Shakespeare's Women Trivia Quiz

Answer: Portia

Portia is a spirited and intelligent woman who disguises herself as a man in order to represent her fiancé's friend Antonio in court. She saves him from having to pay the penalty of 1lb of his flesh for failing to pay a loan to Shylock on time.

Answer: Helena

Helena is in love with Demetrius who loves her friend Hermia. Hermia loves Lysander but her father wants her to marry Demetrius and the law is that a girl must marry according to her father's wishes. Mischievous Puck, a sprite who is servant to Oberon the fairy king, puts magic drops into the young men's eyes so that they fall in love with the first living thing they see when they awake. Both men see Helena first, but she is used to rejection and believes that they are making fun of her.

In the end Oberon instructs Puck to put things right which he does, and the couples pair off happily.

Answer: Ophelia

Ophelia is the intended of Hamlet and when he rejects her she drowns herself. There is a most beautiful painting of Ophelia by John Millais in the Tate Britain, London. Lizzie Siddal who posed for the picture in a bath of water became seriously ill when the water was allowed to get very cold as a result of Millais' intense concentration on the picture and carelessness towards his model.

Answer: Desdemona

Desdemona is the devoted wife of Othello, but her husband's manipulative friend Iago puts doubt in Othello's mind about her faithfulness. Othello is a Moor and lack of confidence due to his colour leads him eventually to believe the accusations, and he is driven mad with jealously and strangles Desdemona.

Answer: Cordelia

Cordelia is the third daughter of King Lear. The King decides to retire and split his Kingdom between his three daughters after they declare their love for him. The two older women declare their love in a very fawning and flattering way but Cordelia refuses to do this and so she is cut off from her share of the inheritance. Eventually when Lear feels abused by his elder two daughters he is bitterly regretful of his treatment of Cordelia.

Answer: Katherine

Poor Katherine is not the modest obedient type of woman as was preferred in Shakespeare's time. She is very feisty and able to stick up for herself, which led to her being considered a shrew. Katherine's father anxious to get her married off offers a very generous dowry, and a man called Petruchio hears about this and decides to take her on.

They are married and then Petruchio embarks on a course of brainwashing of Katherine. He literally breaks her spirit so that she becomes an obedient doll with no mind of her own.

Answer: Rosalind

Rosalind lives in the court of her uncle who has usurped her father and banished him. She runs away with her cousin Celia into the Forest of Arden where she meets Orlando with whom she falls in love. She is a strong woman of good judgement unlike many of Shakespeare's heroines.

Answer: Beatrice

Benedick and Beatrice are always at each others' throats, and it is a mystery at first why they are so at odds. Beatrice is equal to Benedict in quick witted put downs. After a while the audience begin to understand that she has been very hurt by him in the past.

Answer: Miranda

Miranda is only fourteen and was banished at the age of three with her father to an island where she is brought up with only her father and his slave as company. She is a gentle and sweet girl who is rather innocent and not aware of the evil which goes on in the world.

Answer: Lavinia

Lavinia is Titus Andronicus only daughter. She is an example of what was considered a perfect woman in the 1500s beautiful, obedient and silent. She is raped twice and badly disfigured, having her tongue cut out and her hands cut off leaving her with no form of communication. Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's earliest plays and it is believed that it was written in collaboration with George Peele.