He Said...She Said Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ophelia

In III. 3., Laertes suggests to Ophelia that Hamlet may have less than honorable intentions toward her and admonishes her to behave. Ophelia's response, in effect, tells her brother to tend to his own affairs:
"...But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whiles [like] a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And reaks not his own rede." {And heeds not his own advice.}
III. 3. 46-51. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 1147.]

Answer: Macduff

When Rosse informs Macduff that his wife and children have been slaughtered at the order of Macbeth, Macduff, stunned, responds: "What, all my pretty chickens and their dam, / At one fell swoop?"
IV. 3. 218-19. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 1334.]

Answer: Grumio

In the first forty lines of IV. 1., Grumio and Curtis bandy back and forth with terms expressing "cold" (e.g., "ice" and "frost") and "hot" (e.g., "fire" and "warm"). Grumio orders Curtis to make a fire or suffer the wrath of Katherine herself: "But wilt thou make a fire, or shall I complain on thee to our mistress whose hand (she now being at hand) thou shalt soon feel, to thy cold comfort, for being slow in thy hot office?"
IV. 1. 28-32. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 128.]

Answer: Cleopatra

In I. 5., Cleopatra extols the virtues of Antony to her maid Charmian. Charmian teases her about how enamored Cleopatra was with Julius Caesar a few years earlier and suggests that Caesar was the better man. Cleopatra insists that Antony is far superior and blames her attraction to Caesar on mere youthful infatuation: "My salad days / When I was green in judgement, cold in blood, / To say, as I said then."
I. 5. 73-75. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974. p. 1354.]

Answer: Mowbray

Mowbray and Bullingbrook appear before Richard II, accuse each other of treason, and go through the formal ritual for a duel. Although Richard pro-forma asks both to reconsider, neither one does. In his reply to the King, Mowbrey states:
"The purest treasure mortal times afford,
Is spotless reputation; that away,
Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.
....
Mine honor is my life, both grow in one,
Take honor from me, and my life is done."
I. 1. 177-83. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 807.]

Answer: Antonio

Leonardo, father of Hero, and his brother Antonio are discussing how Claudio ill-treated Hero when he accused her of being unchaste. Claudio and Don Pedro enter, and Don Pedro seeks to avoid a quarrel, telling them "Nay, do not quarrel with us, good old men." Antonio responds: "If he [Claudio] could right himself without quarreling, / Some of us would lie low."
V. 1. 50-52. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 356.]

Answer: Pistol

In IV. 1., Henry has disguised himself so he can assess the mood of his troops before the battle of Agincourt. The first person he meets is Pistol, who asks Henry who he is. The King replies that he is a gentleman and asks Pistol who he is. The dialogue continues:
"Pistol: As good a gentleman as the Emperor
Henry: Then you are better than the King.
Pistol: The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold
A lad of life, an imp of fame,
Of parents good, of fist most valiant."
IV. 1. 42-47. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 956.]

Answer: Pisano

Because Jacimo dupes him into believing that his wife Imogen has been unfaithful, Posthumus Leonatus sends a letter to his servant Pisano, ordering him to kill Imogen. Loathe to murder Imogen, Pisano explains the plot to her. She protests her innocence and tells Pisano to go ahead and kill her. He refuses, stating:
"O gracious lady / Sine I receiv'd command to do this business / I have not slept one wink." To protect her, he helps Imogen disguise herself as a man, Fidele.
III. 4. 98-100. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 1540.]

Answer: Jessica

Jessica, Shylock's Jewish daughter, and Lorenzo, a Christian, have fallen deeply in love and plan to elope. On the night of their departure, Jessica disguises herself as a male, tosses Lorenzo a casket of Shylock's gold, and tells her lover:
"I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me,
For I am much asham'd of my exchange.
For love is blind, and lovers cannot see,
The pretty follies that themselves commit,
For if they could, Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformed to a boy."
II. 6. 34-39. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 264.]

Answer: Antipholus of Ephesus

"The Comedy of Errors" depends upon two sets of identical twins, one set each named Antipholus and the other each called Dromo (servant to Antipholus). In III. 1., Antipholus of Ephesus is denied entrance into his own house by Dromo, servant to Antiphous of Syracuse. Baffled, Antipholus of Ephesus comments to his Dromo, "There is something in the wind, that we cannot get in."
III. 1. 69. ["Riverside Shakespeare", 1974, p. 91.]