Cursed by Marissa Meyer: 20-Question Quiz
This quiz spans the full story of Cursed, the second book in Marissa Meyer’s Gilded duology. Questions are divided into four sections: plot and sequence (8 questions), character motivation (5 questions), theme and symbol (4 questions), and synthesis (3 questions). Mix of multiple-choice and short-answer formats. When you finish, check the complete answer key below.
Plot and Sequence Questions
1. What object does Serilda use to stab the Erlking in Chapter Three, only to discover he is immortal?
- A) A silver knife
- B) A golden arrow
- C) A kitchen ladle
- D) A broken sword
2. On the summer solstice, what does Serilda receive instead of a wedding gown?
- A) Hunting gear and a crossbow
- B) A golden crown
- C) A red velvet cloak
- D) A spinning wheel
3. During the wedding ceremony, what animal does Serilda accidentally wound?
- A) A stag
- B) A partridge
- C) A hellhound
- D) The Erlking’s horse
4. What creature does the Erlking capture and cage with the unicorn in Chapter Thirty?
- A) A gryphon
- B) A basilisk
- C) A tatzelwurm
- D) A wyvern
5. How does the Erlking reveal Gravenstone Castle, which had been hidden beneath the ash tree’s roots?
Short answer
6. What does Serilda find in the hidden pit beneath the throne room in Adalheid Castle?
- A) A mass grave containing dozens of skeletons and two preserved cursed bodies
- B) A cache of golden weapons
- C) The Erlking’s treasure hoard
- D) A tunnel leading to the mortal world
7. What happens when Anna pulls the Erlking’s arrow from the caged unicorn?
- A) Flowers bloom across the dead courtyard
- B) The unicorn transforms into Pusch-Grohla
- C) The Erlking returns immediately
- D) The castle begins to crumble
8. Who sacrifices herself to protect Anna during the bärgeist hunt in the arena?
Short answer
Character Motivation Questions
9. Why does Serilda hide the truth about her pregnancy from Gild?
- A) To protect the five ghost children’s souls from the Erlking’s punishment
- B) Because she is ashamed of the child’s parentage
- C) Because the Erlking has threatened to kill her father
- D) Because she fears Gild will not believe the child is his
10. Why does Agathe betray Serilda to the Erlking?
- A) She believes the Erlking will free all of Adalheid’s spirits on the Mourning Moon
- B) She wants to become queen of the dark ones
- C) She is jealous of Serilda’s relationship with Gild
- D) The Erlking has promised to resurrect her lost family
11. Why does Gild refuse to break his curse when he finds his preserved body in the bone pit?
Short answer
12. What ultimate goal motivates the Erlking to capture all seven old gods?
- A) He plans to destroy the veil and unleash dark ones on the mortal world
- B) He wants to become a god himself
- C) He seeks revenge for his imprisonment in Verloren
- D) He intends to trade them to Velos for immortality
13. Why does Perchta accept Serilda’s body as a vessel?
- A) She wants to return to the mortal world and claim the unborn child
- B) She seeks revenge on the Erlking by stealing his bride
- C) She wishes to destroy the veil herself
- D) She hopes to regain her lost hunting powers
Theme and Symbol Questions
14. What do the golden chains most consistently represent throughout the novel?
- A) Both imprisonment and the power to bind or free souls
- B) Wealth and prosperity
- C) The Erlking’s love for Serilda
- D) The connection between the mortal and spirit worlds
15. The ash tree and alder tree at Gravenstone symbolize what central conflict?
- A) The struggle between life-giving protection (Pusch-Grohla’s spell) and death (the Erlking’s domain)
- B) The rivalry between the Erlking and Prince Gild
- C) The tension between old gods and new beliefs
- D) The separation of the mortal realm from Verloren
16. What does Serilda’s storytelling ability represent thematically?
- A) Both a gift that creates connection and a curse that can be weaponized
- B) A simple skill with no real consequences
- C) A way to manipulate others for personal gain
- D) The source of all evil in the kingdom
17. Erlen’s tapestries, which change depending on light, suggest what theme about fate?
Short answer
Synthesis Questions
18. How does the curse Serilda places on the Erlking and Perchta in the finale mirror the curse she herself endured?
Short answer
19. Why is the revelation that Gild’s true family name is Rumpelstiltskin essential to breaking the curse and resurrecting him?
Short answer
20. Compare Serilda’s primary motivation at the beginning of the novel with her motivations at the end. How does her focus expand?
Short answer
Answer Key
1. A) A silver knife. When Serilda stabs the Erlking, only black smoke emerges, proving his immortality. She has attempted this many times before.
2. A) Hunting gear and a crossbow. Instead of a wedding gown, she receives gear for a ceremonial hunt in which bride and groom shoot animals with crossbows as part of the forced marriage ritual.
3. A) A stag. Serilda accidentally wounds a stag, and the Erlking kills it at her plea. He then shoots a partridge near her head and declares them married.
4. A) A gryphon. The Erlking returns from a hunt with a captured gryphon bound in golden chains and orders it caged with the unicorn.
5. The Erlking drives the unicorn horn into the ash tree’s root, causing the tree to wither and collapse, revealing Gravenstone Castle hidden beneath. The ash tree was Pusch-Grohla’s protective spell that had sealed the castle for centuries.
6. A) A mass grave containing dozens of skeletons and two preserved cursed bodies. The bodies belong to the prince and princess of Adalheid (Gild and his sister), with golden-tipped arrows through their wrists.
7. A) Flowers bloom across the dead courtyard. Pulling the arrow triggers a sudden bloom of snowdrops, crocuses, tulips, and daffodils, transforming the Gravenstone courtyard into a lush spring meadow.
8. Lady Agathe. Agathe throws herself in front of Anna, and the bärgeist kills her instead. She had earlier revealed her guilt over the massacre of Adalheid’s royal family.
9. A) To protect the five ghost children’s souls from the Erlking’s punishment. The Erlking forced Serilda to keep the secret. If she told anyone the child was Gild’s, he would never free the children’s trapped souls.
10. A) She believes the Erlking will free all of Adalheid’s spirits on the Mourning Moon. Agathe wants peace for the ghosts of Adalheid, and the Erlking exploited that hope to win her allegiance.
11. Gild refuses because he will not leave Serilda trapped alone in the castle. He declares, “When we leave, we’ll be leaving together,” and adds that he wants to earn the crown, not simply take it.
12. A) He plans to destroy the veil and unleash dark ones on the mortal world. The Erlking uses Perchta and the captured gods to make a wish on the Endless Moon that would tear down the barrier between worlds.
13. A) She wants to return to the mortal world and claim the unborn child. Perchta takes Serilda’s body to escape Verloren and deliver the baby, which the Erlking promised to give her as a vessel.
14. A) Both imprisonment and the power to bind or free souls. Golden chains restrain the Erlking’s victims, yet Gild’s god-spun gold also becomes the means to trap dark ones and break curses. Agathe reveals that god-spun gold tied around a ghost under a full moon can free spirits.
15. A) The struggle between life-giving protection (Pusch-Grohla’s spell) and death (the Erlking’s domain). The flourishing ash tree keeps Gravenstone sealed, while the dying alder (the Erlking’s symbol) represents his decaying power. When the ash falls, the castle emerges.
16. A) Both a gift that creates connection and a curse that can be weaponized. Serilda’s stories comfort the children, but her lies also enable the Erlking’s schemes. She eventually vows to stop telling stories when she realizes the Erlking uses them to hunt gods.
17. The tapestries suggest that fate is not fixed and that free will can change outcomes. Erlen tells Serilda that her tapestries show possible futures, not guaranteed ones, which is why Gild’s death might be preventable.
18. Serilda drives two golden-tipped arrows into the wrists of the Erlking and Perchta, binding their spirits to the castle eternally. This mirrors the curse she and Gild suffered: golden arrows that tether a spirit to a haunted place and deny them peace.
19. Velos requires a true name for resurrection, but the Erlking’s curse erased all memory of Gild’s family name. Serilda recalls the story of Stiltskin and the ring marked with an “R,” deducing Rumpelstiltskin. Frieda remembers the lost heir’s name: Ermengild Rumpelstiltskin, which summons his spirit back.
20. Early in the novel, Serilda’s primary motivation is freeing the five ghost children from eternal servitude to the Erlking. By the end, her focus expands to include reclaiming her own stolen body, saving Gild and their baby, stopping the Erlking from destroying the mortal world, and seeking her own freedom and identity. The children remain central, but she also fights for her family and her own agency.