1. Monmouth's Rebellion is a significant historical event featured in Lorna Doone. Who was James Scott, Duke of Monmouth? What motivated him to lead a revolt against his uncle, James II? What led to his eventual failure?

2. At the start of the novel, John Ridd has been attending Blundell's School for four years. The initial chapters provide a glimpse into life at institutions like Blundell's. These schools continue to educate many of England's prominent figures. How do they prepare students for societal roles? How have such schools evolved since the seventeenth century?

3. When John Ridd is knighted by James II, he feels both proud and confused. He remarks, "Sir, I am very much obliged. But what be I to do with it?" He is acutely aware of class distinctions and never dreams of being anything other than a farmer. At times, he seems to uphold class distinctions as part of his English heritage. Blackmore himself held similar views. Describe the class system during Ridd's and Blackmore's eras.

4. Lorna Doone, like all of Blackmore's works, extols the virtues of rural life. George Eliot and Thomas Hardy also wrote novels centered around the rural population of England. How do books like Eliot's Adam Bede or Silas Marner, set in rural Warwickshire, or Hardy's Under the Greenwood Tree or Far from the Madding Crowd, set in Dorsetshire, compare to Lorna Doone in their depiction of rustic settings?

5. Tom Faggus was a legendary figure in southwest England during the seventeenth century. Why is the highwayman so frequently portrayed as a romantic figure? Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) and in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera (1928) is also romanticized despite the satirical tone of both musicals. What were highwaymen really like? Does Blackmore's depiction of Faggus accurately represent this type of outlaw?