The Vivisector Quizzes

The Vivisector Quiz 1

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

Mural

Diamond ring

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

Novelist

Woman

Wife
3 What reason does Hurtle give Mrs. Courtney for his departure from their house and family as a teenager?
He's returning to his biological family

He's leaving to become an artist

He's moving to Paris

He's enlisting in the military
4 Where does Hurtle move when he first leaves the Courtneys?
Melbourne

Sydney

Paris

New Zealand
5 Who is the person behind Duffield's secret patroness?
Rhoda

Caldicott

Boo Hollingrake

Mrs. Courtney
6 Where was Boo Hollingrake living in the years before she returned to Australia?
New York

Tahiti

Peru

London
7 Where does Hero want to bring Hurtle?
Perialos

Casablanca

Melbourne

Turkey
8 Who is Kathy Volkov's favorite musician?
Mozart

Rachmaninoff

Bach

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

Playwright

Novelist

Musician
10 What do Mr. and Mrs. Courtney want Hurtle to call them?
Father and Mother Dear

Father and Maman

Papa and Maman

Dad and Mother
11 What job is Hurtle doing when he meets Nance Lightfoot?
Dishwashing

Assisting a painter

Working in a department store

Landscaping
12 What plant does Duffield continuously point out seeing in the novel?
Begonia

Lantana

Sunflowers

Palm trees
13 What does Boo Hollingrake say has always been Rhoda's virtue?
A clear vision of the future

An ability to perceive everything around her

Secret creative genius

An awareness of the reasons for her hysteria
14 How many children did the Duffields have?
3

5

1

7
15 Who is Soso?
Hurtle's child

Kathy Volkov's piano teacher

Hero and Cosma's quasi-adopted daughter

Rhoda's landlady
16 What is Rhoda yelling at when Hurtle encounters her after many years have passed?
Kids playing ball

The moon

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 felt it wasn't worth living without the inessentials

She couldn't carry on without relationships with her children

She felt she failed Hurtle and Rhoda
18 Where do the Courtneys have a memorable holiday?
St. Sebastian

Tuscany

St. Yves de Tregor

Monaco
19 Who was Hurtle and Rhoda's governess?
Miss Gibbons

Miss Tyndall

Miss Leighton

Miss Nixon
20 What is the name of Hurtle's painting of Rhoda?
Nance Spreadeagle

Girl in the Window

Pythoness at Tripod

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

Flint Street

Prince Way

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

Don Lethbridge

Rhoda

Sam Weinstock
23 What is Cecil Cutbush's former job?
Bus driver

Gardener

School headmaster

Local councilman
24 What does Nance say is true of all men?
They don't like talking about emotions

They're always thinking about the future

They are interested in art

They're in love with themselves
25 Why did Caldicott vouch so much for Duffield?
Someone told him he had to put his name behind him

He couldn't find anyone else

He was in love with him

He faced financial pressures to find an ingenue

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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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