Magazine and subsequent popularity allowed him to dedicate himself entirely to writing.

18. For how many years did Hardy primarily concentrate on writing fiction?

A. Five years
B. Ten years
C. Fifteen years
D. Twenty years

D. Twenty years
He concentrated primarily on writing novels from 1870 until 1891 (Tess) and 1895 (Jude).

19. What fictional region did Hardy create for his novels?

A. Casterbridge
B. Stinsford
C. Wessex
D. Egdon Heath

C. Wessex
He named his fictionalized version of Dorset and the surrounding counties “Wessex,” drawing on Anglo-Saxon history.

20. Which 1878 novel was admired for its setting of Egdon Heath?

A. The Woodlanders
B. A Laodicean
C. The Return of the Native
D. Two on a Tower

C. The Return of the Native
Egdon Heath, the desolate, ancient landscape, functions almost as a character in this novel.

21. What was the name of the house Hardy built near Dorchester?

A. Stinsford Cottage
B. Egdon Hall
C. Max Gate
D. Casterbridge Manor

C. Max Gate
He designed and built this home where he lived for the rest of his life.

22. Which novel, set in a fictionalized Dorchester, features Michael Henchard?

A. The Return of the Native
B. The Woodlanders
C. The Mayor of Casterbridge
D. A Pair of Blue Eyes

C. The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) centers on the tragic rise and fall of the self-made Michael Henchard in the town of Casterbridge (Dorchester).

23. In what year did Tess of the d’Urbervilles begin its serial run?

A. 1889
B. 1891
C. 1894
D. 1897

B. 1891
It was serialized with modifications due to the controversial content.

24. Which novel’s controversy caused Hardy to abandon novel writing?

A. Tess of the d’Urbervilles
B. Far From the Madding Crowd
C. The Well Beloved
D. Jude the Obscure

D. Jude the Obscure
The vicious public outcry and moral outrage following the publication of Jude the Obscure (1895) led him to stop writing novels entirely.

25. What was the title of Hardy’s last novel, published in 1897?

A. Jude the Obscure
B. The Well Beloved
C. Tess of the d’Urbervilles
D. The Woodlanders

B. The Well Beloved
Although Jude the Obscure (1895) was his last major novel, The Well-Beloved was his final published novel.

26. What was the title of Hardy’s first volume of poetry, published in 1898?

A. Late Lyrics and Earlier
B. Winter Words
C. Wessex Poems
D. Satires of Circumstance

C. Wessex Poems
This collection, published after he abandoned fiction, marked his full-time return to poetry.

27. What was the title of his three-part epic verse drama on the Napoleonic Wars?

A. Winter Words
B. The Dynasts
C. Poems of 1912–13
D. Wessex Tales

B. The Dynasts
This monumental work (1903–08) is a blend of poetry and drama.

28. What major honour did the King award Hardy in 1910?

A. Knight Commander of the Bath
B. Poet Laureate
C. The Order of Merit
D. The Nobel Prize in Literature

C. The Order of Merit
King George V appointed him to the Order of Merit, a high civilian honour.

29. When did Hardy’s first wife, Emma, die?

A. 1910
B. 1912
C. 1914
D. 1928

B. 1912
Emma died suddenly in November 1912, inspiring his most poignant love poems (Poems of 1912–13).

30. Whom did Hardy marry in 1914?

A. Jemima Hand
B. Florence Emily Dugdale
C. Grace Melbury
D. Eustacia Vye

B. Florence Emily Dugdale
He married his secretary, Florence Dugdale, in 1914.

31. What was the title of Hardy’s final volume of verse?

A. Late Lyrics and Earlier
B. Human Shows
C. Winter Words
D. Moments of Vision

C. Winter Words
This final collection was published in 1928, the year of his death.

32. On what date did Thomas Hardy die?

A. June 2, 1840
B. January 11, 1928
C. September 4, 1874
D. December 31, 1927

B. January 11, 1928
He died on this date at Max Gate.

33. Where were Hardy’s cremated remains interred?

A. Max Gate, Dorchester
B. Stinsford Churchyard
C. Westminster Abbey, Poets’ Corner
D. St. Juliot, Cornwall

C. Westminster Abbey, Poets’ Corner
His ashes were interred in Poets’ Corner, a high honour.

34. Where was Hardy’s heart buried?

A. Max Gate, Dorchester
B. Stinsford, near the graves of his ancestors
C. Poets’ Corner
D. St. Juliot in Cornwall

B. Stinsford, near the graves of his ancestors
His heart was removed and buried separately in the churchyard where he had played the fiddle as a young man.

35. Hardy published his novels in serial form, similar to which other English novelist?

A. Scott
B. Dumas
C. Dickens
D. Keats

C. Dickens
Like Charles Dickens, Hardy serialized many of his novels in monthly or weekly magazines.

36. Which collection was the first that Hardy released?

A. Life’s Little Ironies
B. A Changed Man
C. A Group of Noble Dames
D. Wessex Tales

D. Wessex Tales
This collection of short stories was published in 1888.

37. His mother inspired a taste for literature, while his father shared a love of architecture and what?

A. Science
B. Philosophy
C. Music
D. Theology

C. Music
Both parents fostered his cultural interests.

38. Darwinian evolutionism eventually made Hardy what?

A. A Meliorist
B. A severe critic of traditional religion/An agnostic
C. A fatalist
D. A church restorer

B. A severe critic of traditional religion/An agnostic
Scientific theories contributed to his loss of faith in a beneficent God.

39. Hardy lived during the industrial revolution, which led to the disintegration of what?

A. The British empire
B. The family building business
C. Rural customs and traditions
D. The London architectural scene

C. Rural customs and traditions
His novels often lament the passing of the traditional agricultural way of life.

40. The period of changing beliefs in Hardy’s time brought about what feeling?

A. The joy of modernism
B. The ‘ache of modernism’
C. The pursuit of happiness
D. The Immanent Will

B. The ‘ache of modernism’
He coined this phrase to describe the spiritual and existential pain resulting from the erosion of old beliefs.

41. Hardy read Darwin’s Origin of the Species and what other document that influenced his religious views?

A. The Dynasts
B. Wessex Poems
C. Essays and Reviews
D. A Changed Man

C. Essays and Reviews
This publication of liberal theology further challenged traditional Christian doctrines.

42. Hardy struggled to reconcile a beneficent God with the existence of what?

A. The inevitability of war
B. Omnipresent evil and unhappiness
C. The shifting of population
D. The success of his own novels

B. Omnipresent evil and unhappiness
The problem of suffering became central to his philosophical outlook.

43. Until 1914, Hardy considered himself a “meliorist,” believing that what was happening?

A. The universal scheme was unchanging.
B. The universe was completely governed by Fate.
C. The universal scheme was gradually improving.
D. Only poetry could capture human suffering.

C. The universal scheme was gradually improving.
Meliorism is the belief that the world can be made better through human effort.

44. What event shattered Hardy’s belief in meliorism in 1914?

A. The death of his first wife
B. The reaction to Jude the Obscure
C. The absurdity and horror of war
D. The publication of The Dynasts

C. The absurdity and horror of war
The outbreak of World War I made the idea of gradual moral improvement seem impossible.

45. What philosophical outlook is most readily associated with Hardy the novelist?

A. Meliorism
B. Naturalism
C. Romanticism
D. Fatalism

D. Fatalism
Although he considered himself a meliorist, his novels’ pervasive sense of doomed protagonists and tragic coincidence leads critics to label his work as fatalistic.

46. In Hardy’s philosophy, what motif is placed with tremendous importance?

A. Love
B. Nature
C. Time
D. Night

C. Time
His works often focus on the corrosive effects of the past and the relentlessness of time.

47. In Hardy’s philosophy, who is Fate’s most potent instrument against Man’s happiness?

A. The Wessex rustic
B. The Critic
C. Woman
D. The Deity

C. Woman
Hardy’s perception of women (e.g., Sue Bridehead, Tess) as unpredictable and often destructive forces is a recurring idea.

48. Hardy critiques ‘Convention and Law’ because they are contrived by whom, yet work against him?

A. Cruel Nature
B. The Immanent Will
C. Man himself
D. The established Church

C. Man himself
He argues that rigid social laws created by humanity often cause unnecessary suffering to the individuals they are meant to govern.

49. Hardy suggests that most of Tess’s misery was generated by her conventional aspect, and not by what?

A. Angel Clare’s judgment
B. Her innate sensations
C. Alec’s evil intentions
D. The agricultural life

B. Her innate sensations
He frames Tess as a pure woman whose suffering is caused by the cruel social conventions and judgments of others.

50. In The Dynasts, Hardy projects a universe governed by a blind force called what?

A. Fate
B. The Spirit of the Years
C. The Immanent Will
D. The Wessex destiny

C. The Immanent Will
This term refers to the unconscious, indifferent cosmic force that drives the universe, often resulting in human suffering.

Desperate Remedies MCQs

1. Where did Ambrose Graye spend Christmas 1835?

A. Hocbridge town
B. London Bloomsbury
C. Cambridge College
D. West England estate

B. London Bloomsbury.
Ambrose, the young architect, went to London to spend the Christmas holidays with his friend Huntway in Bloomsbury.

2. What news ended Ambrose Graye’s hope for Cytherea?

A. Her cousin returned
B. She was unwell
C. Mother inherited a fortune
D. Friend answered letters

C. Mother inherited a fortune.
Cytherea’s mother unexpectedly inherited a large fortune and estates, leading to Ambrose’s renunciation.

3. What was taking place at the Hocbridge Town-Hall?

A. Town Council meeting
B. Reading from Shakespeare
C. Public auction
D. Church spire viewing

B. Reading from Shakespeare.
Persons were assembled in the Elizabethan Town Hall for a much-talked-of reading from Shakespeare.

4. Who was supervising the church spire construction nearby?

A. Edward Springrove
B. Miss Aldclyffe
C. Mr. Graye, the architect
D. Mr. Gradfield, surveyor

C. Mr. Graye the architect.
The spire was being completed under the superintendence of Miss Graye’s father, the architect to the work.

5. What was the fate of Mr. Graye’s most notable speculation?

A. Unwise loans
B. Costly litigation
C. Speculation shipwreck
D. Sudden sickness

C. Speculation shipwreck.
He lost his capital by investing in an Italian brig that put into harbor in distress and subsequently sank.

6. Why did Owen and Cytherea leave Hocbridge?

A. Seek better jobs
B. Escape creditors
C. End apprenticeship
D. Avoid cold shade

D. Avoid cold shade.
They departed to escape the worry and supercilious judgment of the neighbors regarding their poverty.

7. What job did Cytherea initially plan to seek in Creston?

A. Lady’s maid
B. Music teacher
C. Governess/companion
D. Architect apprentice

C. Governess/companion.
Relying on her careful education, her plan was to advertise for a situation as a governess or companion.

8. Who was Owen Graye going to complete his articles with?

A. Mr. Gradfield
B. Mr. Huntway
C. Edward Springrove
D. Mr. Thorn

A. Mr. Gradfield.
Owen planned to fulfill his indentures in Creston with Mr. Gradfield, an architect and surveyor.

9. What feature did Cytherea focus on while musing about marriage?

A. Had a small scar
B. Left fourth finger
C. Smooth and tapering
D. Right-hand ring

B. Left fourth finger.
She contemplated her own left fourth finger, leading to a train of romantic ideas about rings.

10. What was the name of Mr. Gradfield’s melancholy head clerk?

A. Ambrose Graye
B. Æneas Manston
C. Edward Springrove
D. John Springrove

C. Edward Springrove.
The head clerk, whom Owen became friendly with, was named Springrove, a bookworm and a poet.

11. What emotion did Springrove’s impending departure cause Cytherea?

A. Joy and relief
B. Indescribable sadness
C. Eagerness to meet
D. Determined indifference

B. Indescribable sadness.
She felt an overwhelming sadness when she learned that Springrove was leaving Creston for London in a fortnight.

12. Where did Cytherea and Edward Springrove first meet?

A. Reading at Town Hall
B. Train arrival, Creston
C. Steamboat trip Lewborne
D. Dinner at Knapwater

C. Steamboat trip Lewborne.
They met on the shore at Lewborne Bay when Cytherea waited for her brother to return to the steamer.

13. What physical trait did Edward Springrove exhibit?

A. Dark hair, Grecian nose
B. Round face, snub nose
C. One thin line forehead
D. Short and stout

C. One thin line forehead.
Across his otherwise smooth forehead ran one thin, premature line, contrasting with his healthy features.

14. What happened when Cytherea and Edward’s eyes met?

A. They quickly looked away
B. Edward apologized deeply
C. Their eyes mutually locked
D. Cytherea blushed deeply

C. Their eyes mutually locked.
Their eyes met and became “mutually locked together,” conveying the sudden conviction that a tie had begun.

15. What activity occupied Cytherea and Edward for five evenings?

A. Walking the streets
B. Writing letters
C. Rowing on the bay
D. Visiting Owen

C. Rowing on the bay.
After their first meeting, they rowed on the bay for several consecutive evenings, with Cytherea steering.

16. What made Edward confess “something forbade” his love?

A. He saw Owen return
B. She mentioned marriage
C. After the first kiss
D. He was too poor

C. After the first kiss.
After he kissed her, he became pale and said something forbade him to love her until the kiss came.

17. What did Owen hear that related to Cytherea’s unusual name?

A. A dream interpretation
B. A story from a gateman
C. A fact about a fire
D. A joke in the office

B. A story from a gateman.
Owen heard a story from a gateman about a woman who fainted and unknowingly uttered the name “Cytherea”.

18. What job did Cytherea choose for her second advertisement?

A. Architect assistant
B. Governess abroad
C. Nursery governess
D. Lady’s maid

D. Lady’s maid.
Feeling desperate, she advertised for a situation as a Lady’s Maid, though she was inexperienced.

19. What impression did Cytherea make when turning away from Miss Aldclyffe?

A. Precision and beauty
B. Coquettish charm
C. Faint accent reproach
D. Determined resolution

A. Preciseness and beauty.
Her movement when turning had precision and beauty, coupled with a faint accent of reproach in her face.

20. What initials were marked on the sheep near Knapwater House?

A. C. G.
B. A. M.
C. E. S.
D. J. R.

C. E. S..
Cytherea discovered the initials “E.S.” (Edward Springrove) marked on every stock ewe in the park.

21. How did Cytherea get the lady’s maid situation?

A. Edward’s father recommended her
B. Miss Aldclyffe admired her looks
C. Owen’s contact knew her
D. Mrs. Morris chose her

A. Edward’s father recommended her.
Farmer Springrove recommended Cytherea to Mrs. Morris, Miss Aldclyffe’s housekeeper, leading to the interview.

22. What did Miss Aldclyffe show Cytherea late at night?

A. A letter from Ambrose
B. A diamond brooch
C. A miniature locket
D. A dark secret plan

C. A miniature locket.
Miss Aldclyffe disclosed a locket containing a miniature, which Cytherea recognized as her father.

23. Who did Cytherea realize Miss Aldclyffe must be?

A. Ambrose’s first love
B. Edward’s mother
C. Her aunt
D. A distant cousin

A. Ambrose’s first love.
Cytherea realized Miss Aldclyffe was the woman of the gateman’s story, her father’s first love.

24. Why did Cytherea decide to leave Miss Aldclyffe’s service?

A. She was insulted
B. She found a new job
C. Miss Aldclyffe was cruel
D. She learned the secret

A. She was insulted.
After an argument where Miss Aldclyffe called her an untruthful “girl of impudence,” Cytherea resigned immediately.

25. What did Miss Aldclyffe offer Cytherea to induce her to stay?

A. More money
B. Lady’s maid training
C. Companion position
D. Marriage advice

C. Companion position.
Miss Aldclyffe offered Cytherea the position of companion, as she desperately desired her presence.

26. What news followed the Captain’s death (Miss Aldclyffe’s father)?

A. Miss Aldclyffe inherited
B. Estate went to the rector
C. Manston became the owner
D. Fortune was lost

A. Miss Aldclyffe inherited.
The Captain’s will, executed five years earlier, bequeathed the entire estate to his daughter Cytherea (Miss Aldclyffe).

27. What job did Miss Aldclyffe advertise for in the Field newspaper?

A. Head gardener
B. Land steward
C. Architect designer
D. Tutor companion

B. Land steward.
Miss Aldclyffe placed an advertisement seeking a competent, unmarried gentleman to manage her estate.

28. What characteristic did the advertisement emphasize for the steward?

A. Integrity and skill
B. Artistic as well
C. Under thirty years
D. Superior education

B. Artistic as well.
The advertisement sought a man with “an artistic as well as a practical knowledge” of planning and layout.

29. Which candidate was hired despite the lawyer’s reservations?

A. Edward Springrove
B. Mr. Gradfield
C. Æneas Manston
D. John Springrove

C. Æneas Manston.
Miss Aldclyffe overruled Mr. Nyttleton’s advice, insisting on hiring Æneas Manston as the new steward.

30. What reason did Manston give for the lawyer’s disapproval of him?

A. He was a spendthrift
B. He was a bookworm
C. He was a voluptuary
D. He was too intellectual

C. He was a voluptuary.
Mr. Nyttleton plainly stated that Manston was “a voluptuary with activity,” which he considered a bad form of man.

31. What extreme natural event occurred during Cytherea’s first meeting with Manston?

A. Severe drought
B. Hailstorm damaging crops
C. Earthquake tremor
D. Terrific thunderstorm

D. Terrific thunderstorm.
Manston compelled Cytherea to step into the porch of the Old House to escape the thunder, lightning, and rain.

32. What music did Manston play that deeply affected Cytherea?

A. Harps and violins
B. Grand piano
C. Organ at old house
D. Flute in the porch

C. Organ at old house.
Manston played extemporized organ music, which swayed Cytherea’s emotions disproportionately to the notes’ power.

33. What did Manston disclose as the reason for his initial backwardness?

A. He was too poor
B. He was already married
C. He feared Miss Aldclyffe
D. He wanted to go to London

B. He was already married.
Manston was compelled to admit to Miss Aldclyffe that he had been secretly married to a woman named Eunice.

34. What calamity supposedly killed Manston’s wife, Eunice?

A. Died in London
B. Sickness in Liverpool
C. Burned in the fire
D. Fell down stairs

C. Burned in the fire.
The Three Tranters Inn burned down, and it was widely concluded that Mrs. Manston perished in the ruins.

35. What caused Farmer Springrove’s financial dilemma after the fire?

A. Edward’s wages
B. Uninsured houses
C. Manston’s demands
D. Leases expired

B. Uninsured houses.
Farmer Springrove’s leased houses were burned down and uninsured, forcing him into a serious liability.

36. What condition did Miss Aldclyffe propose to help Farmer Springrove?

A. Edward pays the debt
B. Edward marries Adelaide
C. Owen takes a job
D. Edward leaves town

B. Edward marries Adelaide.
Miss Aldclyffe suggested she would cancel the rebuilding requirement if Edward married his cousin Adelaide Hinton.

37. Who did Edward believe Manston was attempting to compromise?

A. Miss Aldclyffe’s reputation
B. Edward’s father
C. Cytherea’s character
D. Adelaide Hinton

C. Cytherea’s character.
Edward felt Manston influenced Aldclyffe to make Cytherea seem fickle, breaking Edward’s own faith.

38. What major external pressure forced Cytherea to accept Manston’s proposal?

A. Miss Aldclyffe’s threats
B. Edward’s absence
C. Owen’s worsening illness
D. Fear of scandal

C. Owen’s worsening illness.
Owen’s doctors advised an expensive operation, and Manston offered support contingent on Cytherea’s acceptance.

39. What confirmed the colour of Manston’s first wife’s eyes?

A. A written verse
B. Owen’s photograph
C. Adelaide’s memory
D. Manston’s admission

A. A written verse.
A love verse Manston wrote to his first wife, Eunice, mentioned her eyes as being “azure”.

40. What happened to Edward’s engagement to Adelaide right before Cytherea’s wedding?

A. They broke up
B. They married
C. She jilted him
D. They postponed it

C. She jilted him.
Edward revealed that Adelaide had jilted him the day before, marrying a rich man named Farmer Bollens.

41. Who was the railway porter who confessed to Mr. Raunham?

A. John Springrove
B. Richard Crickett
C. Joseph Chinney
D. Gad Weedy

C. Joseph Chinney.
Chinney, the nervous porter, confessed that Mrs. Manston escaped the fire by taking an early morning train.

42. What detail about Mrs. Manston’s escape made investigators suspicious?

A. She was partially dressed
B. She wore a veil
C. She left the watch and keys
D. She bribed the porter

C. She left watch and keys.
She left her keys and watch behind, which had been used at the inquest to prove she died in the fire.

43. Who was the woman Manston brought in to impersonate his wife?

A. Adelaide Hinton
B. Anne Seaway
C. Eunice Rondley
D. Miss Aldclyffe

B. Anne Seaway.
Manston confessed he hired Anne Seaway, an adventuress he knew, to impersonate Eunice Manston.

44. What was the confirmed colour of Anne Seaway’s eyes?

A. Azure blue
B. Black midnight
C. Brown Hazel
D. Grey pale

B. Black midnight.
Owen Graye confirmed the woman impersonating Eunice had eyes “as black as midnight” after feigning deafness.

45. What was Manston’s eventual fate?

A. Fled to London
B. Convicted of bigamy
C. Suicide in gaol
D. Executed for murder

C. Suicide in gaol.
Manston killed himself in the county gaol after writing a full confession about the murder of his first wife.

46. What did Manston admit was his motive for the deception with Anne Seaway?

A. Escape poverty
B. Escape murder charge
C. Win Aldclyffe’s land
D. Win Cytherea back

B. Escape murder charge.
He admitted he murdered Eunice accidentally in rage, and feared the gallows if the true circumstances emerged.

47. Who witnessed Manston burying Eunice’s body?

A. Anne Seaway
B. Owen Graye
C. Edward Springrove
D. Detective Raunham

A. Anne Seaway.
Anne Seaway witnessed Manston digging up and attempting to re-bury his wife’s body in the grove.

48. Who was Manston’s actual biological mother?

A. Eunice Manston
B. Anne Seaway
C. Miss Aldclyffe
D. Cytherea Graye

C. Miss Aldclyffe.
Miss Aldclyffe confessed on her deathbed that Manston was her illegitimate son, born when she was seventeen.

49. How did Miss Aldclyffe try to ensure her son inherited the property?

A. Left it to Cytherea
B. Left it to his “wife”
C. Left it to the rector
D. Left it to his heirs

B. Left it to his “wife”.
Miss Aldclyffe bequeathed her estate to “the wife of Æneas Manston” so her son would inherit indirectly.

50. What role did Edward Springrove take after Manston’s death?

A. Detective assistant
B. Architect in London
C. Steward at Knapwater
D. Married Cytherea

C. Steward at Knapwater.
Edward was hired as steward for Mr. Raunham (who inherited the estate) and soon married Cytherea.

Brief Overview

Desperate Remedies is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It was first published anonymously in 1871. It is considered a sensation novel because its plot incorporates shocking elements like crime, blackmail, and bigamy to thrill the reader.

The story follows Cytherea Graye after her father, Ambrose, an architect, dies and leaves her poor. Ambrose had once been in love with a woman named Cytherea, who left him suddenly.

Cytherea soon falls in love with a kind clerk named Edward Springrove, but they are separated. This is due to Edward’s existing engagement and the deceptive interference of Miss Aldclyffe. Cytherea then takes a job as a maid for Miss Aldclyffe and discovers that the woman was her father’s first sweetheart.

Miss Aldclyffe pressures Cytherea to marry the handsome estate steward, Manston, to help her sick brother, Owen. The marriage happens, but Cytherea soon finds out that Manston’s first wife, Eunice, did not die in a fire as everyone thought, but is actually alive. Cytherea realizes her marriage is void and leaves Manston immediately.

Miss Aldclyffe dies, revealing that Manston is her secret son. Manston is then caught hiding Eunice’s body. He confesses that he accidentally killed her during a fight and then covered up the crime. Manston kills himself in jail. Cytherea inherits the entire estate. She finally marries Edward, and they live happily in Knapwater House.