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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who ultimately tells Mrs. Boucher that her husband has died?

2. Who escorts Frederick to the train station when he leaves Milton?

3. Who informs Margaret that Bessy has died?

4. During Frederick's first night home, how does the family interact?

5. Who tells a police officer that Margaret was at the train station with a young man?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Mr. Lennox able to take Margaret on a vacation to the seaside?

2. Why is Margaret so concerned when she hears that Mr. Thornton thinks she was at the train station with Mr. Lennox?

3. How does Margaret respond to her father's death?

4. Why is Dixon in a panic when she comes to visit Margaret after Mrs. Hale's death?

5. How does Margaret respond to learning that she is the heiress to Mr. Bell's sizable fortune?

6. Why does Margaret initially refuse to give Mr. Thornton any credit for helping her and her brother with the police investigation?

7. What kinds of conversations do Mrs. Thornton and her son usually have?

8. Why does Mrs. Thornton confront Margaret about being in the train station with someone she suspects is her lover?

9. Why is Mr. Thornton fearful of Nicholas after he refuses to give him work?

10. Why does Frederick decide to stay in Spain?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify at least 3 instances where Margaret inserts herself into the world of men in the novel, and discuss how her doing so goes against the gender norms of the time.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the scene of Henry Lennox' first romantic confession to Margaret and what happens afterward. What does Gaskell do to create the tone? What do the different characters' reactions immediately after tell us about their personalities? How does what happens afterward foreshadow what happens later in the text, if at all?

Essay Topic 3

Name and discuss at least 3 instances where religion appears in the text and what message Gaskell is conveying to the reader through these instances.

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