SparkNotes: The Idiot: Quiz

Whom does Myshkin meet on the train at the beginning of the novel?

(A) Rogozhin and Lebedev

(B) General Yepanchin and Lebedev

(C) Rogozhin and Nastassya Filippovna

(D) Rogozhin and Keller

Where has Myshkin spent the years prior to returning to Russia and why?

(A) He was born and raised in France because this was Pavlishchev's favorite place in the world

(B) He spent four years in Lyon watching public executions

(C) He spent four years in a Swiss sanitarium in an attempt to cure his idiocy

(D) He spent four years in an Italian clinic to cure his epilepsy

Who was Prince Myshkin's benefactor and guardian?

(A) Burdovsky's father

(B) Pavlishchev

(C) Lebedev

(D) General Yepanchin

Why does Prince Myshkin immediately proceed to the Yepanchins upon arrival to St. Petersburg?

(A) He is hoping to find a place to stay

(B) He knows that acquaintance with the Yepanchins is likely to help his career

(C) He is in love with Aglaya Yepanchin

(D) He is distantly related to the General's wife

Who is Marie?

(A) A girl Myshkin knew in Switzerland who was seduced and abandoned by her seducer

(B) One of the Yepanchin daughters

(C) A nurse at the Swiss clinic where Myshkin spent four years

(D) Lebedev's daughter

What does General Yepanchin give Nastassya Filippovna as a birthday present and why?

(A) A pair of diamond earrings because he lusts after her

(B) A string of pearls because he lusts after her

(C) A pair of diamond earrings because he is trying to convince her to marry Ganya

(D) A string of pearls because he is trying to convince her to marry Ganya

Why is General Yepanchin glad that Myshkin can join his family for lunch?

(A) He is excited by the thought of his new acquaintance

(B) He is impressed by Myshkin's skills as a calligrapher

(C) He is excited to introduce his wife's relative to everyone

(D) Having the prince join them avoids a scandal in the family

What is Totsky's "worst action," according to his story at Nastassya Filippovna's party?

(A) He stole a three-ruble note and blames the maid

(B) He cursed at an old lady who dies

(C) He indirectly caused a young man's death through his purchase of a bouquet of camelias

(D) He seduced a young girl and made her his mistress

Why does Ganya want to marry Nastassya Filippovna?

(A) He loves her

(B) Totsky and General Yepanchin have promised him 75,000 rubles

(C) The marriage to such a beautiful woman complements his vanity

(D) He hopes to rise in his social status through this marriage

How much money does Rogozhin bring to Nastassya Filippovna's on the evening of her party?

(A) 40,000 rubles

(B) 75,000 rubles

(C) 85,000 rubles

(D) 100,000 rubles

With what does Rogozhin attempt to kill the Prince?

(A) A pistol

(B) A butcher knife

(C) A rifle

(D) A garden knife

With what painting of Rogozhin's is Myshkin impressed?

(A) A portrait of Rogozhin's father

(B) A painting of a Christ who has just been taken off the cross

(C) A painting of a Christ on the cross

(D) A painting of Christ with children

What prevents Rogozhin from killing the Prince?

(A) An epileptic fit

(B) His conscience

(C) Kolya's entrance

(D) The police

What poem does Aglaya recite in front of her family and the Prince in Pavlovsk?

(A) Krylov's fable about an ass

(B) Lermontov's "Masquerade"

(C) Pushkin's "The Poor Knight"

(D) Pushkin's "The Brass Horseman"

What detail does Aglaya change during her reading the Pushkin's poem at Lebedev's cottage?

(A) She replaces the initials A.M.D. with N.F.B.

(B) She replaces the words "poor knight" with "Lev Myshkin"

(C) She calls the "poor knight" Don Quixote

(D) She says the poem is by Tolstoy

How does Ganya prove that Burdovsky cannot possibly be Pavlishchev's son?

(A) He brings in Burdovsky's mother

(B) He reads a letter from Burdovsky's real father

(C) He brings a picture of Burdovsky's family

(D) He knows that Pavlishchev left the country more than a year before Burdovsky was born

What object outside his window in St. Petersburg does Hippolite spends so many hours staring at?

(A) A bridge

(B) A wall

(C) A lamppost

(D) A bench

Why does Hippolite's suicide attempt fail?

(A) He forgets to put a firing-cap on his pistol

(B) The prince prevents him

(C) His shot misses

(D) He forgets to put in the bullets

Why does Nastassya Filippovna speak on such friendly terms with Yevgeny Radomsky?

(A) She loves him

(B) She wants to ruin his reputation

(C) They are childhood friends

(D) His uncle has seduced her

Where and at what time does Aglaya arrange the meeting with the Prince?

(A) Near a park bench at night

(B) In Lebedev's cottage at seven o'clock in the evening

(C) Near a park bench at seven o'clock in the morning

(D) In the Yepanchin garden at midnight

What does Aglaya send to Myshkin as a sign of peace?

(A) A letter

(B) A hedgehog

(C) An apple pie

(D) A poem

What does Prince Myshkin break at the dinner party at the Yepanchins'?

(A) A Venetian glass vase

(B) A Persian teapot

(C) A Japanese figurine

(D) A Chinese vase

What prompts Aglaya to run away from the meeting with Nastassya Filippovna?

(A) Myshkin tells Aglaya that Nastassya Filippovna is very unhappy

(B) She remembers her sisters will be looking for her

(C) Her mother walks in

(D) Myshkin says he will marry Nastassya Filippovna

Where does Myshkin spend the night after following Rogozhin and Nastassya Filippovna to St. Petersburg?

(A) Rogozhin's study

(B) His hotel

(C) A park bench

(D) The train station

Who visits the Prince in Switzerland?

(A) Prince S.

(B) Radomsky

(C) Lebedev

(D) Kolya