Lesson 4.1.1.14

4.1.1.14 The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley Quiz: AQA English Literature A, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.1.1.14, The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA English Literature A (7712), Unit 1: Love through the ages, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is the famous opening line of The Go-Between?

    • It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking
    • The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there
    • Call me Ishmael, and consider the great whale of the sea
    • All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is different

  2. Who is the narrator as an adult, looking back on his childhood summer?

    • Ted Burgess, the farmer who has an affair with Marian
    • Marcus Maudsley, the schoolfriend who hosts Leo
    • Hugh Trimingham, Marian's fiance from a respectable family
    • Leo Colston, now an older man reflecting on his youth

  3. In which year does the main action of The Go-Between take place?

    • 1945, in the aftermath of the Second World War
    • 1900, in a hot summer in Norfolk
    • 1914, in the first weeks of the war
    • 1847, during a period of industrial change

  4. Who is the wealthy schoolfriend whose family hosts Leo at Brandham Hall?

    • Marcus Maudsley, the schoolfriend who invites Leo
    • Mr Mackintosh, a visiting tutor in the house
    • Hugh Trimingham, Marian's fiance and a family friend
    • Ted Burgess, a tenant farmer in the village

  5. Which character is Marian Maudsley's fiance, a man from a respectable family?

    • Ted Burgess, a tenant farmer in the village
    • Hugh Trimingham, a man of good family
    • Marcus Maudsley, Leo's schoolfriend
    • Mr Mackintosh, a visiting tutor in the house

  6. Who is the tenant farmer with whom Marian has a secret relationship?

    • Hugh Trimingham, Marian's respectable fiance
    • Marcus Maudsley, the wealthy schoolboy at the hall
    • Ted Burgess, a farmer outside the gentry's circle
    • Mr Maudsley, the absent father of the household

  7. What role does Leo play in the adult world he enters?

    • He carries secret letters between Marian and Ted, unwittingly
    • He arranges Marian's wedding to Hugh in the village
    • He acts as a judge in the local court at the hall
    • He manages the estate's accounts and rent collection

  8. Which theme is most closely associated with the novel's account of the boy's experience?

    • the success of colonial trade in the empire's ports
    • the triumph of industrial progress over rural life
    • the rules of a religious sect in the countryside
    • innocence and its loss through knowledge of adult desire and class

  9. Which social distinction is important in the relationships between the characters?

    • the difference between urban and rural schools in towns
    • the division between Scotland and England in the law
    • the gap between the gentry and the farm labourers and tenants
    • the difference between the Royal Navy and the army

  10. Why is the novel's narrative structure significant?

    • An older narrator looks back, so the story is shaped by later understanding and regret
    • The novel is written entirely as a series of letters
    • The story is told in verse with a fixed rhyme scheme
    • The events are told in strict order by a child narrator

  11. Which element of the ending shows the lasting impact of the summer on Leo?

    • Leo becomes a farmer and marries Marian after the war
    • Leo's adult life is shaped by guilt and regret about the summer
    • Leo forgets the summer completely and never thinks of it again
    • Leo returns to Brandham and runs the estate for the family

  12. Which technique conveys the atmosphere of the hot summer?

    • rhyming couplets that describe the weather in detail
    • a chorus that comments on the heat from outside
    • sensory detail and heat imagery that suggest tension and desire
    • statistical data about the climate of the county

  13. What is the significance of the phrase 'a foreign country' for how readers view the past?

    • It describes a real journey abroad that Leo took as a young man
    • It shows the narrator has no memory at all of his childhood
    • It suggests past values differ so much they must be understood on their own terms
    • It refers to Leo's new career as a diplomat in Europe

  14. Which character's manipulation most affects Leo?

    • Mr Maudsley, who is absent for almost the whole summer
    • Marian, who uses him to carry messages to Ted
    • Hugh, who helps Leo with his studies in the house
    • Ted, who is kind to Leo throughout the summer

  15. Which question best supports an evaluation of the novel's presentation of class?

    • Is the weather described accurately by a meteorologist?
    • Is Brandham Hall located in Kent or in Norfolk?
    • Does Leo enjoy playing cricket on the lawn in summer?
    • Does the affair reveal the rigidity of class boundaries or the cost of crossing them?

  16. The novel is most often classified as which kind of narrative?

    • a detective story about a murder in the country
    • a retrospective coming-of-age story
    • a Gothic horror tale of haunted houses
    • a science-fiction adventure set in the future

  17. Which statement best describes Leo's relationship with the adult world?

    • He is entirely excluded from the adult world throughout the summer
    • He is a lawyer who judges the adults for their conduct
    • He is drawn into adult secrets he cannot fully understand, damaging his innocence
    • He controls all the adults at the Hall through his cleverness

  18. What is the effect of the older Leo's perspective on the reader's sympathy for the boy?

    • It shows the adult Leo as cruel and entirely unfeeling about the past
    • It makes the boy an unsympathetic character in the reader's eyes
    • It sets his innocence against the adult knowledge he now has, deepening sympathy
    • It removes all emotion from the story as it is told

  19. How old is Leo in the summer of 1900?

    • eight
    • sixteen
    • twelve
    • twenty

  20. What does the title The Go-Between refer to?

    • a bridge across the river at Brandham
    • Leo, who carries messages between Marian and Ted
    • the railway line between Norwich and London
    • a servant at the hall who carries the post

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