Bleeding Off the Page Quiz | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" Lady Macbeth asks, trying to clean her hands of the metaphorical blood of this man whose death she masterminded in an attempt to help her husband's career. Who is the man that Lady Macbeth convinced her husband to kill in "Macbeth"?

Answer: King Duncan

After hearing it was foretold that her husband would be king, Lady Macbeth did everything in her power to make that happen, including developing a plan to kill King Duncan so Macbeth could take the throne. Eventually, the guilt of what she had done drove Lady Macbeth to commit suicide.

2. "Romeo & Juliet" may be considered by many to be the greatest love story of all time, but their short time together as husband and wife was not entirely full of bliss. In Act III, the new bride despairs that her husband has spilled her cousin's blood in the streets. What was the name of Juliet's cousin who was killed by Romeo?

Answer: Tybalt

Tybalt doesn't know that Romeo and Juliet have married, so when Romeo declines to duel, Tybalt tries to goad him into a fight. In the process, Tybalt kills Romeo's best friend, Mercutio. To avenge his death, Romeo kills Tybalt and is sent into exile.

3. "Double, double toil and trouble..." Macbeth visits the three witches to see what they can tell him about his fate. The witches brew a concoction with dozens of ingredients including the blood of which primate?

Answer: Baboon

Brr...Shakespeare must have envisioned frozen baboons because the second witch explains that the baboon blood is used to cool the brew. Macbeth visits the three witches two times. The first time he is told that he will become king, setting into motion the regicide that dominates the early parts of the play. On the second visit, Macbeth is warned of threats to his reign. Misunderstanding the warnings, Macbeth attempts to prevent these threats but fails, and he instead becomes the cause of his own demise.

4. In "The Merchant of Venice", Shylock lent money to Bassanio using this unusual item for collateral. When he defaults on the loan, the courts determine that Shylock is entitled to collect what is owed him, but he cannot spill one drop of blood. What did Shylock seek to collect?

Answer: A pound of flesh

Bassanio needed money to woo Portia, the woman of his dreams. Because he is unable to secure a loan on his own, Bassanio's wealthy friend Antonio agrees to be a signatory on the loan. However, Shylock insists that a pound of Antonio's flesh be put up as collateral. Shylock goes to court demanding that he receive payment, even after being offered three times the sum of the loan.

5. Et tu? Julius Caesar's blood rains down on the Capitol steps. Dozens of Roman senators had a hand in his death, but one cut was the unkindest of all. What is the name of Caesar's friend who stabbed him out of fear that he would become a dictator?

Answer: Brutus

The honorable Brutus agrees to help the senators kill Caesar after he is convinced that Caesar is trying to turn Rome into a monarchy. The death of Caesar leads to a bloody war between the senators and Caesar's nephew, Octavius. In the end, Brutus kills himself after losing in battle, but is still seen as the "noblest Roman of them all" for making such a sacrifice for the good of Rome.

6. Titus Andronicus is probably Shakespeare's most graphically violent play. At one point, Titus murders Chiron and Demetrius, filling a basin with their blood. What spirits were Chiron and Demetrius dressed as at the time of their deaths?

Answer: Rape and Murder

Tamora, Chiron and Demetrius hope that Titus can help stave off an attack on Rome. To convince him to help, they go to him dressed as the spirits of Revenge, Rape and Murder. Titus recognizes them in spite of their costumes as the men who raped his daughter, so he kills Chiron and Demetrius and has them baked into pies to be served to their mother at a feast.

7. In one of his many soliloquies, Hamlet proclaims that he is so angry over the murder of this relative that "[he] could drink hot blood." Which relative of Hamlet's was murdered and visits him in ghost form asking to be avenged?

Answer: Father

King Hamlet was killed by his brother, Claudius, who then takes his crown and marries his widow. Hamlet, unsure of whether to believe the ghost of his father, stages a play about a murder designed to reveal the truth. The play ends with Claudius, Hamlet and Hamlet's mother all dead.

8. "Othello" comes to a bloody end when the title character kills his wife, believing that she has been unfaithful, and later kills himself. Who planted the handkerchief that tricks Othello into believing Desdemona has cheated on him?

Answer: Iago

Iago hates Othello because he believes that he had an affair with his wife and for promoting a younger man. So, Iago devises a plan and, knowing that Othello gave Desdemona a handkerchief as a sign of his love, Iago convinces his wife to take the handkerchief.

He plants the handkerchief in the room of his rival, Cassio, who he believes was undeservedly promoted above him and makes Othello believe the two are having an affair. Othello then makes Desdemona's life miserable before eventually smothering her while she sleeps. Realizing her innocence, Othello kills himself with a dagger before he can be arrested.

9. In the play "King Lear", the titular character has no legitimate male heirs and decides to split up the kingdom between his three daughters. King Lear sees that one of his daughters would do anything to get the throne and calls her "a boil, a plague-sore or embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood." What is the name of this villainous daughter who kills her sister and later herself?

Answer: Goneril

Lear's oldest daughter, Goneril gives new meaning to sibling rivalry. After her husband rejects her cruel treatment of her father, Goneril falls in love with Edmund. When her sister, Regan, declares that she will marry Edmund, Goneril poisons her sister. Edmund then becomes mortally wounded in a duel with Goneril's husband who had exposed their intrigues, and Goneril goes off stage to kill herself.

10. Let's lighten things up by ending with a Shakespearean comedy. In "As You Like It", Rosalind may dress like a man, but that doesn't stop her from fainting at the sight of her beloved's blood. Whose blood does Rosalind see on a handkerchief that causes her to swoon in concern?

Answer: Orlando

Orlando is injured rescuing his brother, Oliver, from a lion. Oliver recounts the story, showing the bloody handkerchief to explain why Orlando is late to meet with Rosalind. But, all's well that ends well, Orlando recovers and marries Rosalind at the end of the play.

Source: Author jashed

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Bleeding Off the Page Trivia Quiz

This quiz contains questions relating to blood from many of Shakespeare's plays.

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