Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it, but moulds it to its purpose. The nineteenth century, as we know it, is largely an invention of Balzac.                                  Oscar Wilde

1. This Romantic poet concocted the words critickasting, fuzzgig, and evangelizationeer.

2. He was left an orphan at age fifteen, and later critics gave his poetry scathing reviews; then he fell in love with a girl named Fanny, who brought him much distress, and when things looked bleakest . . . well, they were: he died at age twenty-five.

3. She suffered a serious back injury at age sixteen while trying to tighten the saddle on her horse, sought refuge in writing and made a name for herself, and then eloped to Italy with the love of her life, who eclipsed her in fame.

4. Known to friends as Mary Ann or Marian, she grew up to write for the Westminster Review and later formed a common-law relationship with her editor, Henry, who encouraged her to write novels.

5. This original hippy prototype combined various skills in handicrafts with his writing; the poetry’s luscious and the wallpaper divine.

6. Was quoted as saying: "I suppose that I shall have to die beyond my means," when asked a large sum for an operation.

7. He "confessed" to eating large quantities of a certain fashionable drug that went down well with Coleridge too.

8. Lord Byron challenged her to write a ghost story and she delivered big time.

Name the character . . .

9. This black-eyed dwarf "constantly revealed the few discoloured fangs that were yet scattered in his mouth, and gave him the aspect of a panting dog."

10. Elizabeth Bennet disdains this woman’s marriage with Collins because it lacks love.

11. She went to Miss Pinkerton’s academy along with Amelia Sedley, but her goals and ambitions were far different.

12. His dad takes in an orphan waif to whom he gives all his love and this kid naturally hates his new "brother" with a passion, which lasts a lifetime.

13. A honeymoon to Rome didn’t go so well, but this young man, who just happened to be there, took pity on the new wife, fell in love with her, and later became her second husband.

14. If only the letter had not gone under the carpet when she slipped it under the door, this young lady’s life might not have ended in tragedy.

15. Countess De Courcy has a memorable staring contest with this beautiful but crippled woman, who wins the battle without batting an eye.

16. He died of spontaneous combustion, left as "a smouldering, suffocating vapour in the room and a dark greasy coating on the walls and ceiling."

17. Jane Austen’s characters veered away from sex, so in 2001 an American author created the scenes that should have been in the novels. Name the first three words of the title.

18. Which one of the following actors does not appear in a film adaptation of work by Charles Dickens?

a. Laurence Olivier
b. Bob Hoskins
c. Kenneth Branagh
d. Maggie Smith
e. Elvis Costello
f. Keira Knightley
g. Julie Walters
h. Colin Farrell
i. Jamie Bell
j. Dawn French

19. Who, in the nineties, created and starred in a stage musical based on a novel by one of the Bronte sisters?

20. In this nineties’ film adaptation of one of Sir Walter Scott’s historical novels, Tim Roth plays the foppish Cunningham to a tee. Name the novel.