Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Chapter 57 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What news does Angel receive by telegram at the beginning of Chapter 57?

   • Correct answer: His brother Cuthbert has become engaged to Mercy Chant
   • His father has fallen seriously ill
   • Tess has been arrested for murder
   • His family's farm has been sold

   Angel receives a telegram from his mother stating that his brother Cuthbert has proposed to and been accepted by Mercy Chant.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Angel leave the train station before his train departs?

   • He sees Tess approaching and runs to meet her
   • Correct answer: He is broken-hearted and cannot bear to remain in the town
   • He receives an urgent message to return to the hotel
   • He realizes he has forgotten his luggage

   Angel is numbed and broken in heart, and wishes to get out of the town that was the scene of his painful experience. He decides to walk to the next station.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Tess confess to Angel when they stop among the fir trees?

   • She has left Alec and wants to start a new life
   • Correct answer: She has killed Alec d'Urberville
   • She has stolen money from Alec to fund their escape
   • She is carrying Alec's child

   Tess tells Angel, 'do you know what I have been running after you for? To tell you that I have killed him!'

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4. 4

   Question 4. What specific provocation caused Tess to kill Alec?

   • He tried to prevent her from leaving the house
   • He threatened to harm Angel
   • Correct answer: He taunted her about Angel and called Angel a foul name
   • He confessed to having deceived her about Angel's death

   Tess explains that Alec 'heard me crying about you, and he bitterly taunted me; and called you by a foul name; and then I did it.'

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5. 5

   Question 5. What family legend does Angel recall upon hearing Tess's confession?

   • Correct answer: The d'Urberville tradition of the coach and murder
   • The curse of the Stoke family estate
   • The legend of the white horse of doom
   • The Clare family's history of madness

   Angel recalls 'the family tradition of the coach and murder' and wonders if the d'Urbervilles had been known to do these things, suggesting a hereditary predisposition.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Where do Angel and Tess take refuge at the end of Chapter 57?

   • A roadside inn near the New Forest
   • A shepherd's cottage on the heath
   • Correct answer: Bramshurst Court, a vacant mansion
   • An abandoned church in a small village

   They discover Bramshurst Court, a large empty mansion that is to let furnished, and break in through an open window.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What mythological scene is depicted on the carved bedstead at Bramshurst Court?

   • The labors of Hercules
   • Correct answer: Atalanta's race
   • The judgment of Paris
   • Odysseus and the Sirens

   Hardy describes 'running figures, apparently Atalanta's race' carved along the head of the enormous four-post bedstead.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why does Angel persuade Tess not to enter the roadside inn?

   • He fears the innkeeper will recognize them from a wanted notice
   • Correct answer: Her fashionable clothes and parasol would attract attention
   • The inn is too close to the scene of the murder
   • He does not have enough money to pay for a meal

   Tess's clothes were of recent fashion and even her ivory-handled parasol was of a shape unknown in the retired spot, which would have attracted attention in the tavern.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • True or false: Tess displays remorse and guilt about killing Alec throughout Chapter 57.

     Didn't happen

     Tess shows no remorse. Hardy writes that her affection for Angel had 'apparently extinguished her moral sense altogether' and she seems 'at last content,' weeping with happiness rather than guilt.

   • True or false: Angel and Tess make a detailed plan for escaping to a port.

     Didn't happen

     Their movements have an 'unpractical vagueness' and are described as 'like the plans of two children.' Angel vaguely mentions heading inland and later making for a port, but they have no real plan.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does the word 'acclivity' mean as used in the sentence: 'was climbing the western acclivity'?

    • A flat plateau
    • Correct answer: An upward slope
    • A rocky cliff face
    • A winding path

    'Acclivity' means an upward slope or incline. Angel is climbing the rising side of a valley.

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11. 11

    Question 11. In the phrase 'the white vacuity of its perspective,' what does 'vacuity' mean?

    • Brightness or brilliance
    • Correct answer: An empty space or void
    • A narrow passage
    • A sudden curve

    'Vacuity' means an empty space or void. Hardy uses it to describe the blank, white expanse of the road stretching behind Angel.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'viands' mean in the phrase 'setting down his bag and the parcel of viands'?

    • Clothing or garments
    • Tools or implements
    • Correct answer: Items of food
    • Letters or documents

    'Viands' is an archaic/literary word meaning items of food or provisions. Angel had brought food back from the inn for their meal.

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