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Probably the 18th century's greatest champion of William Shakespeare's plays, and particularly of Hamlet, was actor David Garrick. Influenced by the play's French critics, however -- first and foremost, by Voltaire -- he made fairly drastic alterations to the play, including the wholesale purging of the one scene that Voltaire had found so particularly objectionable:
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In Voltaire's Candide, Dr. Pangloss' philosophy follows that of...?
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One subtitle of "Candide" is...?
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What is the name of Candide's philosopher friend in Candide (Thrift Editions)?
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2476 times (37.8%) |
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Which French author had this to say about William Shakespeare's Hamlet?
"It is a vulgar and barbarous drama, which would not be tolerated by the vilest populace of France, or Italy ... one would imagine this piece to be the work of a drunken savage. But amidst all these vulgar irregularities ... there are to be found in Hamlet, by a bizarrerie still greater, some sublime passages, worthy of the greatest genius. It seems as though nature had mingled in the brain of Shakespeare the greatest conceivable strength and grandeur with whatsoever witless vulgarity can devise that is lowest and most detestable."
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Who said that "great geniuses have the shortest biographies?"
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What is the full title of Voltaire's Candide?
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903 times |
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In Candide, which famous philosopher does Voltaire attack?
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What is the name of the 'old woman' who first takes care of Candide after his misfortunes in Lisbon and later tells him her remarkable history in Voltaire's eponymous novel?
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123 times |
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24 times (15.0%) |
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Of which Roman poet does Pococurante in Voltaire's Candide declare: "There are some maxims ... by which a man of the world can profit, and since they are expressed in forceful verse, they are the more easily committed to memory. But I care little for his visit to Brundisium, and his description of a bad dinner, and the Billingsgate quarrel between some fellow Pupilus, 'whose words', as he says, 'were full of pus', and another whose words 'were as sour as vinegar'. I read with extreme displeasure the coarse verses against old women and witches; and I cannot detect what merit there can be in saying to his friend, Maecenas, that if he will only place him in the ranks of lyric poets, he will touch the stars with his exalted head. Fools admire everything in an established classic. I read only to please myself, and enjoy only what suits my taste"?
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60 times (31.7%) |
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Which famous epic poet (and his greatest work) does Pococurante, in Voltaire's Candide, describe as being "that barbarian who made a tedious commentary on the first chapter of Genesis in ten books of rugged verse. That clumsy imitator of the Greeks, who disfigures the creation and, instead of representing the Eternal Being, as Moses does, creating the universe at a word, makes the Messiah take a large pair of compasses from one of the cupboards of heaven to draw a plan of his intended work. Do you expect me to appreciate the man ... who disguises Lucifer first as a toad and then as a pigmy, who makes him repeat the same speeches a hundred times, and even argue about theology?"
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As a writer, 19th century philosopher and literary critic George Henry Lewes is probably best known for his biography of ...
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A picaresque novel is (generally speaking) a satirical work dealing with the adventures of a low-class hero in a normally corrupt society. Which one of these well-known novels is NOT generally considered to form part of this genre?
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68 times (32.7%) |
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If you wanted to send a gift to Candide (Voltaire's protagonist) in his retirement, which of these would be the best choice?
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Who said that he "would not like to die before having emptied a few more buckets of shit on the heads of my fellow men." (If you will pardon my French) ?
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From which famous work of literature does this excerpt derive?
"I'll not stand you an inch in the stead of a seraglio," I said; "so don't consider me an equivalent for one. If you have a fancy for anything in that line, away with you, sir, to the bazaars of Stamboul, without delay, and lay out in extensive slave-purchases some of that spare cash you seem at a loss to spend satisfactorily here."
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227 times |
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Arguably the shortest written exchange ever was that between Victor Hugo and his publisher, following the publication of Les Misérables, with Hugo enquiring with a simple "?" about the book's success, and his publisher responding: "!"
A hot contender for the second shortest exchange, however, is that following a bet between two friends who would be able to write the shortest letter in Latin. Thus, the first man wrote: "Eo rus" -- "I am going to the countryside." His friend responded: "I" -- "Go!" ... and had won the bet.
While this story is primarily associated with two Roman senators, it was later co-opted by a minor 18th century playwright for an alleged exchange with one of his country's most famous poets and philosophers.
Who was the 18th century playwright, and who his famous countryman?
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"Three hundred and forty-eight years, six months, and nineteen days ago to-day, the Parisians awoke to the sound of all the bells in the triple circuit of the city, the university, and the town ringing a full peal"
... is the beginning of ...
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France's most prestigious literary award is the ...
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Marie-Henri Beyle is better known as ...
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Jean-Baptiste Poquelin is better known under his pen name ...
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Which one of these was an editor of that great work of Enlightenment thought, the Encyclopédie?
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Which one of these Enlightenment writers did NOT contribute to Diderot's great Encyclopédie?
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Who wrote De l'Esprit des Lois (The Spirit of the Laws), an influential work of Enlightenment thought?
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Which one of these great Enlightenment writers did not live in Switzerland for an extended period of his life?
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French philosopher Voltaire based the pen name under which he would become known on ...
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Who wrote the Persian Letters, which was hugely popular upon publication in 1721?
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Who wrote the novel, Jacques the Fatalist?
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Whose most famous work of fiction is the novel, Paul and Virginia (originally: Paul et Virginie)?
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Whose novel, Julie, or the New Heloise, was one of his most popular works?
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