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Titus Andronicus Part 3 Trivia Quiz

The third and final quiz by me on 'Titus Andronicus' covers some of the notable productions of the play, interesting trivia, and rather difficult questions concerning the play. Enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by JohnFalst. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
JohnFalst

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
63,928

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
20

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
9 / 20

Plays
384

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 20

1. According to the musings of Titus in Act I, which of the following exists in the tomb with his fallen sons? Hint

Silence

Treason

Envy

Storms

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Question 2 of 20

2. Which of the following statements is patently untrue concerning 'Titus Andronicus'? Hint

The play has been rarely performed after Shakespeare's death.

The play has always been accepted as wholly being written by Shakespeare.

The play was extremely popular in Shakespeare's time.

The play has often been treated with scorn and derision with Shakespearean critics.

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Question 3 of 20

3. Three of these characters share one thing in common. Which is the odd person out? Hint

Lavinia

Tamora

Mutius

Alarbus

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Question 4 of 20

4. Who directed the landmark 1955 production starring Laurence Olivier which effectively put 'Titus Andronicus' back on the stage? Hint

Julie Taymor

Jane Howell

Deborah Warner

Peter Brook

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Question 5 of 20

5. Who is the talented actor of the 19th Century who scored a success playing Aaron using a highly altered version of the play? Hint

Edwin Booth

Ira Aldridge

Paul Robeson

Anthony Quayle

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Question 6 of 20

6. Which time period would most critics generally agree that Titus Andronicus was written? Hint

1615-1625

1595-1605

1585-1595

1605-1615

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Question 7 of 20

7. Which ancient dramatist can be considered a forerunner of 'Titus Andronicus'? Hint

Seneca

Plautus

Sophocles

Aristophanes

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Question 8 of 20

8. Who played Marcus Andronicus in the 1999 Julie Taymor film version of the play called 'Titus'? Hint

Alan Cumming

Anthony Hopkins

Colm Feore

Patrick Stewart

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Question 9 of 20

9. In Terrence McNally's play 'It's Only a Play', the character of Frank states he has directed 'Titus Andronicus' in college. What was the major 'concept' of that version? Hint

Set in Fascist Italy

All Male Version

Bloodbags

Kabuki

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Question 10 of 20

10. In both the Howell and Taymor versions of the play, one character in the play is given substantially more stage time than what is called for in the script. Which character is it? Hint

Aemilus

Aaron

Young Lucius

Lavinia

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Question 11 of 20

11. If you were to see a production of 'Titus Andronicus' based solely on the first quarto version of the play, which event would you not see in this production? Hint

Saturninus killing Titus.

Titus chopping off his hand.

Aaron hiding the bag of gold.

Marcus killing a fly.

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Question 12 of 20

12. If you are watching the BBC television version of 'Titus Andronicus', who would you see protraying the role of Tamora? Hint

Diana Rigg

Dorothy Tutin

Anna Calder-Marshall

Eileen Atkins

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Question 13 of 20

13. There is a famous drawing associated with this play in which it appears that several portions of the play are seen at once. What is the name of this drawing? Hint

The Cibber Drawing

The Peacham Drawing

The Arden Drawing

The Nashe Drawing

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Question 14 of 20

14. If you were doing a production of this play based solely on the First Quarto, what would be the final line of the play? Hint

That like events may ne'er it ruinate.

Some stay to see him fast'ned in the earth.

I do repent it from my very soul.

And being dead, let birds on her take pity.

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Question 15 of 20

15. If you were watching the 1955 production of 'Titus Andronicus', who would you be seeing protraying the role of Lavinia? Hint

Vivien Leigh

Dorothy Tutin

Maxine Audrey

Anna Calder-Marshall

16. In the Taymor film version of Titus, the director 'borrows' several visual elements from famous works of art. For example, in the Prologue section of the film, the Boy wears a brown paper bag over his head as a mask with eyes and mouth poked out. When there is a sudden explosion frightening the child, what famous painting is refered by the Boy's frightened silent response? Hint

'The Scream'

'The Blue Boy'

'Guernica'

'Chronus'

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Question 17 of 20

17. Demetrius is quoting what writer when he says 'Per Stygia, per manes vehor.' Hint

Horace

Cicero

Ovid

Seneca

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Question 18 of 20

18. 'The Empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal, And bid thee christen it with thy ___
___ .' What words finish the phrase? Hint

devil's dam

curds and whey

unhallowed dam

dagger's point

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Question 19 of 20

19. 'Die frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!' Which of the following characters die after this line is spoken? Hint

Titus

Tamora

Saturninus

Lucius

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Question 20 of 20

20. How many people have seen Aaron's son BEFORE the Nurse is killed? Hint

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. According to the musings of Titus in Act I, which of the following exists in the tomb with his fallen sons?

Answer: Silence

The quote is as follows: 'Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells, Here grow no damned drugs, here are no storms, No noise, but silence and eternal sleep.' (I.i. 153-155)

2. Which of the following statements is patently untrue concerning 'Titus Andronicus'?

Answer: The play has always been accepted as wholly being written by Shakespeare.

The most often suggested alternative is George Peele. In fact, though many critics would be glad to banish this play from the Shakespearian canon, in the twentieth century, the general consensus is that Shakespeare wrote most if not all of this play.

3. Three of these characters share one thing in common. Which is the odd person out?

Answer: Alarbus

Lavinia, Mutius, and Tamora were all directly killed by Titus. Though Titus issues the sentence that Alarbus be sacrificed, he does not directly kill the eldest son of the Goths as he does the other three characters mentioned.

4. Who directed the landmark 1955 production starring Laurence Olivier which effectively put 'Titus Andronicus' back on the stage?

Answer: Peter Brook

The other three directors each have produced a notable Titus in the twentieth century. Taymor's stage production in the 1990's led to the 1999 film starring Antony Hopkins. Jane Howell directed the BBC television version for 'The Shakespeare Plays' which is credited for being one of the best productions in that series, and Deborah Warner in the 1980's produced a gritty, earthy version of the play. Brook's play was a huge success, which toured throughout Europe.

In it's time, it was hailed as one of the best productions of a Shakespearian play ever.

5. Who is the talented actor of the 19th Century who scored a success playing Aaron using a highly altered version of the play?

Answer: Ira Aldridge

Ira Aldridge, born in the United States, was an extremely gifted Black Shakespearian in the 19th Century. Othello and Aaron became his signature pieces, but he also played other leading Shakespearian characters such as King Lear and MacBeth. The Aaron he protrayed was a noble character, partly because the script borrowed heavily from other sources to help make Aaron that way.

He was often praised for the scene with Aaron and his son.

6. Which time period would most critics generally agree that Titus Andronicus was written?

Answer: 1585-1595

Titus Andronicus is considered to be one of the earliest of Shakespearian plays.

7. Which ancient dramatist can be considered a forerunner of 'Titus Andronicus'?

Answer: Seneca

The Elizabethan dramatists were heavily influenced by the works of Seneca. Titus is often refered to as a 'Senecan Blood Tragedy' or 'Senecan Revenge Play'.

8. Who played Marcus Andronicus in the 1999 Julie Taymor film version of the play called 'Titus'?

Answer: Colm Feore

Colm Feore is a noted Canadian Shakespearian actor, well known for his protrayals in Shakespeare. He also was the main villian in Stephen King's 'Storm of the Century'. Patrick Stewart has played both Titus and Marcus before, but not in the film. Hopkins played the title role in the film version, and Alan Cumming played Saturninus in the film version.

9. In Terrence McNally's play 'It's Only a Play', the character of Frank states he has directed 'Titus Andronicus' in college. What was the major 'concept' of that version?

Answer: Bloodbags

Terence McNally some may know wrote 'Love! Valour! Compassion!', 'A Perfect Ganesh', 'Master Class', and 'Corpus Christi'. McNally loves Shakespeare, and you can often find him quoting Shakespeare in one form or another in his plays. Incidentially, in LVC, there is another Titus Andronicus joke, where Buzz says all of his plays were 'gay plays', except Titus Andronicus. 'Go figure' is Buzz' last word on the subject.

10. In both the Howell and Taymor versions of the play, one character in the play is given substantially more stage time than what is called for in the script. Which character is it?

Answer: Young Lucius

Young Lucius, the son of Lucius and grandson of Titus, is often seen observer the action and sometimes silently participating in the action in the first part of the play. They both do it as a way of showing how the young learn violence from their parents.

This theme of educating the boy is even more explicit when the Boy is allowed to speak in Act Three Scene Two, the first time Shakespeare has the Boy enter the play.

11. If you were to see a production of 'Titus Andronicus' based solely on the first quarto version of the play, which event would you not see in this production?

Answer: Marcus killing a fly.

In the first quarto, Act III Scene ii does not exist. It was a later addition which makes its debut in the second quarto.

12. If you are watching the BBC television version of 'Titus Andronicus', who would you see protraying the role of Tamora?

Answer: Eileen Atkins

Ms Atkins played Tamora. Ms Calder-Marshall was that version's Lavinia. Ms. Rigg and Ms. Tutin I don't believe have ever played either role in this play, but did play the fiendish daughters of King Lear, with Anna Calder-Marshall playing Cordelia there.

13. There is a famous drawing associated with this play in which it appears that several portions of the play are seen at once. What is the name of this drawing?

Answer: The Peacham Drawing

This famous picture in Shakespeare history if authentic (there has been and there remains some doubts), is a rare look at Elizabethan costuming. Titus is in Roman gear while Tamora appears in the costume of Elizabethan royalty.

14. If you were doing a production of this play based solely on the First Quarto, what would be the final line of the play?

Answer: And being dead, let birds on her take pity.

Later editions add four more lines which ends in 'ne'er it ruinate'. In the first quarto, those four lines are missing.

15. If you were watching the 1955 production of 'Titus Andronicus', who would you be seeing protraying the role of Lavinia?

Answer: Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh played Lavinia to Laurence Olivier's Titus. Ms. Audrey played Tamora.

Answer: 'The Scream'

Taymor sprinkles allusions such as this throughout the movie. The one described in the question is startling if you know the painting and aren't expecting it.

17. Demetrius is quoting what writer when he says 'Per Stygia, per manes vehor.'

Answer: Seneca

It comes from Seneca's play 'Hippolytus'. It translates roughly into 'I am borne through the Stygian regions, through the shades' (according to the Riverside Shakespeare). Basically, it means 'I'm in hell.'

18. 'The Empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal, And bid thee christen it with thy ___ ___ .' What words finish the phrase?

Answer: dagger's point

The line is the Nurses as she shows the newborn babe to Aaron in Act Four, Scene Two.

19. 'Die frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!' Which of the following characters die after this line is spoken?

Answer: Titus

Often missed because of the mayhem, these are Saturninus' last words as he kills Titus who has just stabbed Tamora. Lucius one line later kills Saturninus.

20. How many people have seen Aaron's son BEFORE the Nurse is killed?

Answer: 6

The people are Tamora, the Nurse, Cornelia the midwife, Aaron, Demetrius and Chiron. Finally, congratulations on finishing the quiz!

Source: Author JohnFalst

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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