Eminently Quotable Hamlet Quiz | Shakespeare

Eminently Quotable Hamlet Trivia Quiz

Hamlet must have had too many cups of mead at the Wedding feast and has forgotten his lines. Can you find the missing word at the end of these famous quotations?

A multiple-choice quiz by MadBee. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. 'Frailty, thy name is _____.'

Answer: Woman

Act 1, scene 2. Hamlet is lamenting the fact that his Mother has married his Uncle in such haste, seeing it as a sign of moral weakness.

2. 'To sleep, perchance to _____?'

Answer: Dream

Act 3, scene 1. This is of course from the 'To be, or not to be...' soliloquy - probably the best known of all of Shakespeare's speeches. Hamlet is contemplating death and wondering if it is a kind of sleep - but if so, are there dreams in the afterlife?

3. 'A King of shreds and ______.'

Answer: Patches

Act 3, scene 4. Hamlet is trying to convince Gertrude that her husband Claudius is a murderer and usurper. The 'Shreds and Patches' do not literally describe Claudius' clothes, but the state of his soul - a metaphor of his moral poverty.

4. 'Alas poor Yorick! I knew him, _______.'

Answer: Horatio

Act 5, scene 1. Another frequently quoted (and misquoted) line from Hamlet. Hamlet, holding the skull of the former Court Jester, reminisces to Horatio about his fondness for the fellow, '...a man of infinite jest'

5. 'I must be cruel only to be ____.'

Answer: Kind

Act 3, scene 4. Hamlet, after ranting at his Mother (again), drops a hint as to his motivation; he is suggesting that he is being cruel only to get at the truth behind his Father's death, and thus save Gertrude from her terrible mistake.

6. 'How all occasions do inform against me, and spur my dull ______!'

Answer: Revenge

Act 4, scene 4. Hamlet realises that he has been dithering in his purpose - to avenge the death of his Father.

7. 'There is special providence in the fall of a _______.'

Answer: Sparrow

Act 5, scene 2. Hamlet is paraphrasing St. Matthew's Gospel and the story of two sparrows sold for a farthing (King James version). He means that God is with him in all that he does and will save his soul, if not his life.

8. 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your _________.'

Answer: Philosophy

Act 1, scene 5. Horatio is having a hard time believing that Hamlet has seen the ghost of the late King. Hamlet suggests that Horatio needs to look beyond is own education.

9. 'O villain, villain, smiling damned _______!'

Answer: Villain

Act 1, scene 5. The ghost of Hamlet's father has just revealed the truth behind his death, to Hamlet's great distress and anger.

10. 'I am mad but north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a Hawk from a _______.'

Answer: Handsaw

Act 2, scene 2. One of the great debates around Hamlet is whether Hamlet is actually mad, or feigning insanity for his own ends. He claims that it is the latter, but he does have moments of hysteria and illogic, so the debate is sure to rage on.

Source: Author MadBee

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LadyCaitriona before going online.
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Eminently Quotable Hamlet Trivia Quiz

Hamlet must have had too many cups of mead at the Wedding feast and has forgotten his lines. Can you find the missing word at the end of these famous quotations?

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