A Little Less Conversation Trivia Quiz

Answer: Richard Brinsley Sheridan

The character Mrs Malaprop is guardian to the aptly-named Lydia Languish. A couple of her immortal gems include 'He is the very pineapple of politeness' (pinnacle) and 'She's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile' (alligator). Sheridan's wonderfully over-the-top character gave her name to the word 'malapropism' which is used to this day to describe the misuse of like-sounding words to humorous effect.

Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan's comedy 'The Rivals' was first performed in January 1775 in Covent Garden, London. After it received an initially hostile reception he withdrew the play, rewrote it and had it back on stage only a few days later, where it met with much acclaim and cemented his career. Sheridan (1751-1816) was only 23 when he wrote the play, which was his first. His most famous, however, was 'The School For Scandal' which opened in 1777. He is buried at Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Answer: Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters live with their parents in early 19th-century England. Her relationship with handsome, wealthy, yet aloof, bachelor Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy is the chief theme of Jane Austen's novel, which is one of the English-speaking world's best-loved books. It has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and spawned many film and television adaptations.

Jane Austen lived from 1775 to 1817. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, the county in which she had always lived. Her first novel was 'Sense and Sensibility', published in 1811.

Answer: Alice

Surely one of our best-loved characters is the logical and ever-questioning Alice; following the White Rabbit and falling down his rabbit hole certainly gave her cause to ask many questions!

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' was written by Lewis Carroll and first published in 1865 with charming illustrations by John Tenniel. It introduced the reader to anthropomorphic characters such as the White Rabbit, the March Hare, the Cheshire Cat and many more, alongside human characters including the Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the Duchess, another highly voluble character! Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898). His sequel to 'Alice in Wonderland' as it is usually referred to, was the immortal 'Through the Looking-Glass', published in 1871, which gave us the characters Humpty Dumpty and twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Answer: Belgium

Poirot was indeed Belgian, but was often mistaken for being French because French was his first language, although he spoke fluent English. He first appeared in Christie's 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' (1920) where he met with Captain Arthur Hastings with whom he was to share many adventures.

Dame Agatha Christie (1890-1976) wrote 33 full-length Poirot novels and also 51 short stories, the last novel being 'Curtain', published in 1975. Her books are estimated to have sold over four billion copies worldwide and have been translated into over 100 languages. Agatha Christie also introduced the reader to Miss Jane Marple, the elderly spinster sleuth from the fictional English village of St Mary Mead, another dab hand at a mystery. Both Poirot and Miss Marple have had their tales adapted for television and film, both portrayed by various actors; David Suchet debuted as Poirot in 1989 and to date has played him the most times.

Answer: Hamlet

All four options are among Shakespeare's Tragedies. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is Shakespeare's most talkative character in any one of his plays, the part having an incredible 1,422 lines. 'Hamlet' was always one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, both during and after his lifetime, and remains one of the most-performed. The 1948 film with Sir Laurence Olivier in the title role won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor.

Shakespeare's fickle but entertaining knight Sir John Falstaff appears in Henry IV Parts I and II and also in the comedy 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. In 'Henry V' reference is made to the fact that he has died, but the character himself does not appear.

Answer: Lady Bracknell

'The Importance of Being Earnest', first performed in 1895 in St James's Theatre in London, remains Oscar Wilde's most popular play. It has been adapted for three films, the first of which featured Dame Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell. As well as the 'handbag' line this redoubtable lady had some other memorable lines, among them, on learning that Jack Worthing (the 'Ernest' of the title) was an orphan;, 'To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness', as well as advising him 'to try and acquire some relations as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over.' A formidable lady indeed!

Brilliant but also considered controversial for his times, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854 and died of cerebral meningitis in impoverished circumstances in a Paris hotel room in 1900, aged 46.

Answer: Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes has become one of detective fiction's most enduring characters and has been a lesson to readers in the art of logical deduction coupled with sheer intelligence. In all, Conan Doyle penned four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes, the majority of which were written from the point of view of Holmes's self-styled 'biographer', his friend and associate Dr John H Watson.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859 and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. His first solo medical practice was not busy at first and he turned to writing stories to fill his time. He later studied ophthalmology, moved to London and set up a practice there; however, this was unsuccessful and he turned to writing full time. He wrote many books and short stories, but it was with Holmes that he was to find fame with the publication of the first full-length Holmes novel, 'A Study in Scarlet', in 1887. At one stage, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes because he wished to spend more time on his other works, but was persuaded to bring him back by public demand.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died suddenly on 7 July 1930 from a heart attack at his home in Crowborough, East Sussex. He had been married twice and had five children.

Answer: Delia Peabody

Imperturbable and dependable, Peabody first worked under Eve in 'Glory in Death' as her temporary aide, a position which was made permanent in 'Rapture in Death'. Delia was promoted to Detective 3rd Grade in 'Imitation in Death'. She lives with Detective Ian McNab, whose nickname for her is 'She-Body'; Eve sometimes finds the secrets Peabody confides about their life together are 'way too much information'.

The first J D Robb book in the futuristic detective series was 'Naked in Death', first published in 1995. Since then they have become runaway bestsellers. Prolific author Nora Roberts (born 1950) also writes under her own name and in total has written over 200 novels, many of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. Over 40 of her novels comprise the 'In Death' series; 'Survivor in Death' won the 2006 RITA Award for best romantic suspense novel.

Answer: P G Wodehouse

The brilliant and unflappable Jeeves was often heard quoting from Shakespeare. He had a legendary knowledge of many subjects including philosophy, politics, poetry and history. Hugely streetwise and capable, his work was often cut out extricating his employer from the most extraordinary situations only he could have got into. There have been many adaptations of these two characters in films, plays and television. Stephen Fry as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Wooster was a hit television series in the UK in the early 1990s of which 23 episodes were made.

Sir Pelham Grenville (P. G.) Wodehouse was born in 1881 and died in 1975. He left England and spent much of his life in New York, becoming a US citizen in 1955. He was knighted in the New Year Honours in 1975 but was too frail to travel to England for his investiture, which was later accepted from the British Consul by his wife. He died very shortly after knowing he was to be honoured, in February 1975, in Southampton Hospital, New York.

Answer: David Copperfield

Mr Micawber plays a prominent part in Dickens's 1850 novel 'David Copperfield'. He is unfailingly optimistic and lives by the maxim 'something will turn up'. He has spent time in a debtors' prison and is poor but honest, a quality which stands him in good stead when he exposes his employer, the obsequious and nauseatingly 'umble' Uriah Heep, as a forger and embezzler. His views on money have found their way into the English language for 'the Micawber Principle', which states 'annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery'.

One of Dickens's most loveable characters, Wilkins Micawber is understood to have been based on Dickens's own father, who spent time in London's Marshalsea debtors' prison. Charles Dickens was brought up in poverty; this helped shape his writings, which are a wonderful social commentary of the conditions people of his times lived under, which were sometimes desperately hard. Born in 1812, he died in 1870 and was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. His first novel, 'The Pickwick Papers', published in installments between 1836 and 1837, brought him instant acclaim and his sharp observations and wonderful characterisations are still read and loved today. There have been many film and television adaptations of his works and the term 'Dickensian' is still used today to conjure up images of the poor social conditions of the time.