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Quiz about Literary Allusions in Christie Books
Quiz about Literary Allusions in Christie Books

Literary Allusions in Christie Books Quiz


There are numerous literary allusions to be found in Agatha Christie's work. Do you remember some of them? Take this to find out, and good luck!

A multiple-choice quiz by PearlQ19. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
PearlQ19
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
338,303
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
499
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 86 (7/10), Guest 45 (6/10), Guest 49 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. "Mrs. McGinty's Dead": Mrs. Oliver drives past Poirot in her car and carelessly tosses an apple core out of the window, hitting Poirot in the face. She later refers to that incident by alluding to which legendary Swiss hero? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. "The mirror crack'd from side to side/The curse is come upon me, cried..." who? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" features a murderer who never harms a hair on anyone's head, but coaxes others into doing so. To which Shakespeare character does Poirot compare him? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In which novel does a performance of John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi" trigger a gruesome childhood memory in one of the main characters, leading to the solution of an undiscovered murder from twenty years ago? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Which of the following titles is not based on Shakespeare? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Shakespeare again: The discovery of which murder prompts one of the characters to quote Lady Macbeth's line, "Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him"? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. "Sparkling Cyanide", or "Remembered Death" begins with the following quote: "What can I do to drive away remembrance from mine eyes?" Who is being quoted? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Which book title is a direct reference to the Bible? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "Postern of Fate" takes its title from a line from a poem by James Elroy Flecker. That poems describes the four gates of which place? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Let's end on a lighter note: From which collection of stories comes the nickname of Arthur Hastings's wife? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Apr 01 2024 : Guest 86: 7/10
Mar 27 2024 : Guest 45: 6/10
Mar 26 2024 : Guest 49: 7/10
Mar 26 2024 : Guest 82: 9/10
Mar 17 2024 : Guest 2: 9/10
Mar 12 2024 : Guest 78: 7/10
Mar 02 2024 : Peachie13: 10/10
Feb 22 2024 : Bacanta: 7/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "Mrs. McGinty's Dead": Mrs. Oliver drives past Poirot in her car and carelessly tosses an apple core out of the window, hitting Poirot in the face. She later refers to that incident by alluding to which legendary Swiss hero?

Answer: William Tell

William (Wilhelm in German) Tell is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. Mrs. Oliver, in her usual fussy way, explains that she met Poirot on the road, or rather, hit him with an apple core - "Like William Tell, but the other way round".
Albrecht Gessler was the tyrannical reeve who, according to legend, was killed by Wilhelm Tell; Arnold Winkelried is another key figure in Swiss lore, and Henri Dunant is the founder of the Red Cross.
2. "The mirror crack'd from side to side/The curse is come upon me, cried..." who?

Answer: The Lady of Shalott

Featured prominently in the book of the same name (that is, "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side", or "Mirror Crack'd" for short), this is the quote that Miss Marple's friend Dolly Bantry uses to describe the expression on movie star Marina Gregg's face shortly before an unexpected death occurs at her party.
The book also closes with the last lines of this poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
3. "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" features a murderer who never harms a hair on anyone's head, but coaxes others into doing so. To which Shakespeare character does Poirot compare him?

Answer: Iago

Poirot's last case is also his greatest challenge as he and Hastings take up the hunt for a murderer with extraordinary powers of persuasion.
4. In which novel does a performance of John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi" trigger a gruesome childhood memory in one of the main characters, leading to the solution of an undiscovered murder from twenty years ago?

Answer: "Sleeping Murder"

"Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young." These are the lines that make Gwenda Reed remember that as a young child she must have been witness to a murder, with the murderer quoting these exact lines. She eventually finds out, helped by Miss Marple.
5. Which of the following titles is not based on Shakespeare?

Answer: "Endless Night"

"Endless Night" is based on the famous poem "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blake:

Every night and every morn,
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night,
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

The other three titles are all direct quotes from Shakespeare plays: "Macbeth" ("By the pricking of my thumbs/Something wicked this way comes"); "Julius Caesar" ("There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune..."), and "Twelfth Night" ("Come away, come away, death, and in sad cypress let me be laid...").
6. Shakespeare again: The discovery of which murder prompts one of the characters to quote Lady Macbeth's line, "Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him"?

Answer: Simeon Lee ("Hercule Poirot's Christmas")

Lydia Lee instinctively said the right thing, as it turns out that it wasn't actually the old man's blood that was spattered all over the room.
7. "Sparkling Cyanide", or "Remembered Death" begins with the following quote: "What can I do to drive away remembrance from mine eyes?" Who is being quoted?

Answer: John Keats

These are the opening lines from "To _. (What can I do to drive away)" by John Keats.
The second part of the book suitably opens with Ophelia's famous "rosemary for remembrance" line.
8. Which book title is a direct reference to the Bible?

Answer: "The Pale Horse"

Revelation 6:8 "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him...."
"The Moving Finger" is from verse 51 of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on...", which is, in turn, a reference to the Bible; more precisely, Belshazzar's feast as related in the Book of Daniel, which is the source of the common phrase "the writing on the wall". That is why I put "direct reference" in the question.
9. "Postern of Fate" takes its title from a line from a poem by James Elroy Flecker. That poems describes the four gates of which place?

Answer: Damascus

"Postern of Fate, the Desert Gate, Disaster's Cavern, Fort of Fear,
The Portal of Baghdad am I, and Doorway of Diarbekir.
(...)
Pass not beneath, O Caravan, or pass not singing. Have you heard
That silence where the birds are dead yet something pipeth like a bird?"

The poem is called "The Gates of Damascus".
10. Let's end on a lighter note: From which collection of stories comes the nickname of Arthur Hastings's wife?

Answer: Grimm's Fairy Tales

"Cinderella" is probably one of the best-known fairy tales in the Grimm collection.
Nursery rhymes also feature frequently in Christie literature - just think of "Three Blind Mice", "Five Little Pigs", "A Pocket Full of Rye" or "Hickory Dickory Dock".
Greek mythology becomes evident in the first names of Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver and is the common theme in the short story collection "The Labours of Hercules".
Source: Author PearlQ19

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LadyCaitriona before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series My Christie Quizzes:

Every now and then I go on an Agatha Christie binge, and when I do, it is reflected in my quiz-writing activities. Here are all my Christie quizzes in one place ... including some very old ones when I was young and inexperienced and my English wasn't what it is today.

  1. Agatha Christie's Plot Devices Average
  2. The Christie Couples Average
  3. The Christie Couples, Vol. II Average
  4. The Christie Couples, Vol. III Average
  5. The Christie Couples, Vol. IV Average
  6. The Christie Couples, Vol. V Average
  7. Write Down What You Saw... Average
  8. The Plot, She Thickens Average
  9. "Evil Under the Sun": Book vs. Movie Average
  10. Glimpsed Again: Recurring Supporting Characters Average
  11. Back-Translated German Agatha Christie Book Titles Average
  12. More Back-Translated German Christie Titles Tough

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