Shakespeare in a Few More Words Quiz

Answer: Macbeth

The women are, of course, the three witches who tell Macbeth he is destined to become king of Scotland. When his wife hears of this prediction, and the couple find out that King Duncan is due to visit them, they hatch a plan to murder him and for Macbeth to seize the throne. The plan succeeds in that Macbeth does become king, but Lady Macbeth cannot cope with her guilt and becomes deranged. Macbeth, meanwhile, embarks on a murderous campaign to eliminate anyone who might threaten his throne.

Eventually, Macbeth himself dies at the hands of Macduff, whose wife and children have been murdered on Macbeth's orders with King Duncan's son, Malcolm, installed as the new monarch.

Among famous quotations from Macbeth are, 'By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes', spoken by one of the witches, and 'Out, damned spot'. spoken by Lady Macbeth.

Answer: Timon of Athens

Timon begins the play as a rich man, who arranges regular feasts for his friends (who turn out to be the fair weather variety) and continues to distribute his wealth despite the warnings of his steward (Flavius) and one true friend (Apemantus). The money runs out but Timon's requests for help from those he had wined and dined lavishly in the past fall on deaf ears.

Timon becomes embittered and close to insanity, living in a cave and surviving on roots he digs up. This enables him to find a cache of hidden gold, which he realises will enable him to obtain revenge on those who turned their backs on them. Timon offers the money to Alcibiades, a general who intends to attack Athens for the state's mistreatment of him, to gain his revenge. He then dies while Alcibiades takes the city and restores Timon's name.

This lesser known play does not have as many famous lines as some, but 'We have seen better days' is part of Flavius' lines as well as appearing in other Shakespeare plays. The bitter Timon also says, 'Commend me to my loving countrymen'.

Answer: Julius Caesar

Early in the play Julius Caesar is warned to 'Beware the Ides of March' by a character listed as 'soothsayer'. Caesar has returned to Rome after a series of military conflicts and is revered by the populace as a result. Worried that he will take advantage of this by becoming a dictator, and despite Caesar refusing to accept the role of king, conspirators hatch a plan to kill him. Among those plotting are Casca, Cassius and Brutus, with the latter tricked into joining them.

Ignoring the soothsayer and his wife's misgivings (from dreams she has had) Caesar goes to the Senate on 15th March, and is stabbed to death. The conspirators are forced to flee when Mark Antony's funeral oration rouses the crowd and both Brutus and Cassius die.

Finding just two quotations from the play to leave you with is difficult, but I'll offer you 'Et tu, Brute?', uttered by Caesar when he realises his closest friend is among the assassins. Mark Antony's 'the evil that men do lives after them' is also well known.

Answer: Much Ado About Nothing

Set in Messina, the play depicts Claudio falling in love with Hero, before being deceived into believing she has been seeing another man. The more interesting plot involves Hero's cousin, Beatrice, who has vowed never to wed, and Benedick, who is equally averse to marriage. Benedick and Beatrice exchange witty repartee throughout the play with Beatrice seeing him in a different light when he proves Hero's innocence. Claudio and Hero are reconciled and Benedick and Beatrice also exchange marriage vows.

Benedick manages to excuse his change of heart with this quotation: 'When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married'.

Answer: Antony and Cleopatra

Mark Antony had already appeared in 'Julius Caesar' and is now a member of the triumvirate governing Rome, along with Lepidus and Octavius Caesar. Mark Antony has been living in Egypt as he is in charge of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, and has fallen in love with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Having been called back to Rome, Antony is persuaded into a marriage of political convenience with Octavia, sister of Octavius.

War breaks out with Octavius on one side and Antony, along with Cleopatra, on the other.. Things go badly wrong for the couple and Mark Antony commits suicide by falling on his sword while Cleopatra, famously, uses venomous snakes to end her life.

There are plenty of well known lines from this play, among them 'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety' and Cleopatra talking of her 'salad days'.

Answer: As You Like It

The play involves brotherly rivalry and another Shakespeare favourite - a woman pretending to be a boy to gain the affection of the man she loves. Duke Frederick has deposed his brother, Duke Senior, who has taken refuge in the Forest of Arden. Two other brothers, Oliver and Orlando, argue and Orlando departs to the same forest. Rosalind, daughter of Duke Senior is banished by her uncle and takes her cousin, Celia, with her - naturally, to the Forest of Arden. Rosalind, dressed as a boy named Ganymede, convinces Orlando to woo her as if she were Rosalind (which, of course she is). Oliver, sent to find Orlando, meets Celia, going by the name of Aliena, and they promptly fall in love.

Eventually matters are resolved - Rosalind marries Orlando, Celia marries Oliver and two other marriages take place involving more minor characters. Duke Frederick becomes a hermit, so Duke Senior can return home too.

The best known lines from the play are spoken by Jaques, one of the noblemen in Duke Senior's retinue who wisely stays away from the confused action. He's the character who tells us, 'All the world's a stage; And all the men and women merely players'.

Answer: Henry V

During the two plays devoted to Henry IV, Prince Hal is depicted as a lightweight spending most of his time in taverns with the likes of Sir John Falstaff. Having succeeded to the throne, Henry becomes more serious and is incensed by a gift of tennis balls sent by the French Dauphin - the gift is interpreted as saying 'go away and play, little boy'. Henry stakes his claim to the throne of France and wins battles at Harfleur and, historically significant, at Agincourt.

Henry marries Catherine, daughter of France's king, as part of the peace agreement. The play ends with the chorus telling the audience that Henry is not destined for a long life.

Spoilt for choice in picking quotations, I'll give you 'The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' and 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers' as being among the memorable lines Shakespeare put into the mouth of the king.

Answer: Coriolanus

The play begins by depicting Caius Martius as an arrogant and disdainful army general with no regard for the ordinary people of Rome. The city state is under threat from the Volscians, who are defeated in their home city of Corioli, with Caius Martius being the man to achieve the victory and earning himself the new name of Coriolanus. As a reward, he is offered the role of consul but has to address the populace to obtain support - something his pride makes difficult.

Coriolanus fails to win them over and leaves Rome an embittered and angry man. He joins forces with a former enemy to attack Rome, but is dissuaded by a delegation led by his mother, Volumnia. His new ally is enraged by this and kills Coriolanus for the betrayal.

There aren't any widely known lines from the play, but this will give you a flavour of Coriolanus's arrogance in describing those he considers beneath him - 'You common cry of curs! Whose breath I hate; As reek o' th' rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of unburied men'. No wonder they didn't support him!

Answer: The Comedy of Errors

A storm at sea 23 years before the play starts had separated identical twins Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse and their identical slaves, both named Dromio with Ephesus and Syracuse to match them with their masters. Master and slave from Ephesus arrive in Syracuse where their respective twins have been living since being saved from drowning by fishermen. As the title implies, this leads to multiple instances of each twin being mistaken for the other.

Eventually all is resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

I haven't been able to find any well known quotations from this play, but Shakespeare does borrow from Chaucer when Dromio of Syracuse speaks these lines: 'Marry, he must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil'.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

The feud between the Montagues (Romeo's family) and the Capulets (Juliet's) means that a romance between the pair is doomed from the start. Matters are made worse when Romeo kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, wile trying to prevent a fight and is banished. The lovers manage to marry, with the aid of Juliet's nurse, and Friar Laurence comes up with a ploy to make it appear that Juliet has died, sending Romeo a message to tell him of the plan and to come and rescue her.

The message fails to reach Romeo who believes that Juliet is really dead and poisons himself. Juliet wakes from her induced coma, discovers Romeo is dead and stabs herself to death. The tragedy brings the families to their senses and they reconcile their differences.

We're spoiled for choice with famous lines from this play, so here are just a couple: 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet' and 'Parting is such sweet sorrow'.