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.

The Woodlanders MCQs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Barber Percombe.
A passenger identifies the curious gentleman as Barber Percombe, a master-barber, a genteel shop owner.

5. What does Barber Percombe want Marty South to sell?

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

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

6. How much does Marty earn per thousand spars?

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

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

7. Why does Marty keep her door ajar?

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

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

8. What is John South afraid will kill him?

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

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

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

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

A. Mr. Melbury.
Marty tells the barber she is making spars for Mr. Melbury, the local timber-dealer.

10. What plan does Melbury have for his daughter, Grace?

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

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

11. Why did Melbury promise Grace to Winterborne?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Apple upon a gate-post.
Giles, seeing her short hair, remarks that her head looks like an apple upon a gate-post.

15. What trade connections do the Melburys and Winterbornes have?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Science or black-art.
Bawtree spreads a rumor that the doctor ordered books on mysterious science or black-art from London.

20. What act does Melbury perform on the gray horse before Giles leaves for Sherton?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Marty South.
Giles points out Marty South, recognizable by her dress, sitting with Mrs. Charmond’s coachman.

25. What colors does the light from Fitzpiers’s house change to?

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

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

26. What did Grammer Oliver agree to sell Fitzpiers?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

29. What does Mrs. Charmond propose to Grace?

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

A. Dictate travel impressions.
Mrs. Charmond wants Grace to dictate her ‘New Sentimental Journey’ impressions of foreign travel.

30. Which classical tragedy author is referenced in connection with Hintock dramas?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Belonged to Mrs. Charmond.
Giles was scrupulous about cutting down Mrs. Charmond’s timber without proper permission from her agent.

35. What was the unexpected result of cutting down the elm tree?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Ideal world, philosophy.
Fitzpiers was primarily an idealist, preferring abstract philosophy and the perfect idea to the real world.

40. On Midsummer Eve, what ritual do the local girls plan to try?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Calls him “that fellow”.
Fitzpiers refers to Giles as “that fellow,” which Grace finds supercilious and rude, given their shared past.

45. What discovery convinces Grace that Fitzpiers lied to her about Suke Damson?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A. Stays in his damp hut.
Grace stays in Giles’s hut, forcing him into the cold and damp, which exacerbates his illness.

50. Why does Marty South feel that Winterborne is now exclusively hers?

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

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

Brief Overview

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

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

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

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

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

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