Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Perhaps the most famous stage direction in Shakespeare, there is a wild and crazy moment from a later "problem play" that involves a man named Antigonus abandoning an infant in the wilderness of a foreign land. As punishment for his cooperation with the awful deed (ordered by the king), he leaves the scene - and play - with the epic "Exit, pursued by a bear" direction.
Which play?
2. This image, while it is also explained in words, is one that so fundamentally colors the scene that the protagonist is unable to do what he wants to do in the moment. The king, a murderer, is shaken by guilt and tries to pray for his sins, saying, "bow, stubborn knees" before the stage direction has him kneel. When his nephew, the title character, appears and tries to kill the king, he is unable to bring himself to kill a man on his knees in prayer.
What play features this critical moment?
3. In the final scene of one of Shakespeare's darkest tragedies, the title character (re)enters the scene carrying his youngest daughter Cordelia in his arms, dead, a stage direction that before a single word is said, sets the rest of the scene and play.
Which play?
4. In a tragedy of betrayal and jealousy, the title character is conned by his lieutenant to the point where he actually loses the ability to speak, uttering less and less coherent phrases until he "Falls in a trance". When Cassio enters upon the scene, the conniver tells him to leave, expressing false concern for his general.
Which play features this moment?
5. In one often-performed comedy, a character briefly walks offstage and re-enters with a donkey's head fixed on his own by a mischievous sprite. It's a wacky moment that results in the rest of his friends running offstage in a frenzy.
Which comedy is this?
6. In this bloody tragedy, the title character kills his friend Banquo, with whom he had heard a dangerous prophecy earlier in the play. At a banquet scene, Banquo's silent ghost appears to only his friend, resulting in a tense mad scene.
Which play is this?
7. In a particularly tense moment in a history play, a deposed titular king looks at his reflection in a mirror and is angered at how his face hasn't changed despite the misfortunes he has suffered. He "dashes the glass against the ground" which strikes the new king dumb and baffles everyone present.
Which play features this moment?
8. In a passionate, intense moment from a very violent tragedy, a man kneels and begs a line of passing tribunes to save his two wrongly condemned sons Martius and Quintus from death. In an action that is as harsh as any words, the tribunes pass by silently, to the point where he compares them to the stones that he kneels on.
Which tragedy brings us this moment?
9. In one wild and crazy comedy, the final scene culminates with the heroine being beset on all fronts: Toby and Andrew think she has fought with them and hurt them (she hasn't), her lord Orsino thinks she betrayed him (she didn't), and the Countess Olivia thinks she betrayed her (she didn't). When the heroine's twin brother shows up, frantic and a bit confused as well, the entire party is struck dumb as they realize that two people in town look exactly the same, and it's time to do some serious untangling!
Which play does this moment come from?
10. In a stately Roman tragedy, a man eulogizes his recently-murdered friend. He pulls the man's cloak off to reveal his wounds, and before he even uses his silver tongue to win the people, the image proves to be as powerful a word as any he says. The citizenry rebels to fight the group of conspirators who had killed the man.
Which play has this moment?
Source: Author
merylfederman
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
looney_tunes before going online.
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