Study Questions

1How does Swift use language and style for the purpose of satire? How does his style change as the story
progresses?
Scattered among the standard narrative style of most of Gulliver’s travels are legal documents and reports,
such as the inventory of Gulliver’s possessions and the list of obligations presented to him by the
Lilliputians. There are also brief passages in which Swift, by his style alone, ridicules the linguistic excesses
of various specialists. A good example is at the beginning of Part II, Chapter I, where Gulliver uses
complicated nautical jargon. The effect is so overdone that, instead of coming off as a demonstration of
Gulliver’s in-depth knowledge of sailing, the passage works as a satire of sailing language and, more
generally, of any kind of specialist jargon. A similar passage occurs in Part III, Chapter III, where Gulliver’s
painstaking description of the geometry of Laputa serves as a satire of philosophical jargon.
Over the course of the novel, there are several changes in Swift’s style. In the first two voyages, the style is
constant: it is a relatively lighthearted but still biting satire of European culture and politics, framed as an
adventure among dwarves and giants. In the third voyage, the tone shifts. Gulliver becomes less of a
personality and more of an abstract observer. His judgments of the societies he encounters become more
direct and unmediated, and the overall narrative becomes less of an adventure and more of a scattered
satire on abstract thought. In the fourth voyage, the tone becomes, for the most part, much more serious
than in the first three adventures. Gulliver too is more serious and more desperate, and his change in
personality is reflected in a style that is darker, more somber, and more cynical.

2 Does Gulliver change as the story progresses? Does he learn from his adventures?

Gulliver is somewhat more tranquil and less restless at the end of the story than he is at the beginning. In
desiring first to stay with the Houyhnhnms, then to find an island on which he can live in exile, Gulliver
shows that his adventures have taught him that a simple life, one without the complexities and
weaknesses of human society, may be best. At the same time, his tranquility is superficial—lying not far
below the surface is a deep distaste for humanity that is aroused as soon as the crew of Don Pedro de
Mendez captures him. From our point of view, after we have looked at the world through Gulliver’s eyes
for much of the novel, Gulliver undergoes several interesting transformations: from the naïve Englishman
to the experienced but still open-minded world traveler of the first two voyages; then to the jaded island-
hopper of the third voyage; and finally to the cynical, disillusioned, and somewhat insane misanthrope of
the fourth voyage.

3Is Gulliver an everyman figure or does he have a distinctive personality of his own?
In many ways, Gulliver’s role as a generic human is more important than any personal opinions or abilities
he may have. Fate and circumstance conspire to lead him from place to place, while he never really asserts
his own desires. By minimizing the importance of Gulliver as a specific person, Swift puts the focus on the
social satire itself. At the same time, Gulliver himself becomes more and more a subject of satire as the
story progresses. At the beginning, he is a standard issue European adventurer; by the end, he has become
a misanthrope who totally rejects human society. It is in the fourth voyage that Gulliver becomes more
than simply a pair of eyes through which we see a series of unusual societies. He is, instead, a jaded
adventurer who has seen human follies—particularly that of pride—at their most extreme, and as a result
has descended into what looks like, and probably is, a kind of madness.
 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE MCQS QUESTION AND LINES
by: Jane Austen
1. Complete the quotation: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a ___.”

 house
 title
 wife
 dog

2. The Bennet family lives in the village of

 Pemberley
 Longbourn
 Rosings
 London

3. Mr. Bingley, when he attends the ball in Meryton, seems to be quite taken with

 Elizabeth
 Jane
 Lydia
 Charlotte Lucas

4. How does Mr. Darcy offend Elizabeth at the first ball?

 He insults her father.

 He dances with Jane too often.
 He slaps her.
 He refuses to dance with her.

5. Elizabeth’s best friend is named

 Mrs. Phillips
 Charlotte Lucas
 Miss Bingley
 Mrs. Gardiner

6. Why does Jane’s visit to the Bingleys end up lasting for days?

 She gets soaked in a rainstorm and becomes ill.

 Mr. Bingley proposes to her.
 Mrs. Bennet forgets to send a carriage to bring her home.
 Jane is hoping to make Mr. Darcy fall in love with her.

7. What does it mean that Mr. Bennet’s property is “entailed”?

 Lady Catherine de Bourgh gave it to him.

 It can only be inherited by a male.
 It comes from his wife’s family.
 He rents from Sir William Lucas.

8. What reason does Wickham give Elizabeth for his dislike of Darcy?

 Darcy killed his cousin in a duel.

 Darcy wouldn’t let Wickham marry his sister.
 Darcy betrayed his country.
 Darcy cheated him out of an inheritance.

9. To which Bennet daughter does Mr. Collins propose marriage?

 Elizabeth
 Jane
 Mary
 Lydia

10. Whom does Mr. Collins marry?

 Jane
 Lydia
 Miss Bingley
 Charlotte Lucas

11. Why does Miss Bingley dislike Elizabeth?

 She is jealous of Darcy’s growing attraction to Elizabeth.

 Elizabeth insulted Miss Bingley at the ball.
 Wickham has told Miss Bingley lies about Elizabeth’s character.
 Darcy is constantly speaking ill of Elizabeth.

12. Where do the Bingleys and Darcy go for the winter?

 Pemberley
 London
 They remain at Netherfield
 France

13. In March, Elizabeth goes to visit

 Miss Darcy
 Charlotte Lucas
 Wickham and Lydia
 Miss Bingley

14. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is Darcy’s

 Aunt
 Sister
 Mother
 First wife

15. When Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth, he spends most of the proposal dwelling on

 Her beauty
 How socially unsuitable a match she is for him
 How much he adores her family
 How much money he will lavish on her

16. When Darcy proposes for the first time, Elizabeth

 Tells him that she is engaged to Wickham

 Asks him for more time
 Turns him down
 Faints

17. Elizabeth’s feelings toward Darcy begin to change when he

 Sends her a letter explaining his actions

 Fights a duel with Wickham
 Sends money to Jane
 Marries Miss Bingley
 18. Darcy’s estate is called

 Rosings
 London
 Pemberley
 Brighton

19. Where does Lydia spend the summer, and why?

 Netherfield, to be near Darcy

 London, because she enjoys the opera
 Brighton, to be near the militia regiment
 Barbados, for her health

20. What socially disastrous romantic decision does Lydia make?

 She elopes with Wickham.

 She marries Bingley.
 She rejects Mr. Collins’s proposal.
 She runs away to France with a lover.

21. Who spearheads the search for Lydia after Mr. Bennet returns home in defeat?

 Mr. Gardiner
 Sir William Lucas
 Charlotte Lucas
 Mrs. Phillips

22. Who pays off Wickham, convincing him to marry Lydia?

 Bingley
 Darcy
 Mr. Gardiner
 Mr. Collins

23. When he returns to Netherfield, Mr. Bingley

 Has just married Miss Darcy

 Pursues the priesthood
 Begins courting Elizabeth
 Resumes courting Jane
 24. What does Lady Catherine forbid Elizabeth to do?

 Marry Bingley
 Visit Rosings
 Marry Darcy
 See Wickham

25. The novel ends with

 Darcy marrying Elizabeth, and Bingley marrying Miss Darcy

 Darcy marrying Elizabeth, and Wickham marrying Jane
 Bingley marrying Jane, and Elizabeth marrying Wickham
 Bingley marrying Jane, and Darcy marrying Elizabeth

Quotations Explained

1It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want
of a wife.

This is the first sentence of Pride and Prejudice and stands as one of the most famous first lines in
literature. Even as it briskly introduces the arrival of Mr. Bingley at Netherfield—the event that sets the
novel in motion—this sentence also offers a miniature sketch of the entire plot, which concerns itself with
the pursuit of “single men in possession of a good fortune” by various female characters. The
preoccupation with socially advantageous marriage in nineteenth-century English society manifests itself
here, for in claiming that a single man “must be in want of a wife,” the narrator reveals that the reverse is
also true: a single woman, whose socially prescribed options are quite limited, is in (perhaps desperate)
want of a husband.

mportant Quotations Explained

2“Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he
withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no
humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better
return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”

These words describe Darcy’s reaction at the Meryton ball in Chapter 3 to Bingley’s suggestion that he
dance with Elizabeth. Darcy, who sees the people of Meryton as his social inferiors, haughtily refuses to
condescend to dancing with someone “not handsome enough” for him. Moreover, he does so within range
of Elizabeth, thereby establishing a reputation among the entire community for pride and bad manners.
His sense of social superiority, artfully exposed in this passing comment, later proves his chief difficulty in
admitting his love for Elizabeth. The rudeness with which Darcy treats Elizabeth creates a negative
impression of him in her mind, one that will linger for nearly half of the novel, until the underlying nobility
of his character is gradually revealed to her.

3“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you
how ardently I admire and love you.” Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared,
coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that
he felt and had long felt for her, immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides
those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of
pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which judgment had
always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he
was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.

Darcy’s proposal of marriage to Elizabeth in Chapter 34 demonstrates how his feelings toward her
transformed since his earlier dismissal of her as “not handsome enough.” While Elizabeth rejects his
proposal, this event marks the turning point in the novel. Before Darcy asks Elizabeth to marry him, she
feels only contempt for him; afterward, she begins to see him in a new light, as certain incidents help
illustrate the essential goodness of his character. At this moment, however, Elizabeth’s eventual change of
heart remains unforeseen—all she thinks of is Darcy’s arrogance, his attempts to interfere in Bingley’s
courtship of Jane, and his alleged mistreatment of Wickham. Her judgment of Darcy stems from her initial
prejudice against his snobbishness, just as his pride about his high social status hampers his attempt to
express his affection. As the above quote makes clear, he spends more time emphasizing her lower rank
and unsuitability for marriage to him than he does complimenting her or pledging his love. “He was not
more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride,” the narrator states; Darcy must prioritize love
over his sense of superiority before he is worthy of Elizabeth’s hand.

Important Quotations Explained

4They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable
eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the
opposite side of a valley, into which the road with some abruptness wound. It was a large, handsome,
stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills;—and in front, a
stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its
banks were neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place where
nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They
were all of them warm in her admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley
might be something!

These lines open Chapter 43 and provide Elizabeth’s introduction to Darcy’s grand estate at Pemberley.
Her visit to Darcy’s home, which occupies a central place in the narrative, operates as a catalyst for her
growing attraction toward its owner. In her conversations with the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, Elizabeth
hears testimonials of Darcy’s wonderful generosity and his kindness as a master; when she encounters
Darcy himself, while walking through Pemberley’s grounds, he seems altogether changed and his previous
arrogance has diminished remarkably. This initial description of the building and grounds at Pemberley
serves as a symbol of Darcy’s character. The “stream of some natural importance . . . swelled into greater”
reminds the reader of his pride, but the fact that it lacks “any artificial appearance” indicates his basic
honesty, as does the fact that the stream is neither “formal, nor falsely adorned.” Elizabeth’s delight, and
her sudden epiphany about the pleasure that being mistress of Pemberley must hold, prefigure her later
joy in Darcy’s continued devotion.

Important Quotations Explained

5Elizabeth was much too embarrassed to say a word. After a short pause, her companion added, “You are
too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My
affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”
Elizabeth feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself
to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand, that her sentiments had
undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with
gratitude and pleasure, his present assurances.
This proposal and Elizabeth’s acceptance mark the climax of the novel, occurring in Chapter 58. Austen
famously prefers not to stage successful proposals in full, and the reader may be disappointed in the
anticlimactic manner in which the narrator relates Elizabeth’s acceptance. It is important to remember,
however, that the proposal and acceptance are almost a foregone conclusion by this point. Darcy’s
intervention on behalf of Lydia makes obvious his continuing devotion to Elizabeth, and the shocking
appearance of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the previous chapter, with her haughty attempts to forestall
the engagement, serves to suggest strongly that a second proposal from Darcy is imminent.

The clunky language with which the narrator summarizes Elizabeth’s acceptance serves a specific purpose,
as it captures the one moment of joyful incoherence for this supremely well-spoken character. She accepts
Darcy’s proposal “immediately,” the narrator relates, but “not very fluently.” As Elizabeth allows herself to
admit that her love has supplanted her long-standing prejudice, her control of language breaks down. The
reader is left to imagine, with some delight, the ever-clever Elizabeth fumbling for words to express her
irrepressible happiness.

Study Questions

1Jane Austen’s original title for the novel was First Impressions. What role do first impressions play in Pride
and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice is, first and foremost, a novel about surmounting obstacles and achieving romantic
happiness. For Elizabeth, the heroine, and Darcy, her eventual husband, the chief obstacle resides in the
book’s original title: First Impressions. Darcy, the proud, prickly noblewoman’s nephew, must break free
from his original dismissal of Elizabeth as “not handsome enough to tempt me,” and from his class-based
prejudice against her lack of wealth and family connections. Elizabeth’s first impressions, meanwhile,
catalogue Darcy as arrogant and self-satisfied; as a result, she later accepts slanderous accusations against
him as true.

Both Elizabeth and Darcy are forced to come to grips with their own initial mistakes. Structurally, the first
half of the novel traces Darcy’s progression to the point at which he is able to admit his love in spite of his
prejudice. In the second half, Elizabeth’s mistaken impressions are supplanted by informed realizations
about Darcy’s true character. Darcy’s two proposals to Elizabeth chart the mature development of their
relationship. He delivers the first at the mid-point of the novel, when he has realized his love for Elizabeth
but has not yet escaped his prejudices against her family, and when she is still in the grip of her first,
negative impression of him. The second proposal—in which Darcy humbly restates his love for her and
Elizabeth, now with full knowledge of Mr. Darcy’s good character, happily accepts—marks the arrival of the
two characters, each finally achieving the ability to view the other through unprejudiced eyes.

2Analyze how Austen depicts Mr. Bennet. Is he a positive or negative figure?

Mr. Bennet’s chief characteristics are an ironic detachment and a sharp, cutting wit. The distance that he
creates between himself and the absurdity around him often endears him to the reader and parallels the
amused detachment with which Austen treats ridiculous characters such as Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine.
To associate the author’s point of view with that of Mr. Bennet, however, is to ignore his ultimate failure as
a father and husband. He is endlessly witty, but his distance from the events around him makes him an
ineffective parent. Detached humor may prove useful for handling the Mr. Collinses of the world, but it is
helpless against the depredations of the villainous (but likable) Wickham. When the crisis of Lydia’s
elopement strikes, Mr. Bennet proves unable to handle the situation. Darcy, decent and energetic, and the
Gardiners, whose intelligence, perceptiveness, and resourcefulness make them the strongest adult force in
the novel, must step in. He is a likable, entertaining character, but he never manages to earn the respect of
the reader.
 3Discuss the importance of dialogue to character development in the novel.

All of Austen’s many characters come alive through dialogue, as the narrative voice in Austen’s work is
secondary to the voices of the characters. Long, unwieldy speeches are rare, as are detailed physical
descriptions. In their place, the reader hears the crackle of quick, witty conversation. True nature reveals
itself in the way the characters speak: Mr. Bennet’s emotional detachment comes across in his dry wit,
while Mrs. Bennet’s hysterical excess drips from every sentence she utters. Austen’s dialogue often serves
to reveal the worst aspects of her characters—Miss Bingley’s spiteful, snobbish attitudes are readily
apparent in her words, and Mr. Collins’s long-winded speeches (and occasional letters, which are a kind of
secondary dialogue) carry with them a tone-deaf pomposity that defines his character perfectly. Dialogue
can also conceal bad character traits: Wickham, for instance, hides his rogue’s heart beneath the patter of
pleasant, witty banter, and he manages to take Elizabeth in with his smooth tongue (although his good
looks help as well). Ultimately, though, good conversational ability and general goodness of personality
seem to go hand in hand. It is no accident that Darcy and Elizabeth are the best conversationalists in the
book: Pride and Prejudice is the story of their love, and for the reader, that love unfolds through the words
they share.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS
MCQS QUESTION AND LINES
Full Book Quiz
1. What is inscribed above the entrance of Wuthering Heights?

 “Hindley Earnshaw, 1729”

 “1623”
 “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”
 “Hareton Earnshaw, 1500”

2. What kind of countryside surrounds Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange?

 Moorland
 Savannah
 Forest
 Grassy plains

3. What destination does the young Catherine have in mind when she leaves Thrushcross Grange for the
first time?

 Wuthering Heights
 The fairy caves at Penistone Crags
 The nearby village
 London, where her cousin Linton lives

4. What is the name of the village near Wuthering Heights?

 Loch Crag
 Gimmerton
 Heatherton
 Purvey

5. In what region of England was Emily Brontë raised?

 Sussex
 Gloucestershire
 Yorkshire
 Warwickshire

6. Who plans to live at Thrushcross Grange at the end of the novel?

 Young Catherine and Hareton

 Lockwood
 Heathcliff
 Young Catherine and Linton Heathcliff

7. Over the course of the novel, which characters claim to see Catherine’s ghost?

 Heathcliff, Hareton, young Catherine, and Joseph

 Edgar Linton and Heathcliff
 Joseph and Nelly Dean
 Lockwood and Heathcliff

8. On what day do young Catherine and Hareton plan to be married?

 New Year’s Day

 The Ides of March
 The anniversary of Heathcliff’s death
 Valentine’s Day

9. Why does young Catherine climb over the garden wall?

 To escape from the Grange

 To meet with Linton
 To retrieve her hat, which fell off as she stretched for the fruit of a tree
 To escape her mother’s ghost

10. Who raises Hareton during the early years of his life?

 Hindley
 Heathcliff
 Catherine
 Nelly

11. Who does Lockwood believe would have given young Catherine a fairy tale life, if only she would
have fallen in love with him?

 Heathcliff
 Hareton
 Linton
 Lockwood

12. Which of the following characters dies first?

 Mrs. Earnshaw
 Mr. Earnshaw
 Mrs. Linton
 Edgar Linton

13. Which of the following characters dies last?

 Mr. Linton
 Catherine
 Heathcliff
 Linton

14. According to Heathcliff, when will Catherine’s body decompose?

 When a hundred centuries have passed

 When Edgar Linton is finally cursed to hell
 Never
 When Heathcliff can join her in the earth

15. Where does Lockwood record Nelly’s story?

 In a novel
 In his diary
 In the margins of his Bible
 In Catherine’s diary
 16. Which character speaks the words “I am Heathcliff!”

 Linton Heathcliff
 Hareton
 Heathcliff
 Catherine

17. Which three names does Lockwood find inscribed in the window ledge near his bed at Wuthering
Heights?

 Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Linton, and Catherine Heathcliff

 Catherine Earnshaw, Hindley Earnshaw, and Hareton Earnshaw
 Isabella Linton, Isabella Heathcliff, and Isabella Earnshaw
 Nelly, Joseph, and Zillah

18. Where does Earnshaw originally find Heathcliff?

 London
 Boston
 Liverpool
 Gimmerton

19. Where is Catherine buried?

 In a churchyard overlooking the moors

 In the chapel
 Under a stone wall
 She is not buried, but cremated, and her ashes are scattered in the Thames.

20. At what age is Linton taken away from Thrushcross Grange by Heathcliff?

 Four
 Twenty
 Eleven
 Thirteen

21. At what age is Linton reunited with young Catherine?

 Twenty-two
 Nineteen
 Sixteen
 Forty-three

22. Whom does Hindley force to work as a servant in his home?

 Joseph
 Heathcliff
 Heathcliff’s son, Linton
 Edgar Linton

23. Whom does Heathcliff force to work as a servant in his home?

 Hindley
 Catherine
 Hareton
 Isabella Linton

24. Where do Catherine and Heathcliff first become close?

 In the nursery at Wuthering Heights

 During Catherine’s visit to Liverpool
 At Isabella Linton’s birthday party
 On the moors

25. Whom does Edgar Linton sometimes forbid his daughter to visit?
 Linton Heathcliff
 Hareton Earnshaw
 Isabella Linton
 The evangelical servant Joseph

Study Questions
1Many of the names in Wuthering Heights are strikingly similar. For example, besides the two Catherines,
there are a number of Lintons, Earnshaws, and Heathcliffs whose names vary only slightly. What role do
specific names play in Wuthering Heights?

Names have a thematic significance in Wuthering Heights. As the second generation of characters
gradually exhibits certain characteristics of the first generation, names come to represent particular
attributes. The Earnshaws are wild and passionate, the Lintons tame and civilized; therefore, young
Catherine Linton displays a milder disposition than her mother, Catherine Earnshaw. Linton Heathcliff
becomes a mixture of the worst of both his parents. In other words, he possesses Heathcliff’s arrogance
and imperiousness, combined with the Lintons’ cowardice and frailty. Names in Wuthering Heights also
serve to emphasize the cyclic nature of the story. Just as the novel begins and ends with a Catherine
Earnshaw, the name of Hareton Earnshaw also bookends an era; the final master of Wuthering Heights
shares his name with a distant ancestor, whose name was inscribed above the main door in 1500.
2In many ways, Wuthering Heights structures itself around matched, contrasting pairs of themes and of
characters. What are some of these pairs, and what role do they play in the book?

Matched and contrasting pairs form the apparatus through which the book’s thematic conflicts play out, as
the differences between opposed characters and themes force their way into action and development.
Some of the pairs include: the two manor houses, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; the two
loves in Catherine’s life, Heathcliff and Edgar; the two Catherines in the novel, mother and daughter; the
two halves of the novel, separated by Catherine’s death; the two generations of main characters, each of
which occupies one half of the novel; the two families, Earnshaw and Linton, whose family trees are almost
exactly symmetrical; and the two great themes of the novel, love and revenge. By placing these elements
into pairs, the novel both compares and contrasts them to each other. The device of pairing serves to
emphasize the book’s themes, as well as to develop the characters.

3Analyze the character of Edgar Linton. Is he a sympathetic figure? How does he compare to Heathcliff? Is
Catherine really in love with him?

Edgar Linton is a kind, gentle, civilized, somewhat cowardly man who represents the qualities of
Thrushcross Grange as opposed to the qualities of Wuthering Heights. Married to a woman whom he loves
but whose passions he cannot understand, Edgar is a highly sympathetic figure after Heathcliff returns to
Wuthering Heights. The man finds himself in an almost impossible position, seeing his wife obviously in
love with another man but unable to do anything to rectify the situation. Still, he proves weak and
ineffectual when compared to the strong-willed Heathcliff, and thus can exercise almost no claim on
Catherine’s mind and heart.

While the reader may pity Edgar and feel that morality may be on his side, it is hard not to sympathize with
the charismatic Catherine and Heathcliff in their passionate love. It is impossible to think that Catherine
does not really love Edgar with some part of herself. Although she marries him largely because of her
desire for his social status, she seems genuinely drawn to his good looks, polished manners, and kind
demeanor. But it is also impossible to think that her feelings for Edgar equal her feelings for Heathcliff—
compared with her wild, elemental passion for Heathcliff, her love for her husband seems frail and
somewhat proper, like Edgar himself.

Important Quotations Explained

1But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gypsy in
aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman, that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather
slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome
figure—and rather morose. Possibly, some people might suspect him of a degree of under-bred pride; I
have a sympathetic chord within that tells me it is nothing of the sort: I know, by instinct, his reserve
springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling—to manifestations of mutual kindliness. He’ll love
and hate, equally under cover, and esteem it a species of impertinence to be loved or hated again—No, I’m
running on too fast—I bestow my own attributes over-liberally on him.

This passage, from the first chapter and spoken in the voice of Lockwood, constitutes the first of many
attempts in the book to explain the mysterious figure of Heathcliff, his character and motivations. Outside
of the novel, when critics and readers discuss Wuthering Heights, the same question arises repeatedly.
How is Heathcliff best understood? We see here that the question of his social position—is he a gentleman
or a gypsy?—causes particular confusion.

2 The ledge, where I placed my candle, had a few mildewed books piled up in one corner; and it was
covered with writing scratched on the paint. This writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all
kinds of characters, large and small—Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff,
and then again to Catherine Linton. In vapid listlessness I leant my head against the window, and continued
spelling over Catherine Earnshaw—Heathcliff—Linton, till my eyes closed; but they had not rested five
minutes when a glare of white letters started from the dark, as vivid as spectres—the air swarmed with
Catherines; and rousing myself to dispel the obtrusive name, I discovered my candle wick reclining on one
of the antique volumes, and perfuming the place with an odour of roasted calf-skin.

In this passage from Chapter III, Lockwood relates the first of the troubling dreams he has in Catherine’s
old bed. The quotation testifies to Lockwood’s role as a reader within the novel, representing the external
reader—the perplexed outsider determined to discover the secrets of Wuthering Heights. Upon
Lockwood’s first arrival at the house, no one answers his knocks on the door, and he cries, “I don’t care—I
will get in!” The same blend of frustration and determination has marked the responses of many readers
and critics when facing the enigmas of Wuthering Heights.

The connection between Lockwood and readers is particularly clear in this passage. Catherine first appears
to Lockwood, as she does to readers, as a written word—her name, scratched into the paint. When
Lockwood reads over the scraped letters, they seem to take on a ghostly power—the simile Brontë uses is
that they are “as vivid as spectres.” Ghosts, of course, constitute a key image throughout the novel. In this
instance, it is crucial to note that what comes back, in this first dream, is not a dead person but a name,
and that what brings the name back is the act of reading it. We see that Brontë, by using Lockwood as a
stand-in for her readers, indicates how she wants her readers to react to her book; she wants her words to
come vividly before them, to haunt them.

3It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not
because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of,
his and mine are the same, and [Edgar’s] is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.

Catherine’s speech to Nelly about her acceptance of Edgar’s proposal, in Chapter IX, forms the turning-
point of the plot. It is at this point that Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights, after he has overheard
Catherine say that it would “degrade” her to marry him. Although the action of Wuthering Heights takes
place so far from the bustle of society, where most of Brontë’s contemporaries set their scenes, social
ambition motivates many of the actions of these characters, however isolated among the moors.
Catherine’s decision to marry Edgar Linton out of a desire to be “the greatest woman of the
neighbourhood” exemplifies the effect of social considerations on the characters’ actions.

4“I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I
thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again—it is hers yet—he had hard work to
stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose, and
covered it up—not Linton’s side, damn him! I wish he’d been soldered in lead—and I bribed the sexton to
pull it away, when I’m laid there, and slide mine out too. I’ll have it made so, and then, by the time Linton
gets to us, he’ll not know which is which!” “You were very wicked, Mr. Heathcliff!” I exclaimed; “were you
not ashamed to disturb the dead?”

When Heathcliff narrates this ghoulish scene to Nelly in Chapter XXIX, the book enters into one of its most
Gothic moments. Heathcliff, trying to recapture Catherine herself, constantly comes upon mere reminders
of her. However, far from satisfying him, these reminders only lead him to further attempts. Heathcliff’s
desire to rejoin Catherine might indeed explain the majority of Heathcliff’s actions, from his acquisition of
Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, to his seizure of power over everyone associated with
Catherine.

5That, however, which you may suppose the most potent to arrest my imagination, is actually the least, for
what is not connected with her to me? and what does not recall her? I cannot look down to this floor, but
her features are shaped on the flags! In every cloud, in every tree—filling the air at night, and caught by
 glimpses in every object by day, I am surrounded with her image! The most ordinary faces of men and
women—my own features—mock me with a resemblance. The entire world is a dreadful collection of
memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!

TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES

Full Book Quiz
1. The action of the novel takes place in what area of England?

 Essex
 Sussex
 Wessex
 London

2. Which of the following does John Durbeyfield learn at the beginning of the novel?

 That he has lost his job

 That he comes from an aristocratic family
 That he won the lottery
 That he is a prince

3. Angel and Tess first see each other at:

 The market
 The May Day dance
 Trantridge
 Talbothays Dairy

4. Who tells Angel that Tess has gone to Sandbourne?

 Mrs. Brooks
 Reverend Clare
 Alec
 Mrs. Durbeyfield

5. After Angel picks up Tess while sleepwalking, where does he place her?

 In a coffin
 In their bed
 On a rock
 On a bridge
 6. Which of these women is not a milkmaid?

 Marian
 Izz
 Mercy
 Retty

7. Angel plays which musical instrument?

 The harpsichord
 The accordion
 The harp
 The guitar

8. In what town did Tess grow up?

 Kingsbere
 Trantridge
 Sandbourne
 Marlott

9. Why can’t Mr. Durbeyfield make the trip to the market?

 He is too sick
 He is too tired
 He is too old
 He is too drunk

10. What advice does Mrs. Durbeyfield give Tess?

 Not to tell Angel her secret

 Not to tell Alec her secret
 To leave Alec
 To marry Alec

11. How much money does Angel give to Tess?

 100 shillin
 gs100 poun
 ds50 poun
 ds50 shillings
 12. How much of the money does Tess initially give to her family?

 25 shillin
 gs25 poun
 ds50 poun
 ds50 shillings

13. What part of the house do the Durbeyfields need to repair?

 The floor
 The wall
 The roof
 The door

14. Where is the Talbothays Dairy located?

 The Valley of the Herons

 The Valley of Marlott
 The Valley of the Great Dairies
 The Valley of the Small Dairies

15. Who does Cuthbert Clare marry?

 Izz
 Mercy Chant
 Liza-Lu
 Marian

16. Midway through the novel, Alec becomes a:

 Farmer
 Preacher
 Traveling salesman
 Nice guy

17. Who is primarily responsible for Prince’s death?

 Mr. Durbeyfield
 Parson Tringham
 Abraham
 Tess
 18. Angel leaves England to farm where?

 America
 Italy
 Brazil
 Argentina

19. What is the stone monument called on which Alec makes Tess swear?

 Stonehenge
 Poor Man’s Pass
 Cross-in-Hand
 The Rosetta Stone

20. Which of these people or animals does Tess not kill?

 The pheasants
 Alec
 Sorrow, her baby
 Prince, the horse

21. What is the name of the bar to which the Durbeyfield’s go?

 McSorely’s
 Rolliver’s
 Heffernan’s
 Ye Olde Pubbe

22. What does Tess confess to Angel on their wedding night?

 That she lied about her age

 That she does not love him
 That she is not a virgin
 That she ran away from home

23. Liza-Lu is Tess’s:

 Daughter
 Sister
 Mother
 Friend
 24. How does Alec die?

 He commits suicide
 Angel kills him
 Tess kills him
 He does not die

25. How does Tess die?

 Pneumonia
 She is hanged
 Angel kills her
 Heartache

Study Questions

1. Discuss the character of Tess. To what extent is she a helpless victim? When is she strong and when is
she weak?

Tess is a young woman who tends to find herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is a victim, but
she is also, at times, irresponsible. She falls asleep while taking the beehives to market, which ends up
killing the family horse, Prince. She decides to visit the d’Urbervilles in Trantridge, giving rise to all her
future woes, partly out of the guilt and responsibility she feels toward her family. She wants to make good,
but in trying to help her family she loses sight of her own safety and her own wants and wishes. She
becomes Alec’s victim in the forest. She probably should have known not to put herself in such a situation,
but she has few other options. Here, it seems as though she is destined to rely on others, even when they
are unreliable.

But Tess is also a strong woman throughout the novel. She stands up for herself and refuses to crumble
under pressure. She chastises herself for her weakness after her sexual escapade with Alec. If we agree
with her claim that this indiscretion is a moment of weakness, we probably also feel that such weakness is
not unlike that of most human beings. She is hard on herself for letting herself become a victim. At the
burial of her child, Sorrow, she weeps but collects herself and moves on as a stronger woman. Overall, her
determined attempts to escape her past primarily reflect her strength.

2. Discuss the role of landscape in the novel. How do descriptions of place match the development of the
story? Does the passing of the seasons play any symbolic role?

The landscape always seems to inform us about the emotion and character of the event. Whjen the novel
opens at the village dance, the sun is out and the day is beautiful. This celebration is where Tess and Angel
meet, even if only briefly. The weather turns as Tess returns home, where the scene is less elegant.
Throughout the novel, many of the bad events occur in a dark and deep forest, and Alec and Tess interact
numerous times in such a forest.

The seasons bring changes to the story as well. At Talbothays Dairy, the summer is full of budding love
between Tess and Angel. When they profess their love for each other, it begins to rain, but neither one
cares: the weather cannot affect them. When they separate, Angel goes to Brazil and finds the farming
extremely difficult, while Tess goes to work at the farm at Flintcomb-Ash, where the work in the rugged,
depressing stubble fields is harsh and grueling.

3. Hardy rarely questions public morality openly in Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Nevertheless, the novel has
been taken as a powerful critique of the social principles that were dominant in Tess’s time. How does
Hardy achieve this effect? Why might we infer a level of social criticism beneath Tess’s story?

Our sense that Tess of the d’Urbervilles implicitly criticizes Hardy’s society owes much to Hardy’s use of a
classical tragic plot ending in an undeserved punishment. Tess’s story contains many features of Greek
tragedy, as Hardy’s reference at the end of the novel to Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound reminds us. The
classical tragic hero, according to Aristotle, is noble and dignified, and is punished on a far greater scale
than his small sins warrant, with death. Tess too is highborn and honorable, and her momentary
submission to Alec brings her a far greater suffering than she deserves, as even Alec comes to realize. In
addition, as is usual with the demise of tragic heroes, Tess’s execution feels more significant than a mere
death—it feels like a great and noble sacrifice to some higher power’s will. But in her case, the higher
power is not the gods, but Victorian social forces. It is the Victorian cult of aristocratic lineage that drives
Tess to seek the patronage of Mrs. d’Urberville and meet her seducer Alec. It is the unfair class system that
allows a rich nobleman to impregnate and abandon a lower-class girl without consequences. It is also the
Victorian myth of the pure virginal bride that unfairly keeps Angel from accepting Tess as his wife, despite
his own besmirched sexual history. These social injustices bring undeserved suffering to Tess, as the
ancient gods brought undeserved suffering to the tragic hero. It is thus the tragic structure of Tess of the
d’Urbervilles that causes us feel indignation at the unfairness of Victorian society, without the need for any
outright denunciations by the author.

Important Quotations Explained

1 “Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal representative of the ancient and knightly
family of the d’Urbervilles, who derive their descent from Sir Pagan d’Urberville, that renowned knight who
came from Normandy with William the Conqueror, as appears by Battle Abbey Roll?” “Never heard it
before, sir!”

In this passage, from Chapter I, the local parson informs Mr. Durbeyfield of his grand lineage, thus setting
in motion the events that change the fate of Tess Durbeyfield forever. Interestingly, the parson’s tone is
casual, as if he is unable even to conceive of how his news might lead to tragedy later. For the parson it is
genealogical trivia, but for Durbeyfield it feels like fate—the deepest truth about himself, like Oedipus’s
discovery of his own identity. The fact that this prophetic news is delivered on the road, in an open field,
right at the beginning of the work is reminiscent of the opening of Macbeth. There, the witches address
Macbeth as “Thane of Cawdor” and “King of Scotland,” just as the parson addresses Durbeyfield as “Sir
John.” As in Macbeth’s case, the noble address leads to disaster and death—in this case, the death of the
“rightful” d’Urberville, Alec.

Hardy emphasizes the irony of Durbeyfield’s situation not only by contrasting the common peddler on the
road with the image of the “renowned knight” who was his forebear, but also by contrasting the modes of
address of Durbeyfield and the parson. The parson has just addressed him as “Sir John,” which sets the
whole conversation in motion, but we see here that the parson soon lapses back into the familiar tone
more appropriate to one addressing a social inferior: “Don’t you really know, Durbeyfield. . . . “ Durbeyfield
does the same: despite his discovery that he is Sir John, it is he who calls the parson “sir” here. The ironies
multiply, making questions of class and identity complex and unstable, as Hardy intends to depict them.

2Clare came close, and bent over her. “Dead, dead, dead!” he murmured. After fixedly regarding her for
some moments with the same gaze of unmeasurable woe he bent lower, enclosed her in his arms, and
rolled her in the sheet as in a shroud. Then lifting her from the bed with as much respect as one would
show to a dead body, he carried her across the room, murmuring, “My poor poor Tess, my dearest darling
Tess! So sweet, so good, so true!” The words of endearment, withheld so severely in his waking hours,
were inexpressibly sweet to her forlorn and hungry heart. If it had been to save her weary life she would
not, by moving or struggling, have put an end to the position she found herself in. Thus she lay in absolute
stillness, scarcely venturing to breathe, and, wondering what he was going to do with her, suffered herself
to be borne out upon the landing. “My wife—dead, dead!” he said.

In Chapter XXXVII, Angel Clare begins to sleepwalk on the third night of his estrangement from Tess, having
rejected her as his wife because of her earlier disgrace. Like Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene, Angel’s
nighttime somnambulism reveals an inner conflict within a character who earlier seems convinced of a
moral idea, in control, and inflexible. For Lady Macbeth, her earlier cold protestations that killing a king is
justifiable are belied by her unconscious fixation on being bloodstained. For Angel, the situation is
reversed. He consciously maintains a conviction that Tess is bad, corrupt, and cannot be forgiven, but his
unconscious sleepwalking self reveals the tender love and moral respect for her (“so good, so true!”) that
he feels somewhere inside him. This revelation foreshadows his final realization, too late, that his
condemnation of Tess was wrongheaded. Angel’s words “dead, dead, dead” hint at Tess’s future death,
but they also signal Angel’s conception of Tess. She is alive physically, but for him she is dead morally, as
dead as an idea of purity that he once revered.

3Under the trees several pheasants lay about, their rich plumage dabbled with blood; some were dead,
some feebly twitching a wing, some staring up at the sky, some pulsating quickly, some contorted, some
stretched out—all of them writhing in agony except the fortunate ones whose tortures had ended during
the night by the inability of nature to bear more. With the impulse of a soul who could feel for kindred
sufferers as much as for herself, Tess’s first thought was to put the still living birds out of their torture, and
to this end with her own hands she broke the necks of as many as she could find, leaving them to lie where
she had found them till the gamekeepers should come, as they probably would come, to look for them a
second time. “Poor darlings—to suppose myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o’ such
misery as yours!” she exclaimed, her tears running down as she killed the birds tenderly.

Tess stumbles upon the pheasants at the end of Chapter XLI, feeling like a “hunted soul.” The dying birds
symbolize her own condition. It is a strange and unexpected image, since throughout all the scenes of farm
life we have witnessed in the novel, there has never been any killing. Farming is always associated with
production, never with loss or sacrifice. But hunting is different: it kills creatures, and does so
unnecessarily. It is gratuitous cruelty. The image of silently suffering victims of violence evokes Tess’s quiet
acceptance of her own violation at the hands of Alec, which was also gratuitous. In a literary sense, these
flightless birds stand in sharp contrast to the high-flying birds of Romantic poetry—we recall that Angel is
compared to Shelley, who wrote an ode to a skylark. Romantic birds leave the Earth below to soar into a
higher plane of existence, but the birds here have no such luck, having been shot down as Tess has been.

Tess’s killing of these suffering birds suggests that she is killing off that part of herself that has quietly
accepted many years of agony. After this scene Tess begins to show a more active resolution that
culminates in her final murder of Alec. Her newfound activity may not save her; indeed, her punishment
for the murder, presumably death by hanging, will snap her neck just like she snaps the necks of these
pheasants. Nevertheless, it may be preferable to her earlier passivity, providing her with a nobler way to
face her fate.

4 As soon as she drew close to it she discovered all in a moment that the figure was a living person; and the
shock to her sense of not having been alone was so violent that she was quite overcome, and sank down
nigh to fainting, not however till she had recognized Alec d’Urberville in the form. He leapt off the slab and
supported her. “I saw you come in,” he said smiling, “and got up there not to interrupt your meditations. A
family gathering, is it not, with these old fellows under us here? Listen.” He stamped with his heel heavily
on the floor; whereupon there arose a hollow echo from below. “That shook them a bit, I’ll warrant,” he
continued. “And you thought I was the mere stone reproduction of one of them. But no. The old order
changeth. The little finger of the sham d’Urberville can do more for you than the whole dynasty of the real
underneath. . . . Now command me. What shall I do?”

Having sought shelter for her family in the ancient clan’s church in Chapter LII, Tess has gone out walking at
night and has come upon her family vault and Alec d’Urberville. Hardy’s irony is deep here: originally, the
knowledge that Tess belongs to the d’Urberville line brings her into tragic conflict with Alec, and here those
ancestors and Alec are united before her dazed eyes. The two main factors in her sad fate are brought
together for her viewing. Moreover, it is ironic that Alec is at first mistaken for one of the sculpted
ancestors, as if the distinction between the truly noble d’Urbervilles and the “sham” ones—to use Alec’s
own word—is not as important as it first seemed. They are all part of the same display. Whether true or
fake, the d’Urbervilles have brought Tess only grief. When Alec stomps on the floor of the crypt and a
“hollow echo from below” is heard, we feel that those ancestors may indeed be nothing more than an
empty void, a meaningless nothingness. Alec believes he is different from them, since he has power over
her while they do not, but in fact he is just like them, using his power like a grand lord although he is quite
hollow. He promises empty advantages to her, like the wealth she eventually receives from him, that can
never be more important than love. This scene in the corpse-ridden vault shows how dead all thoughts of
personal grandeur are next to the life of true feeling, like that of Tess’s feelings for Angel. Important
Quotations Explained

5 “Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with
Tess. And the d’Urberville knights and dames slept on in their tombs unknowing. The two speechless
gazers bent themselves down to the earth, as if in prayer, and remained there a long time, absolutely
motionless: the flag continued to wave silently. As soon as they had strength they arose, joined hands
again, and went on.

This passage is the last paragraph of Chapter LIX at the close of Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Its tired and
unimpassioned tone suggests the narrator’s weariness with the ways of the world, as if quite familiar with
the fact that life always unfolds in this way. Nothing great is achieved by this finale: the two figures of Liza-
Lu and Angel “went on” at the end, just as life itself will go on. Ignorance rules, rather than understanding:
the d’Urberville ancestors who cause the tragedy are not even moved from their slumber, blithely
unaffected by the agony and death of one of their own line. Tess’s tale has not been a climactic unfolding,
but a rather humdrum affair that perhaps happens all the time.

In this sense, there is great irony in Hardy’s reference to the Greek tragedian Aeschylus, since we feel
tragedy should be more impassioned, like the Prometheus Bound referred to here. Prometheus dared to
steal fire from the gods for the benefit of men, thus improving human life, but he was punished by eternal
agony sent by the president of the gods. Aeschylus’s view of that divine justice was ironic—just as Hardy’s
justice is placed in ironic quotation marks—since it seemed deeply unjust to punish Prometheus so
severely. Our judgment of Prometheus’s crime matters immensely. Yet Tess’s suffering, by contrast, seems
simply a game or “sport,” as if nothing important is at stake. It is hard to know whether Tess has brought
any benefits to anyone, though Angel’s life has been changed and Liza-Lu may grow up to be like her sister.
In any case, Hardy hints that Tess’s life may have a mythical and tragic importance like that of Prometheus,
but it is up to us to judge how ironic this justice is, or what her life’s importance might be.