What's In "A" Name? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Twelfth Night

Sir Andrew Aguecheek is the dim-witted drinking companion of Sir Toby Belch in "Twelfth Night". He is in theory a suitor of Sir Toby's niece, Olivia, but spends most of his time carousing late into the night. He is a co-conspirator in the sub-plot in which Olivia's pompous steward, Malvolio, is persuaded that she is in love with him.

At the end of the play, it becomes clear that Sir Toby regards Sir Andrew as a fool and has simply been taking advantage of his wealth to fund his own debauchery.

Answer: The Tempest

Ariel is a magical spirit who serves the magician Prospero, in return for Prospero having used his magic to free the spirit from imprisonment in a tree. It is Ariel who causes the tempest that gives the play its name. Ariel, while grateful for being saved from imprisonment, still wishes to be given complete freedom from Prospero's service.

At the start of the play, Prospero promises to free him if the spirit serves him for two more days, a promise which he fulfils in the play's final scene.

Answer: Timon Of Athens

In "Timon of Athens", Apemantus is a cynical philosopher who repeatedly warns the philanthropic Timon that his friends only flatter him because he is generous and wealthy. When Apemantus is proved to be correct, Timon goes to live in a cave and becomes just as misanthropic as Apemantus.

In a bleakly amusing scene, Apemantus visits Timon in his cave and accuses him of simply copying his ideas.

Answer: Troilus And Cressida

The Greek King Agamemnon appears as a character in "Troilus and Cressida", which is set during the Trojan War. In performance, the rather cynical love story of the title characters can appear secondary to the story of how Agamemnon and the other Greek leaders attempt to persuade the Greek hero Achilles to stop sulking in his tent and fight the Trojan hero, Hector.

The whole play is an odd mixture of comedy and tragedy, none of the characters being particularly sympathetic.

Answer: The Comedy Of Errors

In Shakespeare's early play, "The Comedy of Errors", Antipholus of Syracuse is the brother of Antipholus of Ephesus, a pair of twins who were separated as babies during a shipwreck. At the start of the play, he arrives in Ephesus looking his brother, accompanied by his servant, Dromio. Dromio also has a twin brother (named Dromio as well), who is the servant of Antipholus of Ephesus. Confused? You will be, before the obligatory happy ending.

Answer: Love's Labours Lost

Don Adriano de Armado is a stereotypical Spanish nobleman; conceited, dandified, and fond of the sound of his own voice. He is a visitor to the court of the King of Navarre, where he is regarded (behind his back) as a figure of fun. He is also in love with the peasant girl Jaquenetta, who he woos in typically fantastical style. Fans of Shakespearean comedy will note similarities between their relationship and that of Touchstone and Audrey in "As You Like It".

Answer: A Winter's Tale

Autolycus is a pedlar who appears in the second half of "A Winter's Tale". He is also a con-man and a pickpocket, although Shakespeare gives him the character of a lovable rogue. His antics help to establish the atmosphere of raucous good humour which characterise the pastoral scenes of the play.

He takes his name from a son of Hermes in Greek mythology who was also a trickster and a thief.

Answer: As You Like It

Audrey is a simple-minded but amiable goatherd in "As You Like It". She is seduced by the courtly ways of the clown, Touchstone, who claims to be attracted by her natural honesty (at least at a superficial level). They are married at the end of the play, along with three other couples, although it is suggested that their marriage (unlike the others) will not last long.

Answer: Measure For Measure

Abhorson is an executioner in "Measure for Measure", who is employed in the prison where Claudio has been condemned to death for the crime of getting his girlfriend pregnant. He is forced to take on the bawd, Pompey, as his assistant. In the event, Claudio is secretly saved, and the head of a deceased pirate presented in his place.

Answer: Titus Andronicus

Aaron the Moor is the secret lover of Tamora, Queen of the Goths, in this early tragedy, and is the chief antagonist of the play. He is one of Shakespeare's most unredeemable villains, whose sole aim in life seems to be to cause as much misery and death to as many people as possible. Even when condemned to death at the end of the play, he refuses to repent, and goes to his death regretting only that he didn't manage to carry out more evil deeds.