AQA GCSE English Literature
AQA GCSE English Literature Princess & The Hustler Exam Questions
Free AQA GCSE English Literature practice questions for Princess & The Hustler. Covers chinonyerem Odimba's Princess and the Hustler: family, race, identity, beauty, resistance, Princess, Mavis, Wendell and 1960s Bristol.
Princess & The Hustler practice questions
1 pack of exam-style practice questions for Princess & The Hustler. Plan and write as many answers as you can under timed conditions, then compare them with the guidance on this page and your notes.
About AQA GCSE English Literature Princess & The Hustler
Princess & The Hustler is a modern drama option on AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2, Section A, answered from a choice of two essay questions with no extract. Odimba's play follows a Black family in Bristol in the 1960s. Young Princess dreams of being crowned a beauty queen, while her mother Mavis holds the family together and her father Wendell, the 'Hustler', returns after years away. Examiners reward analysis of how Odimba uses dialogue, family conflict and staging to explore identity and belonging, and context such as the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 and racism in post-war Britain.
Key themes, characters and context
- Princess Princess is hopeful and determined. Her dream of winning a beauty contest raises questions about who is seen as beautiful in a racist society.
- Mavis Mavis is strong and practical, raising her children alone. Wendell's return tests her pride and her hopes for the family.
- Wendell, the Hustler Wendell is charming but unreliable. His return disrupts the household and forces each character to decide what family means.
- Beauty and identity The beauty contest links personal ambition to wider ideas about race, colourism and acceptance.
- Resistance The Bristol Bus Boycott, a campaign against a colour bar on bus crews, forms a backdrop, linking family struggles to public protest.
- Context Caribbean families in 1960s Britain faced discrimination in work, housing and public life. The play explores pride and resilience in that setting.
Common mistakes in Princess & The Hustler
- Writing about the boycott without linking it to characters. Show how public events shape private lives in the play.
- Treating Wendell as a simple villain. Explore his charm, his failures and what his return reveals.
- Ignoring dramatic methods. Comment on dialogue, stage directions and how scenes are structured.
- Summarising instead of analysing. Every point should explain how Odimba creates meaning.
- Losing focus on the question. Choose characters and moments that fit the theme asked about.
Try three Princess & The Hustler practice questions
1. How does Odimba present the character of Princess? Write about what Princess says and does and how Odimba presents her by the way she writes. (30 marks + 4 marks for SPaG)
Show what a strong answer includes
A strong answer would discuss her dreams, her relationships with her parents, how the beauty contest reflects ideas about race and beauty, and how Odimba uses her youthful perspective to engage the audience.
2. How does Odimba explore ideas about family in Princess & The Hustler? (30 marks + 4 marks for SPaG)
Show what a strong answer includes
A strong answer would examine Mavis's strength, Wendell's return and its impact, tensions between characters and moments of unity, linking family loyalty to the pressures of racism in 1960s Britain.
3. How does Odimba present ideas about resistance and pride? (30 marks + 4 marks for SPaG)
Show what a strong answer includes
A strong answer would link the Bristol Bus Boycott backdrop to characters' choices, analyse moments where characters stand up for themselves, and consider Odimba's message about dignity.
Princess & The Hustler FAQs
What does AQA GCSE English Literature Princess & The Hustler cover?
It covers the whole play, including Princess, Mavis and Wendell, and themes of family, race, identity, beauty and resistance in 1960s Bristol.
Which paper is Princess & The Hustler examined in?
It is examined in Paper 2, Section A, where you choose one of two essay questions with no extract, worth 30 marks plus 4 for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
How do I revise Princess & The Hustler?
Learn the sequence of scenes and how each character responds to Wendell's return, collect short quotations, and practise linking them to the Bristol Bus Boycott and 1960s racism.
