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About This Quiz
Considered by many to be the greatest writer in the English language, Shakespeare's life was just as fascinating as his work. Delve into the past while flexing your dramatic muscles with this quiz!
True or False: William Shakespeare never signed his name with the spelling that we use today.
True
In the few original signatures that have survived, Shakespeare spelt his name “Willm Shaksp,” “William Shakespe,” “Wm Shakspe,” “William Shakspere,” ”Willm Shakspere,” and “William Shakspeare”. There are no records of him ever having spelt it “William Shakespeare”, as we know him today.
False
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Which play is considered to be so cursed that its title is never spoken aloud in a theater, unless that show is currently in production?
The Tempest
Richard III
Macbeth
Many superstitious actors genuinely believe this play is cursed. Actors who do not believe the superstition will often fall in line out of respect and politeness. Productions of Macbeth are said to be plagued with accidents. According to legend, this dates back to the premiere of the play: an actor died because a real dagger was mistakenly used instead of the prop.
Pericles
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How many confirmed portraits of William Shakespeare exist today?
0
2
There are only two portraits unambiguously identified as Shakespeare. One is the engraving that appears on the cover of the First Folio (1623). The other is the sculpture atop his memorial in Stratford-upon-Avon, which dates from before 1623.
15
60
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How many plays did Shakespeare write?
37
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. Only 36 of his plays can be read today; "Cardenio" has been lost.
40
32
56
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Who speaks the line, "Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged"?
Antony
Duke Orsino
Romeo
Romeo speaks these words to Juliet during their first meeting, at the Capulet ball.
Hamlet
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What character gives the famous St Crispin’s Day speech, which includes the phrase “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”?
King Lear
Richard II
Henry V
This speech occurs in Act IV scene iii of Henry V.
Henry VI
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Where was Shakespeare born?
Welford-on-Avon
Stratford-on-Avon
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He died there in 1616, at the age of 52.
Manchester
Tiddington
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How was the first Globe Theatre destroyed?
It was demolished by the Puritans.
It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London
It burned to the ground during a performance
The first Globe Theatre burned to the ground during a performance of Henry VIII, when a canon set the thatched roof on fire. The second Globe Theatre was destroyed by the Puritans in 1644.
It was closed down by King Charles
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True or False: Shakespeare was an actor as well as a poet and playwright.
True
There is evidence that Shakespeare played the ghost in Hamlet and Adam in As You Like It.
False
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What was probably the first play performed at the Globe Theatre, which opened in 1599?
Hamlet
As You Like It
Julius Caesar
It's impossible to know for sure, but Julius Caesar was probably the first of Shakespeare’s plays to be performed in the Globe.
Othello
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What play ends with a statue coming to life?
Much Ado About Nothing
Cymbeline
The Winter's Tale
In The Winter’s Tale, Hermione, Queen of Sicily, fakes her death to avoid unjust punishment for supposed infidelity. She returns to the castle in form of a very life-like statue at the play’s end. When she hears the King’s genuine remorse at her death and his mistake, she “comes back to life.”
All's Well That Ends Well
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Which of these words did Shakespeare coin?
Abuzz
Atomization
Sawbones
Assassination
Shakespeare invented the word “assassination,” along with over 1700 other terms.
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What is Shakespeare’s shortest play?
The Merchant of Venice
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play, at 1,770 lines.
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Pericles
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Only two Shakespeare plays are written entirely in verse. Which are they?
Twelfth Night and Hamlet
Richard II and King John
Richard II and King John are the only two plays written entirely in verse. Most of Shakespeare’s plays are half in verse and half in prose.
Othello and Coriolanus
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King John
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How many siblings did Shakespeare have?
0
3
7
Shakespeare has 7 siblings. Joan (b 1558, only lived 2 months); Margaret (b 1562); Gilbert (b 1566); another Joan (b 1569); Anne (b 1571); Richard (b 1574) and Edmund (b 1580).
12
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What event precipitated Shakespeare’s first foray into poetry?
He fell in love.
He needed the extra money.
The plague came to London and shut down all the theatres
An outbreak of the plague in Europe resulted in all London theatres being closed between 1592 and 1594. Shakespeare finished his first batch of sonnets in 1593.
He was (temporarily) black-listed from the theater
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Which play includes the famous line, “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late”?
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Winter's Tale
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Ford says this line in Act II, scene ii of The Merry Wives of Windsor
Measure for Measure
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What was Shakespeare’s mother's maiden name?
Arden
Shakespeare’s mother was Mary Arden. The Arden Shakespeare is named after the Forest of Arden in As You Like It, not her.
Hathaway
Croyden
Renshaw
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How old was Shakespeare when he married Anne Hathaway?
15
23
18
Shakespeare was 18 when he married 26 year-old Anne Hathaway. Even more scandalous: she was pregnant at the time!
27
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Which Shakespeare play is based directly on a story line from Homer’s “The Illiad”?
Julius Caesar
Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida is set during the later years of the Trojan War, faithfully following the plotline of the Iliad from Achilles' refusal to participate in battle to Hector's defeat.
Antony and Cleopatra
The Tempest
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What play was Shakespeare’s first blockbuster “hit,” and probably his biggest overall success, during his lifetime?
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Macbeth
Twelfth Night
Richard III
Shakespeare’s first blockbuster hit was Richard III, and it was wildly popular during his lifetime; it was published 10 times. Most scholars would agree that Hamlet is the most popular Shakespeare play in the modern era.
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Who is Cymbeline in the play of the same name?
The Queen of Britain
A banished lord
The King of Britain
In the play, Cymbeline is the vassal King of Britain for the Roman Empire.
The King’s daughter by his first wife
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Which play is generally accepted as being Shakespeare’s first?
Henry VI, Part 2
Although it’s impossible to know for sure, and there are some loud detractors, most scholars agree that Shakespeare wrote the Henry VI trilogy first, beginning with Part 2.
Othello
The Taming of the Shrew
Richard III
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In which play would you find the following quote: “Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!”
King John
Macbeth
Hamlet
In Act 1, scene v of Hamlet, Hamlet is planning to pretend to be mad in order to further his revenge scenario, and is swearing Horatio to secrecy. The ghost of his father is very invested in Hamlet’s revenge, and interrupts this proceedings with the word, “Swear!” Hamlet quiets him with the above line.
Timon of Athens
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Which historical event influenced the plot of Macbeth?
The Great Fire of London
The founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America
The start of the Thirty Years’ War
The Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot was thwarted just in time, on November 5, 1605, and would have killed King James had it succeeded. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth early in 1606 as an embodiment of the fears of the English people at the time. What would have happened if the King had been killed? Macbeth shows us one possible outcome.
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In which play would you find a character called Touchstone?
As You Like It
Touchstone is the court jester for Duke Frederick. He comments on the other characters throughout the play.
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
Othello
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What character speaks the line, “What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?”
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Titania, Queen of the Fairies, is under a spell cast by her husband Oberon when she awakens to see Nick Bottom, with the head of donkey. The spell causes her to fall in love with him.
Olivia in Twelfth Night
Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Once his career began, how quickly did Shakespeare write his plays, on average?
1 play every three years
2 plays every six months
1.5 plays per year
Shakespeare averaged 1.5 plays per year during his 24 year career.
3 plays every 4 years
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In which play would you find the line, “The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath”?
Anthony and Cleopatra
The Merchant of Venice
This line is the beginning of one of the great speeches in Shakespeare and is made by a cross-dressing Portia, disguised as young lawyer Balthazar, who begs Shylock for mercy after traveling from the fictional town of Belmont to Venice.
The Taming of the Shrew
The Winter's Tale
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This is easily Shakespeare’s bloodiest, most violent play.
Titus Andronicus
Fourteen people die over the course of Titus Andronicus, not to mention the horrors inflicted on Lavinia. During a 2014 production of the play at the Globe, five audience members fainted in a single night.
Macbeth
Hamlet
Richard III
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Into what fictional language have two of Shakespeare’s plays been translated?
Klingon
Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing have been translated into, and performed, in Klingon.
Sindarin
Dovahzul
Huttese
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Who is the queen of the witches in Macbeth?
Titania
Hecate
Hecate, queen of the witches, is the only named witch in Macbeth.
Aeriel
None of the witches are named
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Which of these trios are three of the so-called “problem plays”?
Troilus and Cressida; Othello; King Lear
All’s Well That Ends Well; Measure for Measure; Troilus and Cressida
All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida all exhibit wild swings in tone, from comedy to violent tragedy and back again.
Romeo and Juliet; Hamlet; Richard III
Hamlet; Macbeth; King Lear
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In which play would you find a character called Starveling?
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Robin Starveling, one of the Rude Mechanicals of Athens in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, plays the part of Moonshine in their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe.
The Tempest
King Lear
Henry V
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How did Shakespeare die, at the relatively old age of 52?
Tuberculosis
The bubonic plague
A drinking binge and subsequent fever
An unknown month-long illness
The leading theory is that Shakespeare was sick for over a month before he died. The evidence comes from the fact that on March 26, 1616 (4 weeks before his death) Shakespeare made his will – in keeping with the 17th century tradition of drawing up wills on one’s deathbed.
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