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Quiz about Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
Quiz about Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister Quiz


Another delectable work by Gregory Maguire, set in 17th century Holland. Join Iris and Ruth the ugly stepsisters, their evil mother Margarethe, and the beautiful but strange Clara, the cinder girl, in this new approach to an old tale.

A multiple-choice quiz by Marshame. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
Marshame
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
305,643
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
316
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
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Question 1 of 10
1. Why did the English villagers attack Jack Fisher? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What was the rumor about the beautiful and mysterious Clara? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. If Clara's behavior in the van der Meer household were manifest today, what would the diagnosis probably be? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Once in Holland, Margarethe and the two sisters found lodging and employment with the artist Master Schoonmaker. What did the Master keep behind locked doors? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Why was Iris brought in to the van der Meer household? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What did the kitchen girl Rebekka die from? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What historic crisis occurs during the setting of this story? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. After the Ball, what did Margarethe, in a dream-like state, confess to? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Why does the Dowager Queen throw a Ball to find a suitable bride for Prince Philippe among the Dutch commoners? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. What are we surprized to learn about the dim-witted and mute sister Ruth, in the end? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Why did the English villagers attack Jack Fisher?

Answer: They blamed him for the flooding of the fields and fenlands

Englishman Jack Fisher had married the Dutch Margarethe ten Broek, and had learned how to drain the lowlands from her father. He showed the English villagers how to drain their lands, but when the lowlands flooded, the villagers blamed him. They might have killed the whole family if Margarethe had not escaped with the girls in the dead of night. Within a week they set sail for Holland.
2. What was the rumor about the beautiful and mysterious Clara?

Answer: She was a changeling, having been switched as a baby

Clara herself thought that she was a changling. She believed she had been kidnapped by a crow as a young child and kept in the basement of an old windmill until she was "changed" into a different person. After her parents paid a sizable ransom, she was returned home, but was not the same.
3. If Clara's behavior in the van der Meer household were manifest today, what would the diagnosis probably be?

Answer: Agoraphobia

Clara refused to leave the homestead, even though she expressed the desire to do so and see the world. In fact she even avoided passing by doors and windows. When the time came for the Ball with the prince, she had to be forced to go by Iris, and even then, she only went with her face veiled.

Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder marked by the fear of public and/or unfamiliar places. In severe cases, the sufferer may be unable to leave his or her home. It includes the fear of being embarrassed in a public place and the fear of being unable to escape.
4. Once in Holland, Margarethe and the two sisters found lodging and employment with the artist Master Schoonmaker. What did the Master keep behind locked doors?

Answer: The gallery of God's mistakes

Schoonmaker had built his career on painting and selling sacred/religious art, but the Calvinist residents of Haarlem had no use for them. As a painter, he also catalogued the misshapen, "the unholy aberrations", which Schoonmaker said proves our need for God. He kept them locked up because they were so graphic and shocking.
5. Why was Iris brought in to the van der Meer household?

Answer: To be a companion to Clara and teach her English

Mr. van der Meer told Clara, "I've bought you a new friend." Margarethe was brought in to help Clara's mother, the pregnant Henrika, with running the large household, with the understanding that her two daughters would come along also.
6. What did the kitchen girl Rebekka die from?

Answer: The plague

Another interesting undercurrent of the story is the presence of the bubonic plague, wreaking its devastation across Europe. Margarethe's incessant fear of being homeless is fueled by the homeless people's greater susceptibility to the plague. Although the worst of the plague was experienced in the 1300's, outbreaks persisted until the 1700's.
7. What historic crisis occurs during the setting of this story?

Answer: The Great Tulip Disaster

The Great Tulip Disaster of 1637 provides a cautionary tale for us today. The tulip market went into a fevered pitch of speculation starting in the early 1630's. Especially rare or prized tulip bulbs were sold for prices that could buy a house. Speculation grew based on the "greater fool theory of investing", where people bought bulbs at ridiculously high prices with the expectation that they could find another fool to pay even more. When the bubble finally burst in Febrary 1637, many were ruined. In our story, having invested everything in tulips, Cornelius van der Meer loses everything including his wits.
8. After the Ball, what did Margarethe, in a dream-like state, confess to?

Answer: She murdered Clara's mother with poison

There are many hints and innuendos about Margarethe's knowledge of herbs and potions and the words to pronounce, both holy and unholy. Also, it is clear she will do whatever is necessary for herself and her daughters to survive. But we really do not see her capacity for evil until she admits to poisoning the pregnant Henrika.

Her rapid marriage to the grieving widower only weeks after Henrika's death might have been the clue.
9. Why does the Dowager Queen throw a Ball to find a suitable bride for Prince Philippe among the Dutch commoners?

Answer: Because Philippe is not expected to live long and needs a robust heir

Information about Prince Philippe comes out as gossip from Margarethe, but the physical description of him is also somewhat suggestible. We learn the truth in the epilogue.
10. What are we surprized to learn about the dim-witted and mute sister Ruth, in the end?

Answer: All of the above

Maguire is a master of leaving a few threads hanging (is Jack Fisher dead or not?) but also in tying up most loose ends. The epilogue wraps up the tale and we learn who marries who and who lives happily ever after, or some approximation thereof.
Source: Author Marshame

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
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