Shakespearean Balderdash

1. Which of the following is not a line spoken in Romeo and Juliet?

"Call me but love, and I'll be newly baptised."

"Is there no pity sitting in the clouds / That sees into the bottom of my grief?"

"Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone."

"If love be rough with you, be rough with love."

Starting you off easy. "Romeo, save me" is a Taylor Swift lyric from the song "Love Story."

Explanation

Starting you off easy. "Romeo, save me" is a Taylor Swift lyric from the song "Love Story."

About This Quiz

How well do you know Shakespeare? Pick the answer masquerading as a line from one of Shakespeare's plays.

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2. One of these lines is not from Much Ado About Nothing. But which one?

"God match me with a good dancer."

"I do love nothing in the world so well as you."

"If they were but a week married, they would talk themselves mad."

"What you've been looking for has been here the whole time."

Taylor Swift strikes again! "What you're looking for has been here the whole time" is a lyric from "You Belong With Me."

Explanation

Taylor Swift strikes again! "What you're looking for has been here the whole time" is a lyric from "You Belong With Me."

3. You remember Hamlet, right? Which line doesn't belong?

"Nymph, in thy orisons / Be all my sins remembered."

"The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream."

"Is it possible a young maid's wits / Should be as mortal as an old man's life?"

"Words, words. They're all we have to go on."

"Words, words" is not in Shakespeare's tragedy, but you will find it in Tom Stoppard's Hamlet-inspired modern play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead."

Explanation

"Words, words" is not in Shakespeare's tragedy, but you will find it in Tom Stoppard's Hamlet-inspired modern play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead."

4. Which line can't be found in Julius Caesar?

"Caesar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men."

"Poor man, I know he would not be a wolf / But that he sees the Romans are but sheep"

"Is not tomorrow, boy, the Ides of March?"

"Caesar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men" is actually a line from Shakespeare...but it's from "Antony and Cleopatra" (think Octavius, not Julius).

Explanation

"Caesar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men" is actually a line from Shakespeare...but it's from "Antony and Cleopatra" (think Octavius, not Julius).

5. Pick the line that isn't spoken in Henry IV, Part I.

"I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugged bear."

"Zounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward by the Lord I'll stab thee."

"Falstaff meets him, playing upon his truncheon like a fife."

"Why, thou owest God a death."

A tricky one: "Falstaff meets him" is from "Henry IV," but it's a stage direction, not a line.

Explanation

A tricky one: "Falstaff meets him" is from "Henry IV," but it's a stage direction, not a line.

6. Which of the following lines does not appear in Twelfth Night?

"We never know how to value what we enjoy, but by the want of it."

"If it be a suit from the count, I am sick, or not at home."

"Not a flower sweet, / On my black coffin let there be strown."

"This fellow is wise enough to play the fool."

"We never know how to value what we enjoy" isn't from Twelfth Night, but it attributed to another famous castaway, the hero of "Robinson Crusoe."

Explanation

"We never know how to value what we enjoy" isn't from Twelfth Night, but it attributed to another famous castaway, the hero of "Robinson Crusoe."

7. One of these things is not like the other...pick the quote that's not in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind, / And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."

"For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought."

"Shall we their fond pageant see?"

"She will find him by starlight."

Be careful: "For there is nothing lost" is from Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene."

Explanation

Be careful: "For there is nothing lost" is from Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene."

8. Find the line that's not part of The Merchant of Venice.

"I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you."

"Tell me, what is the price of a pound?"

"Do I look like a cudgel or a hovel-post, a staff or a prop?"

"If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge."

"What is the price of a pound?" isn't from the play, but it is the question I asked my local deli owner on Saturday (in reference to smoked turkey, not human flesh).

Explanation

"What is the price of a pound?" isn't from the play, but it is the question I asked my local deli owner on Saturday (in reference to smoked turkey, not human flesh).

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Current Version
Mar 16, 2022

Quiz Edited by
ProProfs Editorial Team
Mar 28, 2014

Quiz Created by
Rachelewen