The Vivisector Quizzes

The Vivisector Quiz 1

1 What object inspires Hurtle when he first visits the Courtneys house?

Chandelier

Diamond ring

Mural

Urn
2 What is Rhoda's fate as predicted by the Planchette?

Novelist

Dancer

Wife

Woman
3 What reason does Hurtle give Mrs. Courtney for his departure from their house and family as a teenager?

He's moving to Paris

He's enlisting in the military

He's returning to his biological family

He's leaving to become an artist
4 Where does Hurtle move when he first leaves the Courtneys?

Melbourne

Paris

New Zealand

Sydney
5 Who is the person behind Duffield's secret patroness?

Boo Hollingrake

Mrs. Courtney

Rhoda

Caldicott
6 Where was Boo Hollingrake living in the years before she returned to Australia?

London

Peru

New York

Tahiti
7 Where does Hero want to bring Hurtle?

Turkey

Casablanca

Perialos

Melbourne
8 Who is Kathy Volkov's favorite musician?

Lizst

Bach

Mozart

Rachmaninoff
9 What kind of aspiring artist does Hurtle encounter when he goes to Mumbelong with Mr. Courtney?

Musician

Playwright

Sculptor

Novelist
10 What do Mr. and Mrs. Courtney want Hurtle to call them?

Dad and Mother

Father and Mother Dear

Father and Maman

Papa and Maman
11 What job is Hurtle doing when he meets Nance Lightfoot?

Landscaping

Dishwashing

Working in a department store

Assisting a painter
12 What plant does Duffield continuously point out seeing in the novel?

Palm trees

Begonia

Sunflowers

Lantana
13 What does Boo Hollingrake say has always been Rhoda's virtue?

Secret creative genius

An awareness of the reasons for her hysteria

An ability to perceive everything around her

A clear vision of the future
14 How many children did the Duffields have?

1

7

5

3
15 Who is Soso?

Hurtle's child

Rhoda's landlady

Hero and Cosma's quasi-adopted daughter

Kathy Volkov's piano teacher
16 What is Rhoda yelling at when Hurtle encounters her after many years have passed?

The moon

Kids playing ball

Cats

Cars driving too fast
17 What does Rhoda say was the reason for Maman's death?

She couldn't face her failure to end vivisection

She couldn't carry on without relationships with her children

She felt she failed Hurtle and Rhoda

She felt it wasn't worth living without the inessentials
18 Where do the Courtneys have a memorable holiday?

St. Sebastian

St. Yves de Tregor

Monaco

Tuscany
19 Who was Hurtle and Rhoda's governess?

Miss Leighton

Miss Tyndall

Miss Nixon

Miss Gibbons
20 What is the name of Hurtle's painting of Rhoda?

Nance Spreadeagle

Pythoness at Tripod

Girl in the Window

Forms and Figures
21 What street does Duffield live most of his adult life on?

Flint Street

Windsor Street

Prince Way

Chubb's Lane
22 Who is Duffield's protégé?

Don Lethbridge

Cecil Cutbush

Sam Weinstock

Rhoda
23 What is Cecil Cutbush's former job?

Local councilman

Bus driver

School headmaster

Gardener
24 What does Nance say is true of all men?

They're in love with themselves

They are interested in art

They don't like talking about emotions

They're always thinking about the future
25 Why did Caldicott vouch so much for Duffield?

He faced financial pressures to find an ingenue

He couldn't find anyone else

He was in love with him

Someone told him he had to put his name behind him

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Study Guide for The Vivisector

The Vivisector study guide contains a biography of Patrick White, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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