Thomas Hardy – “The Mayor of Casterbridge” – Exam Based MCQs
1. The Mayor of Casterbridge is written by: (UGC NET)
A) Charles Dickens
B) George Eliot
C) Thomas Hardy
D) Anthony Trollope
Ans: C) Thomas Hardy
2. The town of Casterbridge is located in Hardy’s fictional region of: (SET)
A) Wessex
B) Utopia
C) Albion
D) Brobdingnag
Ans: A) Wessex
3. The protagonist of the novel is: (PGTRB)
A) Donald Farfrae
B) Richard Newson
C) Abel Whittle
D) Michael Henchard
Ans: D) Michael Henchard
4. Henchard’s tragic downfall begins with his act of: (UGC NET)
A) Becoming a mayor
B) Selling his wife in a drunken fit
C) Winning a war
D) Inheriting a fortune
Ans: B) Selling his wife in a drunken fit
5. Henchard sells his wife Susan at: (SET)
A) A country fair
B) A church service
C) A railway station
D) A courtroom
Ans: A) A country fair
6. After the wife-sale, Henchard vows to: (PGTRB)
A) Join the army
B) Leave England forever
C) Become a priest
D) Abstain from alcohol for 21 years
Ans: D) Abstain from alcohol for 21 years
7. Donald Farfrae is introduced as: (UGC NET)
A) A sailor
B) A young Scotsman with modern business ideas
C) A lawyer from London
D) A preacher
Ans: B) A young Scotsman with modern business ideas
8. Farfrae initially works for Henchard as: (SET)
A) A schoolmaster
B) A doctor
C) A manager in the corn trade
D) A blacksmith
Ans: C) A manager in the corn trade
9. Susan returns to Henchard after: (PGTRB)
A) The death of Newson (believed)
B) Farfrae’s marriage
C) Henchard’s imprisonment
D) A war victory
Ans: A) The death of Newson (believed)
10. Elizabeth-Jane is presented first as: (UGC NET)
A) Henchard’s niece
B) Farfrae’s sister
C) Lucetta’s cousin
D) Susan’s daughter (believed to be Henchard’s)
Ans: D) Susan’s daughter (believed to be Henchard’s)
11. The real father of Elizabeth-Jane is revealed to be: (SET)
A) Henchard
B) Richard Newson
C) Farfrae
D) Abel Whittle
Ans: B) Richard Newson
12. Lucetta Templeman is connected to Henchard as: (PGTRB)
A) His former lover/fiancée from Jersey
B) His sister
C) His employer
D) His aunt
Ans: A) His former lover/fiancée from Jersey
13. The “Skimmington Ride” in the novel is a form of: (UGC NET)
A) Religious ceremony
B) Military parade
C) Harvest festival
D) Public shaming/mock procession
Ans: D) Public shaming/mock procession
14. Lucetta ultimately marries: (SET)
A) Michael Henchard
B) Donald Farfrae
C) Richard Newson
D) Joshua Jopp
Ans: B) Donald Farfrae
15. Henchard’s chief flaw (hamartia) is usually seen as: (PGTRB)
A) Excessive humility
B) Indifference
C) Pride and impulsive temperament
D) Cowardice
Ans: C) Pride and impulsive temperament
16. Farfrae’s success mainly represents: (UGC NET)
A) Modernity, planning, and rational management
B) Medieval chivalry
C) Pure romantic idealism
D) Supernatural power
Ans: A) Modernity, planning, and rational management
17. Henchard and Farfrae become rivals mainly due to: (SET)
A) A war dispute
B) A poetry contest
C) A church disagreement
D) Business conflict and personal jealousy
Ans: D) Business conflict and personal jealousy
18. The novel is often called “a story of a man of character” because: (UGC NET)
A) It celebrates Henchard as perfect
B) It shows how a strong personality shapes destiny and tragedy
C) It is written as a diary
D) It contains supernatural events
Ans: B) It shows how a strong personality shapes destiny and tragedy
19. The novel’s setting and atmosphere strongly reflect Hardy’s idea of: (PGTRB)
A) Comedy of manners
B) Utopian progress
C) Fate and tragic inevitability
D) Romantic escapism
Ans: C) Fate and tragic inevitability
20. Susan Henchard is generally portrayed as: (SET)
A) Patient, gentle, and long-suffering
B) Cruel and violent
C) Ambitious politician
D) Comic trickster
Ans: A) Patient, gentle, and long-suffering
21. Joshua Jopp is mainly: (UGC NET)
A) Farfrae’s brother
B) A nobleman
C) A school teacher
D) A dishonest rival who wants Henchard’s position
Ans: D) A dishonest rival who wants Henchard’s position
22. The tragedy of Henchard can be compared to: (PGTRB)
A) A pastoral romance
B) A Shakespearean tragic hero’s fall
C) A detective’s triumph
D) A comic epic
Ans: B) A Shakespearean tragic hero’s fall
23. The letters from Lucetta become dangerous because: (SET)
A) They reveal her past relationship with Henchard
B) They contain war secrets
C) They are written in code about politics
D) They are love letters to Newson
Ans: A) They reveal her past relationship with Henchard
24. The furmity woman is important because she: (UGC NET)
A) Saves Henchard financially
B) Marries Farfrae
C) Reminds the town of Henchard’s wife-sale
D) Becomes mayor
Ans: C) Reminds the town of Henchard’s wife-sale
25. Henchard’s relationship with Elizabeth-Jane becomes strained after: (PGTRB)
A) She becomes wealthy
B) She goes abroad
C) She joins a circus
D) He learns she is not his biological daughter
Ans: D) He learns she is not his biological daughter
26. Elizabeth-Jane is admired for her: (SET)
A) Patience and self-improvement
B) Cruelty
C) Reckless pride
D) Deceit
Ans: A) Patience and self-improvement
27. Farfrae’s social rise contrasts with Henchard’s fall, showing: (UGC NET)
A) Magic realism
B) Medieval prophecy
C) Social and economic change in rural England
D) Pure religious allegory
Ans: C) Social and economic change in rural England
28. The “weather” and natural elements often act as: (PGTRB)
A) Comic decoration only
B) Symbols reinforcing mood and fate
C) Scientific explanations
D) Political propaganda
Ans: B) Symbols reinforcing mood and fate
29. Newson’s return creates conflict because: (SET)
A) He wants to become mayor
B) He claims Lucetta’s property
C) He wants Farfrae’s job
D) He is Elizabeth-Jane’s real father
Ans: D) He is Elizabeth-Jane’s real father
30. Henchard’s final request about his death is that: (UGC NET)
A) No one should remember him or mark his grave
B) He should be buried in a palace
C) He should be made a saint
D) His story should be published widely
Ans: A) No one should remember him or mark his grave
31. The novel’s genre is best described as: (PGTRB)
A) Science fiction
B) Gothic horror
C) Tragic realist novel
D) Epic fantasy
Ans: C) Tragic realist novel
32. Henchard loses the mayoral position mainly because: (SET)
A) He wins a war
B) Farfrae’s popularity and Henchard’s mistakes
C) He refuses to work
D) He goes abroad
Ans: B) Farfrae’s popularity and Henchard’s mistakes
33. The character most associated with gossip and social pressure is: (UGC NET)
A) Elizabeth-Jane
B) Farfrae
C) Susan
D) The townspeople of Casterbridge (collective)
Ans: D) The townspeople of Casterbridge (collective)
34. Lucetta’s death is linked to: (PGTRB)
A) Shock and illness after public humiliation
B) A battle wound
C) Starvation in prison
D) A shipwreck
Ans: A) Shock and illness after public humiliation
35. The rivalry between Henchard and Farfrae resembles the motif of: (SET)
A) Brothers in fairy tales
B) Mythical giants
C) Old order vs new order
D) Angels vs demons
Ans: C) Old order vs new order
36. Hardy’s view in the novel suggests that human life is often controlled by: (UGC NET)
A) Pure free will only
B) Chance and fate along with character
C) Magic spells
D) Only scientific progress
Ans: B) Chance and fate along with character
37. Henchard’s relationship with Farfrae first breaks when: (PGTRB)
A) Farfrae becomes a priest
B) Henchard sells the mill
C) Susan returns from abroad
D) Farfrae decides to leave Henchard’s employment
Ans: D) Farfrae decides to leave Henchard’s employment
38. The “caged goldfinch” image is used to suggest: (SET)
A) Entrapment and fragile hope
B) Military victory
C) Scientific discovery
D) Royal celebration
Ans: A) Entrapment and fragile hope
39. The novel’s tragic irony is that Henchard’s past sin returns as: (UGC NET)
A) A happy reward
B) A comic misunderstanding only
C) A force that destroys his present success
D) A military promotion
Ans: C) A force that destroys his present success
40. Elizabeth-Jane’s final position in the novel is: (PGTRB)
A) Exiled forever
B) Respected and settled, connected with Farfrae’s household
C) Mayor of Casterbridge
D) A nun
Ans: B) Respected and settled, connected with Farfrae’s household
41. The Mayor of Casterbridge emphasizes the theme that: (SET)
A) Money guarantees happiness
B) Education solves everything
C) Love always wins
D) Character can be destiny, yet fate intervenes
Ans: D) Character can be destiny, yet fate intervenes
42. Hardy’s Casterbridge is based on the real town of: (UGC NET)
A) Dorchester
B) Oxford
C) Cambridge
D) Bristol
Ans: A) Dorchester
43. The corn trade in the novel symbolizes: (PGTRB)
A) Fairy-tale wealth
B) Economic life and social power in Casterbridge
C) Religious ritual
D) Scientific research
Ans: B) Economic life and social power in Casterbridge
44. Henchard’s relationship with Susan ends because: (SET)
A) She becomes mayor
B) She runs away with Farfrae
C) She is arrested
D) She dies after returning to Casterbridge
Ans: D) She dies after returning to Casterbridge
45. The novel’s tragic mood is heightened by Hardy’s use of: (UGC NET)
A) Coincidence and ironic reversals
B) Only comedy
C) Scientific experiments
D) Mythic monsters
Ans: A) Coincidence and ironic reversals
46. Henchard’s last meeting with Elizabeth-Jane is marked by: (PGTRB)
A) Total celebration
B) A wedding banquet
C) Rejection because he arrives at the wrong time
D) Farfrae’s arrest
Ans: C) Rejection because he arrives at the wrong time
47. Farfrae’s character is generally: (SET)
A) Impulsive and violent
B) Calm, practical, and adaptable
C) Superstitious and fearful
D) Lazy and careless
Ans: B) Calm, practical, and adaptable
48. Abel Whittle is mainly used to show: (UGC NET)
A) Royal power
B) Industrial invention
C) Court romance
D) Rural working-class life and comic contrast
Ans: D) Rural working-class life and comic contrast
49. The novel suggests that Henchard is both: (PGTRB)
A) A victim of fate and of his own temperament
B) Completely innocent
C) Completely heroic without flaws
D) A purely comic figure
Ans: A) A victim of fate and of his own temperament
50. The final instruction on Henchard’s will shows his desire for: (SET)
A) Public fame
B) Political promotion
C) Oblivion and solitude
D) Royal burial
Ans: C) Oblivion and solitude
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