Sunday, February 12, 2012

Mastermind answers

Mary Wollstonecraft was on the BBC quizshow Mastermind - lots of excitement on Twitter during the Friday broadcast. Yesterday we looked at the questions faced by the teacher named Godwin (or Goodwin, but I can dream). Episode 14 is available on iPlayer, in theory. Today, the answers.



  1. Who famously described her as a "hyena in petticoats", following the publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792?  -- Horace Walpole
  2. To which friend in Beverley, the daughter of a philosopher and a lecturer, did the 14 year old Wollstonecraft write her earliest surviving letter? -- Jane Arden
  3. In which London church did she marry the anarchist and novelist William Godwin on 29 March 1797? -- (Old) St Pancras
  4. In  A Vindication of the Rights of Men, whose definition of English liberty did she attack as "security of property"? -- Edmund Burke
  5. Which young woman, slender and elegant of form, whom Wollstonecraft met in 1775, is thought to be the principal model for Anne in the novel Mary? -- Frances (Fanny) Blood
  6. In the conclusion of Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, Maria says the conflict is over, and then says that she will live for whom?  -- "My child"
  7. Which writer and artist provided illustrations for the second edition of  Wollstonecraft's Original Stories from Real Life? -- William Blake
  8. In the 15th of her Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Wollstonecraft says her thoughts darted from earth to heaven when she saw what sublime waterfall? -- Fredericstradt
  9. With which political group, sometimes known as Brissotins, was she closely involved during the French Revolution? -- Girondins
  10. Which institution is described in Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, as "the most insufferable bondage for minds governed by superior principles"?  -- Matrimony (marriage)
  11. In her early Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, which animal story by Dorothy Kilner does Wollstonecraft recommend to amuse and instruct? -- The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse
  12. Which other celebrated writer was present at the dinner party of Joseph Johnson where Wollstonecraft first met her future husband William Godwin?  -- She said Holcroft, but the presenter over-ruled her with Thomas Paine.
  13. To which politician and former churchman was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman dedicated? -- Talleyrand
  14. According to the Letters, the design of the deity throughout the whole of nature appears to be the preservation of what? -- The species
  15. Who registered Wollstonecraft as his wife at the American Embassy in Paris to give her protection when war broke out between Britain and revolutionary France? -- Gilbert Imlay
  16. Wollstonecraft jumped off which bridge over the Thames in an attempt to commit suicide in 1795, following the breakdown of her relationship with Gilbert Imlay? -- Putney Bridge
Back to A Vindication of the Rights of Woman tomorrow, working towards its 220th anniversary.

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The black chair, from the BBC Mastermind page. It is famous, apparently.

5 comments:

  1. Goodman rocks ! what a woman and you right she should have got question number 12

    these questions are good and I wonder who researched and devised them - any idea?

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    Replies
    1. I heard her name as Goodwin, and have written to a Newcastle teacher of that name in random hope. Your query is a good one; if you care to pursue it, please let us know any results.

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  2. I am not familiar with the show, but those were excellent questions!

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  3. Yes, they were. Here's a challenge: devise another score, of MW questions that pose a similar level of difficulty. If I get some good ones, I'll make a post of them.

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