It’s Women’s History Month and so we’ve decided to celebrate with a light-hearted quiz about some of the women we’ve known longest and best. Sure, they’re fictional, but they’ve inspired us with their strength, ingenuity, wit and compassion over the years. Take our quiz on women in literature to see how well you remember them.
1 Roald Dahl’s Matilda is at her most brilliant when she discovers her latent psychokinetic powers, but she no longer has them by the end of the book. This is because:
a. She’s no longer bored
b. She transferred them to Ms. Honey
c. They’re exhausted by her Anti-Trunchbull campaign
2 Match the quote to the character. Which lovely Shakespearean lady said what?
Rosalind a.“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”
Viola b.“Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love.”
Beatrice c.[How does he love me?] “With adoration, with fertile tears, with groans that thunder love, with sighs of fire.”
3 If you don’t know something in the Hogwarts universe, the person to ask is always Hermione Granger. But when she faces the Boggart it reveals Hermione’s one great fear by taking the form of:
a. Her dentist father getting ready to give her a root canal
b. Prof. McGonagall telling her she’s failed all her exams
c. The librarian at Hogwarts telling her that her library card had been revoked.
4The Vizier’s virgin daughter and main storyteller of One thousand and one nights -knew that by marrying Sultan Shahryar she was risking:
a. A life of unrelenting boredom
b. Acquiring a sadistic mother-in-law
c. Being executed in the morning
Answers
1.a) By age 5 ½, Matilda is knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. All the latent power of her under-stimulated brain allows to develop psychokinetic powers, that vanish when she’s finally gets to
2.a.b, b.c, c.a Whether they’re dressed as boys or girls, Shakespeare’s women are an interesting bunch. Gutsy, opinionated and incredibly tender hearted, there’s so much to love.
3.b) Hermione has “quite a lot of vulnerability in her personality,” author JK Rowling explains, Hermione feels “utterly inadequate...and to compensate, she tries to be the best at everything at school, projecting a false confidence that can irritate people.”
4.c) Scheherazade knew enough tales to fill one thousand and one nights but her idea of a cliffhanger is as unpredictable – you might be wondering if the hero will survive, but equally find yourself waiting with the sultan for her to finish expounding on a piece of Islamic philosophy. Many different versions exist, but in all Scheherazade restores the Sultans faith in women and he lets her live. |
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