Which Shakespearean Play is This Quote From? Quiz

Answer: Hamlet

This is one of Hamlet's soliloquies in "Hamlet". It is found in the first scene of Act Three of the play.

Hamlet is contemplating killing himself. He has just learned his stepfather, Claudius, had murdered his father. He killed him to be able to marry Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, and become king gaining power.

Hamlet is deciding which is better, to die and be done with the grief or to live and avenge his father's death.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

In the second scene of Act 2 of "Romeo and Juliet", Juliet is on her balcony. Romeo is hidden underneath and overhears Juliet talking about him. He comes out from hiding and the two start talking and declare their love to one another.

They decide to go to the Friar and get married, and Romeo will return the next day. Juliet says to him, "Goodnight, goodnight, parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow." Sweet sorrow is an oxymoron, which is when two opposite words appear together as a term. She is saying that she doesn't want to say goodnight because she wants him to stay, but since he can't the sweetness of knowing she will see him tomorrow makes her able to let him leave.

Answer: Macbeth

"Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble" is found in the first scene of Act 4 of "Macbeth".

The three witches are working on a spell to vex Macbeth and keep his plans from coming to fruition. As they are naming the ingredients going into the cauldron they keep repeating the above quote.

Note: In theatrical circles, it is considered bad luck to say "Macbeth" so people often call it "The Scottish Play". This comes from the belief that the play itself is cursed because, when it was originally performed, real witches disapproved and put a curse on it. In the early 1600s when it was first performed, the actress playing Lady Macbeth suddenly died. Furthermore, in another performance, a real dagger was used instead of a prop and the actor playing King Duncan was killed.

Other things since then have happened with deaths, accidents, and narrow misses.

Answer: Twelfth Night

In "Twelfth Night," Duke Orsino starts the monologue by saying, "If music be the food of love, play on." It is found in Act I, scene 1. Orsino is in love with Olivia to the point of obsession. He is comparing music's effect on the emotions to the way food affects the physical body.

He hopes that an excess of food (meaning music) will cure him of this obsession. That is, he hopes to get so much love that he will no longer care about it.

Answer: Much Ado About Nothing

In Act 3, scene 2 of "Much Ado About Nothing", Hero says, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." She is explaining that different people fall in love by different means. Sometimes it is direct: "I love you." However, sometimes it is indirect, by others scheming to bring two people together, such as Hero and the others do with Beatrice and Benedick.

Answer: Hamlet

In Act II, scene 2 of "Hamlet", Hamlet gives this soliloquy, saying, "O what a rogue and peasant slave am I." Hamlet needs to avenge his father's death. He knows this, but he is having a hard time doing so. This is causing him to feel like a coward, and he is working through these feelings so that he can move forward with his plan.

Answer: Macbeth

Lady Macbeth said "What's done cannot be undone" in Act 3, Scene 2 of "Macbeth". She was saying that one can't think about what could have been done instead, because if you do that, it will drive you insane. She is specifically referring to Duncan's murder that she and Macbeth plotted. Ironically, she goes mad anyway, and the guilt drives her to suicide.

Answer: Much Ado About Nothing

In Act 5, scene 2 of "Much Ado About Nothing", Benedick is talking to Beatrice and asks her, "For which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?" He is asking her which of his bad qualities made her fall in love with him.

Beatrice tells him that it was all of those qualities together that made her fall in love. He then tells her that he fell in love, too, although he did not want to fall in love.

Benedick is using sarcasm here to note the change in their relationship. In the past, all they did was insult each other, now their sallies are in genuine affection.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

In Act 2, scene 2 (also known as "The Balcony Scene") Juliet says "O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon..."

She is referencing how the moon has many phases each month. So to swear by the moon would not mean much, as what you say might change as the moon changes. She wants his love to be real, and unconditional not changing.

In contrast, Romeo earlier compared Juliet to the sun, which is constant.

Answer: Much Ado About Nothing

In Act 1, scene 1 of "Much Ado About Nothing", Benedick tells Beatrice, "I would my horse had the speed of your tongue."

Benedick and Beatrice are arguing and Beatrice has just told him when he talks he doesn't say anything. He tells her this quote, meaning that he wishes his horse ran as fast as she talked. In other words, Beatrice talks too much, according to Benedick.

Answer: Twelfth Night

In Act 1, scene 5, Feste, the Fool, tells Maria, "Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage."

Maria has just told Feste (who is Olivia's jester), that he will be hanged because of how long he has been gone, which has upset Olivia.

Feste tells her, "Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage." That is, if a man is hanged (dead) he cannot enter into a terrible marriage, so death is in that case preferable to getting married.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

In Act 2, scene 3 of "Romeo and Juliet", Friar Lawrence tells Romeo, "Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall."

This is right after the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet. Romeo wants the Friar to help him and Juliet marry secretly since their families do not get along. The Friar warns Romeo not to "replace one girl for another", in hope of ending this feud between the Montagues and Capulets.

Romeo tells him he needs to rush off, which is when the Friar says his line which means don't rush into things; you might regret what happens.

Answer: Much Ado About Nothing

Benedick says this line in Act 2, scene 3 of "Much Ado About Nothing".

Benedick is talking to Don Pedro, Claudio, and Balthasar. The line is in reference to the power of music. The "sheep's guts" is a reference to the intestines of the animals which in Shakespearean times were used to make strings for instruments such as violins and harps.

"Hale souls out of men's bodies" is a hyperbole to say that music can stir humans deeply (to the soul).

Benedick is making a bit of a joke here, saying it is crazy that intestines can have such an emotional effect on people.

Answer: Macbeth

Macbeth says this line to Lady Macbeth in Act 1, scene 7 after they have decided to kill the king of Scotland.

He is warning his wife to act friendly to everyone (put on a false face) because that must hide that they are truly murderers (the false heart doth know).

Answer: Hamlet

In Act 2, Scene 2, Hamlet decides to have his stepfather, Claudius, see a play about fratricide. He believes the king will then feel guilty for murdering Hamlet's father. Hamlet says, "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

In the play within a play, King Priam is killed the same way Hamlet's father was murdered. Hamlet can then watch Claudius' reaction, and determine if he is indeed guilty, as Hamlet believes he is.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," is from Act II, Scene 2 of "Romeo and Juliet". Juliet speaks the line. Romeo and Juliet are discussing their love for each other in the famous balcony scene. Juliet is a Capulet, Romeo is a Montague, and the families are feuding.

She tells him that it's Romeo's name that is the problem; Romeo himself did nothing to be part of the feud.

Answer: Twelfth Night

Feste says, "Better a wise fool than a foolish wit," in Act I, scene 5. Feste is Olivia's fool, the court jester. While he does not have the social status of the others, he is very self-aware and also aware of everything going on with the others in the play.

His job is to be a fool, but he is very intelligent. Meanwhile, others by their status are expected to be intelligent but are only fools.

Answer: Hamlet

In Act III, scene 2, Queen Gertrude says the line, "The lady doth protest too much, me thinks." She is responding to the play within the play. The queen in the play within the play declares that if her husband were to die, she would never remarry. Hamlet asks his mother what he thinks of the play. This prompts Gertrude to say the line.

Gertrude thinks it is ridiculous to think any woman would be so faithful to her husband as to not find love again once he is passed.

Today, people use this quote to mean the person knows they are guilty, but protests hard that they are not.

Answer: Twelfth Night

In Act II, Scene 5 of "Twelfth Night" Malvolio says the line as he reads the letter from Olivia. He reads, "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." The letter is actually from Maria, who is playing a joke on Malvolio, making him think Olivia wrote it. Malvolio is one of Olivia's stewards. Maria wrote it to encourage Malvolio to do things he wouldn't normally do to achieve greatness. It causes him to also believe Olivia is in love with him.

Today, the quote is often used to say that anyone can become great.

Answer: Macbeth

Lady Macbeth says, "Out, damned spot! Out I say!" in Act V, Scene 1 of "Macbeth". She is sleepwalking due to her extreme guilt over helping in the murder of King Duncan. She is desperate to wash the blood off her hands, so to speak. The spots are the bloodstains, that is, the guilt.

She repeats, "Out I say!" showing her desperation to get rid of the guilt and torment she feels for what she had done. It is also when she first shows she is going mad.