All For Your D-light Trivia Quiz

Answer: As You Like It

Before the action of the play, Duke Senior has been displaced from his rightful Dukedom by his younger brother, Duke Frederick, and is living in exile in the Forest of Arden. Oddly, he is never given a name, but is simply identified as the "senior" of the two Dukes. Far from being bitter about being usurped and exiled, he appears to relish his new life, where he is still surrounded by his courtiers and all the trappings of Duke-hood, without any of the tedious responsibilities that normally go with it.

He is the father of the play's heroine, Rosalind, although for most of the play he fails to recognise her as she is dressed as a boy. In the final act, his brother suddenly repents of his misdeeds and restores Duke Senior to his rightful position.

Answer: Measure For Measure

At the start of "Measure for Measure", the Duke of Vienna leaves the city in the hands of his deputy, Angelo, who is notoriously upright and strict. The Duke's reason for doing this is to see whether Angelo's character is corrupted when put in a position of real power.

The Duke disguises himself as a monk, Friar Lodowick, so he can observe matters in secret. During the play, he observes how Angelo betrays his trust, most notably by seeking to sleep with the pious nun Isabella, in return for saving her brother from execution.

The Duke conspires with Isabella to save her brother and returns in his real persona at the end of the play to expose Angelo's hypocrisy.

Answer: The Comedy of Errors

In "The Comedy of Errors", Dromio of Syracuse is the servant of Antipholus of Syracuse. Each of them has a twin brother from whom they were separated as babies during a shipwreck. To add to the confusion, the missing twins are also called Dromio and Antipholus, and are now living as master and servant in Ephesus.

At the start of the play, the Syracusan couple arrive in Ephesus to look for their long-lost brothers. Needless to say, having two pairs of identical twins being mistaken for each other causes endless comic confusion, before everything is sorted out in the final scene.

Answer: Henry IV Part 2

Doll Tearsheet is a prostitute who plies her trade at the Boar's Head Tavern, which is owned by her friend Mistress Quickly. The disreputable knight, Sir John Falstaff, appears to be fond of her, although they frequently exchange lewd insults back and forth.

In a significant little scene, Falstaff describes Prince Hal to Doll in an unflattering way, not knowing that Hal is listening, and then excuses himself by saying he didn't want to speak well of Hal to a prostitute. Towards the end of the play, she and Mistress Quickly are arrested for being involved in a street brawl.

Answer: Much Ado About Nothing

Dogberry is the leader of the "watch" (an unofficial police force), whose antics form the characteristic "low comedy" element in "Much Ado About Nothing". His defining comic characteristic is his confident misuse of long words, otherwise known as "malapropisms" after Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's 1775 play "The Rivals".

He and the watch play a key role in the play, when they overhear the characters Borachio and Conrade discussing how Claudio was deceived into thinking his wife-to-be Hero had betrayed him by sleeping with Borachio.

Although Dogberry and the watch misunderstand the meaning of what they hear, they nevertheless arrest the conspirators, enabling the plot to be discovered and the play to end happily.

Answer: Macbeth

At the start of the play, Duncan is the king of Scotland and Macbeth is one of his most trusted and successful generals. Unfortunately, Macbeth is told by three "weird sisters" that he will become king himself. To ensure the prophesy is fulfilled, Macbeth and his wife conspire to murder Duncan when he is staying in their castle at Glamis. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, come under suspicion and flee for their lives, while Macbeth is crowned king. Needless to say, Macbeth's plans soon start to come unravelled.

Answer: All's Well That Ends Well

Diana is a young woman of Florence with whom the play's "hero", Bertram, is in love. However, Bertram has already been forced against his will to marry Helena but has refused to accept her until she bears his child and possesses a ring which he wears. Fortunately, this impasse is solved when Diana allows Helena to take her place in bed with Bertram (the famous "bed trick" used in several other plays of this period), and also obtains Bertram's ring and gives it to Helena.

When presented with this fait accompli, Bertram rather precipitously accepts Helena as his wife and promises to love her.

Answer: Othello

Desdemona is the young wife of the Moorish General, Othello, who before the action of the play has eloped with him against the wishes of her father, Brabantio. Although Othello loves his wife dearly, he is deluded by the villainous Iago into believing that she has committed adultery with his lieutenant, Cassio. Eventually he is driven almost insane with jealousy and grief and kills the innocent Desdemona by smothering her with a pillow. On realising he has been deceived, he then kills himself.

Answer: A Midsummer Night's Dream

In "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Demetrius is a young man who is in love with Hermia. Although Hermia's father, Egeus, favours this match, Hermia herself is in love with another youth named Lysander. Meanwhile, Hermia's friend Helena suffers from an unrequited love for Demetrius. Things get even more complicated once a love potion is accidentally administered first to Lysander, making him fall in love with Helena, and then to Demetrius, making him fall in love with Helena.

Much comic business ensues, before the obligatory happy ending, with Lysander marrying Hermia and Demetrius marrying Helena.

Answer: Henry V

The Dauphin, whose full name was Louis Duke of Guyenne, was the son of King Charles VI and heir to the French throne. At the start of Shakespeare's play, he sends the young English king an insulting gift of a set of tennis balls, implying that Henry is immature and better suited to games than warfare. Stung by this insult, Henry declares his intention of invading France to claim the throne. Following Henry's victory at the Siege of Harfleur, the Dauphin joins the French army at Agincourt. Shakespeare neatly compares the Dauphin's immature self-confidence with Henry's moral uncertainties and concern for his troops.

Henry's resounding victory leaves him defeated and disinherited, with the English king installed as Charles VI's heir under the subsequent peace treaty.