Classics trivia
Related Trivia
Plot points, themes, and opening lines of historically significant novels and plays.
Classics Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Which Russian classic opens by comparing happy and unhappy families?
The opening line inspired the Anna Karenina principle, which states that a deficiency in any one of many factors will cause a complex endeavor or system to fail.
Which 1999 movie stars a doctor who discovers he is a ghost?
The color red is used strategically throughout the film to signify any person or object that has been touched by the other side.
Which sea-themed book starts with the sentence "Call me Ishmael"?
Herman Melville based the novel on the 1820 sinking of the whaleship Essex and a real-life white sperm whale named Mocha Dick.
Which Dickens novel opens with the phrase "It was the best of times"?
The novel is set in London and Paris during the French Revolution. Its opening sentence is one of the most famous examples of anaphora in English literature.
Which Orwell book mentions clocks "striking 13" in its first line?
Orwell originally titled the novel The Last Man in Europe. The title 1984 is a transposition of 1948, the year he completed the manuscript.
Which Jane Austen classic opens with a "truth universally acknowledged"?
Jane Austen originally titled the novel First Impressions. It was published anonymously in 1813, credited to the author of Sense and Sensibility.
Which masked villain tells Luke Skywalker he is his father?
The line is often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father," but the actual dialogue spoken by Darth Vader is "No, I am your father."
Which classic book features a scientist who drinks a potion to become a monster?
In the original story, the potion only worked because the salts Dr. Jekyll used were accidentally contaminated with an unknown impurity.
Which 1960 movie stars a motel owner who dresses as his mother?
The character of Norman Bates was inspired by real-life murderer Ed Gein, who also served as the basis for the horror icons Leatherface and Buffalo Bill.
Which broken monument reveals that a world of apes is actually Earth?
The iconic 1968 film scene was shot at Westward Beach in Malibu, California, using a large-scale mock-up of the statue's crown and torch.