Quizzes Culture 9 questions ~5 mins

UK Literature Quiz: Great British Novels and Novelists

Q: Who wrote the plays 'Hamlet', 'Macbeth' and 'Romeo and Juliet'?

William Shakespeare — William Shakespeare, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, wrote 39 plays including these three tragedies.

Q: Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice' was first published in which year?

1813 — 'Pride and Prejudice' was published in January 1813, four years before Austen's death.

Q: Which author created the detective Sherlock Holmes, who first appeared in 'A Study in Scarlet'?

Arthur Conan Doyle — Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in his 1887 novel 'A Study in Scarlet'.

Q: The dystopian novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', featuring 'Big Brother' and 'Newspeak', was written by which author?

George Orwell — George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) published 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' in 1949, warning of totalitarian surveillance.

Q: Which sisters, raised at a parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire, wrote 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wuthering Heights'?

The Bronte sisters — Charlotte Bronte wrote 'Jane Eyre' and her sister Emily wrote 'Wuthering Heights', both published in 1847 under male pen names.

Q: Charles Dickens' novel featuring the orphan Pip and the reclusive Miss Havisham is called what?

Great Expectations — 'Great Expectations', serialised in 1860–61, follows the orphan Pip's rise in fortune and his complicated relationship with Miss Havisham.

Q: Which Booker Prize-winning British author wrote 'White Teeth' and 'NW', exploring multicultural London life?

Zadie Smith — Zadie Smith's debut novel 'White Teeth' (2000) became an acclaimed portrait of multicultural North London.

Q: The Booker Prize, Britain's most prestigious literary award, was first awarded in which decade?

1960s — The Booker Prize was first awarded in 1969, going to P. H. Newby for 'Something to Answer For'.

Q: Which Nobel laureate, born in Nagasaki but raised in Britain, wrote 'The Remains of the Day' and 'Never Let Me Go'?

Kazuo Ishiguro — Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017; his novel 'The Remains of the Day' won the Booker Prize in 1989.

From Shakespeare to Zadie Smith — test your knowledge of British literary history.

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Question 1 of 9

1. Who wrote the plays 'Hamlet', 'Macbeth' and 'Romeo and Juliet'?

2. Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice' was first published in which year?

3. Which author created the detective Sherlock Holmes, who first appeared in 'A Study in Scarlet'?

4. The dystopian novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', featuring 'Big Brother' and 'Newspeak', was written by which author?

5. Which sisters, raised at a parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire, wrote 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wuthering Heights'?

6. Charles Dickens' novel featuring the orphan Pip and the reclusive Miss Havisham is called what?

7. Which Booker Prize-winning British author wrote 'White Teeth' and 'NW', exploring multicultural London life?

8. The Booker Prize, Britain's most prestigious literary award, was first awarded in which decade?

9. Which Nobel laureate, born in Nagasaki but raised in Britain, wrote 'The Remains of the Day' and 'Never Let Me Go'?

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