Could You Be Shakespeare?

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| By Rachelewen
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Rachelewen
Community Contributor
Quizzes Created: 1 | Total Attempts: 120
Questions: 9 | Attempts: 120

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Could You Be Shakespeare? - 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!


Questions and Answers
  • 1. 

    What is the Ides of March?

    • A.

      An 11th century war in the Byzantine empire

    • B.

      A pagan festival celebrated in northern England

    • C.

      March 15

    Correct Answer
    C. March 15
    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."

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  • 2. 

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

    • A.

      Geoffrey Chaucer

    • B.

      Geoffrey of Monmouth

    • C.

      Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy

    Correct Answer
    B. Geoffrey of Monmouth
    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).

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  • 3. 

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

    • A.

      York and Lancaster

    • B.

      Stark and Targaryen

    • C.

      Tudor and Windsor

    Correct Answer
    A. York and Lancaster
    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.

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  • 4. 

    Where is Illyria located?

    • A.

      The Scottish highlands

    • B.

      A Mediterranean island

    • C.

      Modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Correct Answer
    C. Modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Explanation
    Illyria, where Twelfth Night is set, was a region in the western Balkans in classical antiquity.

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  • 5. 

    The sonnet was created in which country?

    • A.

      France

    • B.

      Italy

    • C.

      England

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

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  • 6. 

    Which classical comedy is about twins mistaken for each other?

    • A.

      Plautus' Menaechmi

    • B.

      Aristophanes' Lysistrata

    • C.

      Meander's Dyskolos

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

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  • 7. 

    Pyramus is to Thisbe as Theseus is to...

    • A.

      Miranda

    • B.

      Hippolyta

    • C.

      Athena

    Correct Answer
    B. Hippolyta
    Explanation
    Both sets of lovers from Roman and Greek mythology feature in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

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  • 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?

    • A.

      Historia Anglicana (Thomas Walsingham)

    • B.

      The Shepheardes Calendar (Edmund Spenser)

    • C.

      Of The Passioun of Christ (William Dunbar)

    Correct Answer
    A. Historia Anglicana (Thomas Walsingham)
  • 9. 

    Which of the following is not a practice for training falcons in the ancient sport of falconry?

    • A.

      Depriving the bird of food

    • B.

      Depriving the bird of light

    • C.

      Depriving the bird of sleep

    Correct Answer
    B. Depriving the bird of light
    Explanation
    In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio uses options A and C to tame the wild Kate, his "falcon."

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Our quizzes are rigorously reviewed, monitored and continuously updated by our expert board to maintain accuracy, relevance, and timeliness.

  • Current Version
  • Mar 20, 2023
    Quiz Edited by
    ProProfs Editorial Team
  • Apr 04, 2013
    Quiz Created by
    Rachelewen
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