Could You Be Shakespeare?

1. The War of the Roses was a dynastic war between which two houses for the English throne?

York and Lancaster

Stark and Targaryen

Tudor and Windsor

The disputed succession of the English throne underscored the conflicts of most of Shakespeare's major history plays, including Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, and Richard III.

Explanation

The disputed succession of the English throne underscored the conflicts of most of Shakespeare's major history plays, including Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, and Richard III.

About This Quiz

Many anti-Shakespearians argue that Shakespeare's plays contain historical, literary, philosophical, and theological references only a highly educated nobleman in Elizabethan England would be educated enough to write. Do you have what it takes to write Hamlet or Twelfth Night? Take our quiz to find out!

2. What's your name?

We’ll put your name on your report, certificate, and leaderboard.

2. What is the Ides of March?

An 11th century war in the Byzantine empire

A pagan festival celebrated in northern England

March 15

March 15 is the day Julius Caeser was assassinated. In Shakespeare's play, the Roman emperor is warned in Act I to "Beware the Ides of March."

Explanation

March 15 is the day Julius Caeser was assassinated. In Shakespeare's play, the Roman emperor is warned in Act I to "Beware the Ides of March."

3. Pyramus is to Thisbe as Theseus is to...

Miranda

Hippolyta

Athena

Both sets of lovers from Roman and Greek mythology feature in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Explanation

Both sets of lovers from Roman and Greek mythology feature in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

4. The sonnet was created in which country?

France

Italy

England

The form was popularized by Francesco Petrarch in Italian two centuries before Shakespeare modified the Petrarchan style and penned his famous poems.

Explanation

The form was popularized by Francesco Petrarch in Italian two centuries before Shakespeare modified the Petrarchan style and penned his famous poems.

5. Which classical comedy is about twins mistaken for each other?

Plautus' Menaechmi

Aristophanes' Lysistrata

Meander's Dyskolos

Plautus' comedy is the likely inspiration for The Comedy of Errors, and probably influenced the plot of Twelfth Night.

Explanation

Plautus' comedy is the likely inspiration for The Comedy of Errors, and probably influenced the plot of Twelfth Night.

6. With whom does the legend of Leir, an 8th century king of the Britons, originate?

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy

King Lear was based on the legendary tale of Leir, who is featured in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).

Explanation

King Lear was based on the legendary tale of Leir, who is featured in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).

7. Where is Illyria located?

The Scottish highlands

A Mediterranean island

Modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina

Illyria, where Twelfth Night is set, was a region in the western Balkans in classical antiquity.

Explanation

Illyria, where Twelfth Night is set, was a region in the western Balkans in classical antiquity.

8. "There is no ancient gentelmen but gard'ners, ditchers, and grave-makers. They hold up Adam's profession." These lines from Hamlet refer to which poetic work?

Historia Anglicana (Thomas Walsingham)

The Shepheardes Calendar (Edmund Spenser)

Of The Passioun of Christ (William Dunbar)

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Explanation

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