Which scholar states that Dido is certainly a victim of circumstances and the gods?

• A. Damien Nelis - Characterisation of Dido
• B. Ian Du Quesnay - Characterisation of Dido
• C. Philip Hardie - Modern audience and Dido
• D. Bob Cowan - Aeneas and Augustan values

Answer: (B)

The statement tests how readers interpret Dido’s power and responsibility in the narrative. Ian Du Quesnay’s analysis of Dido’s character argues that she is a victim of forces beyond her control—the gods and the epic’s larger design. He shows how the plot orchestrates her tragedy through divine interference and fate: Venus quietly guiding Aeneas toward Carthage, Jupiter and Juno shaping the broader course of events, and Aeneas himself moving under a destined plan that he cannot fully resist. In this view, Dido’s feelings, decisions, and her response to loss are real, but they are placed inside a framework crafted by the gods’ ambitions for Rome, which frames her downfall as a consequence of divine will as much as of personal error. That emphasis on the gods and fate as the decisive shapers of Dido’s fate is what makes this interpretation stand out.

Other scholars approach Dido from different angles—one focusing on the psychological portrayal of her character, another on how modern audiences read her, and another on political values tied to Aeneas. While those perspectives offer valuable insights, they don’t foreground the idea that Dido’s fate is primarily governed by divine forces and circumstantial compulsion in the same way Du Quesnay does.