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General Shakespeare Trivia Quiz

This is a quiz on Shakespeare: sonnets, poems, plays, quotes and the man himself. I hope it's not too hard.

A multiple-choice quiz by meals. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
meals

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
69,953

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
25

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
13 / 25

Plays
1410

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 25

1. In which year was Shakespeare born? Hint

1564

1546

1592

1576

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Question 2 of 25

2. Whose hands are a 'sorry sight'? Hint

Macbeth's

Romeo's

Hamlet's

Lear's

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Question 3 of 25

3. From which play is the phrase 'the whirligig of time'? Hint

Twelfth Night

The Winter's Tale

Romeo and Juliet

Macbeth

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Question 4 of 25

4. Who 'hath eaten me out of house and home' (said by the character's hostess)?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 5 of 25

5. Which of the following phrases was really coined by Shakespeare? Hint

It's all Greek to me

O brave new world!

All that glisters is not gold

Mine own flesh and blood

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Question 6 of 25

6. Which of the following words was not coined by Shakespeare? Hint

Scrimer

Doxy

Bedabble

Assassination

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Question 7 of 25

7. Name the play this quote is from: 'He that is giddy thinks the world turns round'. Hint

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Taming of the Shrew

The Tempest

Romeo and Juliet

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Question 8 of 25

8. What was the name of Shakespeare's one son?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 9 of 25

9. Which one of the following was not a character in 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'? Hint

Valentine

Thurio

Silvia

Regan

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Question 10 of 25

10. Which famous woman has lines in 'Henry VI, Part One'? Hint

Joan of Arc

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Catherine of Valois

Anne Hathaway

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Question 11 of 25

11. What is the name of the duke in 'The Comedy of Errors'? Hint

Duke Egeon

Duke Solinus

Duke Antipholus

Never made clear

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Question 12 of 25

12. In which church was Juliet going to marry Paris? Hint

St. Paul's

St. Abbondio

The Holy Trinity Church

St. Peter's

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Question 13 of 25

13. Where lies the scene of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'? Hint

Sussex

Rome

Athens, or thereabouts

Verona, or thereabouts

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Question 14 of 25

14. Which historical document did Shakespeare leave out of 'King John' completely that should have been left in? Hint

The Domesday Book

The Magna Carta

The Declaration of Independence

Huh? He put it in!

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Question 15 of 25

15. Where does Portia live in 'The Merchant of Venice'?

Answer: (One Word)

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Question 16 of 25

16. Which Shakespearean character has a 'lean and hungry look'? Hint

Caesar, from Julius Caesar

Hamlet, from Hamlet

Cassius, from Julius Caesar

Claudius, from Hamlet

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Question 17 of 25

17. What is the name of the rather tyrannical ruler of Vienna in 'Measure for Measure'? Hint

Claudio

Lucio

Escalus

Angelo

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Question 18 of 25

18. How did Cordelia die in 'King Lear'? Hint

Suffocated

Tortured

Beheaded

Hanged

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Question 19 of 25

19. Who was not part of the triumvirate at the beginning of 'Antony and Cleopatra'? Hint

Mark Antony

Julius Caesar

Octavius

Lepidus

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Question 20 of 25

20. What's the problem with a shipwreck in Bohemia in 'The Winter's Tale'? Hint

Boats were outlawed in the 1500s

Bohemia's shores were all sloping beaches where ships would run aground but not wreck

Bohemian boats were so well built, they were never wrecked

Bohemia is landlocked

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Question 21 of 25

21. Who is the first character to die in 'The Winter's Tale'? Hint

Camillo

Antigonus

Hermione

Mamillus

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Question 22 of 25

22. Which two characters seriously consider murdering the king in his sleep in 'The Tempest'? Hint

Sebastian and Antonio

Ferdinand and Sebastian

Antonio and Gonzalo

Antonio and Alonso

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Question 23 of 25

23. Did Shakespeare write his own epitaph?

Yes

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Question 24 of 25

24. Name the play that this quote comes from: 'All the world's a stage'. Hint

All's Well That Ends Well

Twelfth Night

Much Ado About Nothing

As You Like It

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Question 25 of 25

25. We'll end with another question about the man: in what year did Shakespeare marry? Hint

1580

1582

1585

1567

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In which year was Shakespeare born?

Answer: 1564

Shakespeare was born on April 23rd, 1564, in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxfordshire, England, to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, and was baptized in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford on the 25th.

2. Whose hands are a 'sorry sight'?

Answer: Macbeth's

Macbeth has just killed Duncan, and he's more than a little guilty about it. His hands are covered with blood and gore.

3. From which play is the phrase 'the whirligig of time'?

Answer: Twelfth Night

Feste, the only character who seems to have any sense in Twelfth Night, says this shortly before the play ends.

4. Who 'hath eaten me out of house and home' (said by the character's hostess)?

Answer: Falstaff

Falstaff is a character in 'Henry IV', 'Henry V', and 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. This is a quote from 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', which was supposedly written because Queen Elizabeth I wanted to see Falstaff in love (and her word is Shakespeare's command).

5. Which of the following phrases was really coined by Shakespeare?

Answer: O brave new world!

A lot of sayings are misattributed to Shakespeare. 'It's all Greek to me' is in 'Julius Caesar', was actually coined by George Gascoigne in 'Supposes'. The phrase 'All that glisters is not gold' is a line in 'The Merchant of Venice', but if you've read your Chaucer, there's a line in 'Canterbury Tales' that's very like it. 'Mine own flesh and blood' is from the same play as above, but it can be traced to 1565 at least.

6. Which of the following words was not coined by Shakespeare?

Answer: Doxy

Yes, believe it or not, Shakespeare coined the word 'bedabble'. A scrimer is a fencer.

7. Name the play this quote is from: 'He that is giddy thinks the world turns round'.

Answer: The Taming of the Shrew

Act five, scene two.

8. What was the name of Shakespeare's one son?

Answer: Hamnet

Hamnet and his twin, Judith, were Shakespeare's second and third children, after Susanna. Hamnet died at age eleven in 1596.

9. Which one of the following was not a character in 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'?

Answer: Regan

10. Which famous woman has lines in 'Henry VI, Part One'?

Answer: Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. The other two women, Catherine of Valois and Eleanor of Aquitaine, are both at least mentioned in Shakespeare (Eleanor doesn't have a speaking part). Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife.

11. What is the name of the duke in 'The Comedy of Errors'?

Answer: Duke Solinus

His name is in the 'Dramatis Personae', and again, in the first line of the play (spoken by the unfortunate Egeon): 'Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall'.

12. In which church was Juliet going to marry Paris?

Answer: St. Peter's

This is mentioned by Capulet, Juliet's father. He says that she'll marry Paris if he has to 'drag her on a hurdle hither'. To put it mildly, he's not pleased.

13. Where lies the scene of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?

Answer: Athens, or thereabouts

14. Which historical document did Shakespeare leave out of 'King John' completely that should have been left in?

Answer: The Magna Carta

This should be easy. John was forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede, which gave the barons a heck of a lot more power. Shakespeare left this out of his play, 'King John'.

15. Where does Portia live in 'The Merchant of Venice'?

Answer: Belmont

16. Which Shakespearean character has a 'lean and hungry look'?

Answer: Cassius, from Julius Caesar

Caesar quite aptly remarks, 'He has a lean and hungry look...I like it not. Such men are dangerous.' Now if only he would pay as much attention to his wife, Calpurnia!

17. What is the name of the rather tyrannical ruler of Vienna in 'Measure for Measure'?

Answer: Angelo

18. How did Cordelia die in 'King Lear'?

Answer: Hanged

This was probably what prompted Lear's own death. It's rather pitiful. Edmund had Cordelia hanged in prison.

19. Who was not part of the triumvirate at the beginning of 'Antony and Cleopatra'?

Answer: Julius Caesar

If you guessed Caesar, you need to go forward a triumvirate. Caesar was part of a triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus, but they were dead by this time.

20. What's the problem with a shipwreck in Bohemia in 'The Winter's Tale'?

Answer: Bohemia is landlocked

Guess Shakespeare didn't think his geography through!

Actually, it really depends on what you mean by "Bohemia" and what historical period you are talking about - on the whole, though, Bohemia has not had a coast.

21. Who is the first character to die in 'The Winter's Tale'?

Answer: Mamillus

Mamillus, son of Hermione and Leontes, dies of sadness at Hermione's treatment when she's suspected of having an affair with Polixenes.

22. Which two characters seriously consider murdering the king in his sleep in 'The Tempest'?

Answer: Sebastian and Antonio

Both the names Antonio and Sebastian were used in the play 'Twelfth Night' a decade earlier.

23. Did Shakespeare write his own epitaph?

Answer: Yes

It's this: 'Blest be the man who spares these {stones;} curst be he that moves my bones'. Some people speculate that more plays may be hidden in the grave, but nobody's braved that curse to dig him up!

24. Name the play that this quote comes from: 'All the world's a stage'.

Answer: As You Like It

25. We'll end with another question about the man: in what year did Shakespeare marry?

Answer: 1582

Source: Author meals

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