Dickensian Maids Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

The main female character of Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities' is Lucie Manette, the daughter of a French doctor who had been imprisoned in the Bastille during the latter years of pre-revolutionary France. Lucie lived in London with her loyal governess (who had become more of a companion as Lucie reached adulthood), Miss Pross, and was the love interest of both Charles Darnay, another French emigrant, and Sydney Carton, an English barrister. Miss Pross accompanies Lucie throughout the main events of the novel, despite struggling to reconcile her loyalty to her French charge with her staunch patriotism for England.

Answer: The Pickwick Papers

'The Pickwick Papers' was Charles Dickens' first novel and is a collection of stories about various members of the Pickwick Club and the events of their travels around England in the late 1820s. It was initially published in serial form and the introduction of the character Sam Weller as Mr. Pickwick's valet proved to be a turning point in the story's popularity and sales. Sam's love interest was a housemaid named Mary who worked for a Mr. Nupkins in Ipswich, one of the places visited by Mr. Pickwick on his journey around the country.

Answer: David Copperfield

Clara Peggotty, or 'Peggotty' to use the Copperfield family's name for her, was initially Mr. and Mrs. Copperfield's housekeeper and a second mother figure to the young David Copperfield. Her love for him resonates throughout the whole novel as she provides him with constant support through events such as his mother's remarriage to the unpleasant Mr. Murdstone, her subsequent death in childbirth, and his move to work in London.

She married Mr. Barkis (and therefore is also referred to as Mrs. Barkis) and despite inheriting his fortune after his death, she continued working as a servant and became a companion to David's great-aunt Betsey Trotwood.

Answer: The Cricket on the Hearth

'The Cricket on the Hearth' is one of the five Christmas-themed novellas published by Charles Dickens in the 1840s - the others being 'A Christmas Carol', 'The Chimes', 'The Battle of Life' and 'The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain'. Tilly Slowboy was a young teenager who had been a foundling and had recently been employed as nursemaid to the Peerybingles' baby son. Like many of Dickens' characters, her name evokes elements of her personality as she is described as "being always in a state of gaping admiration" and appeared to be thoroughly incompetent.

The eponymous cricket was an insect that lived on the hearth and brought luck to the family - the story isn't about a family trying to play a ball game on their fireplace...

Answer: Dombey and Son

Mrs. Polly Toodle was employed by the wealthy Mr. Dombey to be a wet nurse to his baby son, Paul, following the death of the baby's mother. In an example of the lack of respect often shown by the rich towards their servants, he refused to call her by her name and instead insisted that she answer to his choice of name for her - therefore she is mostly referred to throughout the story as "Richards".

After a few years she was sacked when Mr. Dombey's daughter Florence was abducted during a trip with Mrs. Toodle and Paul into town.

However, since Dombey doted on his son but deliberately neglected his daughter, he didn't sack her because Florence was kidnapped, but because she had potentially exposed Paul to danger.

Answer: The Old Curiosity Shop

Nell Trent and her grandfather were the proprietors of 'The Old Curiosity Shop', until they lost it to the evil Daniel Quilp as a result of gambling debts. The pair were then plunged into poverty and forced to flee London. The rest of the novel was focused around the search for them by a variety of characters, including their friend and former employee Kit Nubbles (the novel's hero) and Nell's grasping brother who wrongly believed she had a hidden fortune.

Despite a nickname that might suggest she was a member of Britain's aristocracy, "The Marchioness" was in fact a servant who was unaware of her name, age or parentage. She served Miss Sally Brass (the sister of Quilp's solicitor) and played an important role in the plot when she helped her friend Dick Swiveller to thwart Mr. Brass's attempt to frame Kit for robbery.

Answer: A Christmas Carol

'A Christmas Carol' is one of Dickens' most popular works and has been adapted for theatre, radio, television, film and even opera since it was first published in 1843. In it, Ebenezer Scrooge (whose name has since been adopted as a word to describe his miserly personality) is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come, who aim to shock him into becoming a better person. Mrs. Dilber appears in the scenes shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and is one of the servants of a dead man who has stolen his belongings and is in the process of selling them.

Although Scrooge never lifts the cover over the dead man's face, he is left with the clear impression that he is viewing the aftermath of his own demise.

Answer: Bleak House

Lady Honoria Dedlock is a major character in Charles Dickens' 1852-53 work, 'Bleak House'. She has a mysterious history that is connected with many of the key events of the novel. She has several servants who appear as minor characters, but Hortense, her French lady's maid, has a rather larger impact on the wider plot than some of the others.

At one point Lady Dedlock disguises herself as Hortense in order to remain anonymous while asking questions about people related to her past. The character of Hortense was based on a real-life maid named Maria Manning who was hanged for murdering her lover in 1850.

Answer: Great Expectations

Molly (whose surname is not revealed) appears in perhaps the best known of Charles Dickens' novels - 'Great Expectations'. She is the housekeeper of Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer who represents both the reclusive Miss Havisham and the mysterious benefactor of the novel's main protagonist, Philip 'Pip' Pirrip. Molly has various secrets in her past; she was employed by Jaggers only after he had saved her from being executed for murder and her first appearance in the novel is a scene where she is forced to show her heavily scarred wrists to Mr. Jaggers' dinner guests.

She also has a secret connection to both Miss Havisham's adopted daughter Estella and the escaped convict helped by Pip at the very start of the work.

Answer: Little Dorrit

The Meagles family are friends of Arthur Clennam, one of the main characters of 'Little Dorrit'. They consist of Mr. Meagles, a friendly retired businessman; his wife, Mrs. Meagles; and their daughter Minnie, who is known by the nickname 'Pet' (and is as spoiled as that nickname would suggest). Tattycoram occupies a peculiar role of being partly treated as a member of the family and partly as a servant.

She was originally named Harriet Beadle when she lived in the Foundling Hospital, but the Meagles family use a corrupted version of that as a nickname for her.

Although the family have kind intentions towards her and focus on all the benefits they have given her, such as the opportunity to travel the world, Tattycoram resents her position and eventually abandons them to live with the mysterious Miss Wade.