How Much Doth Thou Know...
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Test your knowledge of Shakespeare by taking our 35 question quiz and comparing your results with your friends.
- 1.On what date do we think Shakespeare was born?
- A.
23 April 1564
- B.
24 June 1564
- C.
19 July 1564
- D.
22 October 1564
- 2.What is Romeo's surname?
- A.
Montague
- B.
Capulet
- C.
Tybalt
- D.
Lawrence
- 3.On what date did Shakespeare die?
- A.
23 April 1616
- B.
24 June 1616
- C.
19 July 1616
- D.
22 October 1616
- 4.In which city is Hamlet set?
- A.
Elsinore
- B.
Copenhagen
- C.
Wittenberg
- D.
London
- 5.What was Shakespeare's wife's name?
- A.
Anne Hathaway
- B.
Mary Arden
- C.
Elizabeth Arden
- D.
Anne Hemmingway
- 6.Which of the following is a musical based on Romeo and Juliet?
- A.
West Side Story
- B.
Kiss Me Kate
- C.
Cats
- D.
Chicago
- 7.What did Shakespeare famously leave to his wife in his will?
- A.
His second-best bed
- B.
His second-best coat
- C.
His second-best quill
- D.
His second-best chair
- 8.Which of these is NOT the name of a Shakespeare comedy?
- A.
Some Like It Hot
- B.
All's Well That Ends Well
- C.
As You Like It
- D.
Much Ado About Nothing
- 9.In which play would you find the line, "Is this a dagger which I see before me"?
- A.
Macbeth
- B.
Hamlet
- C.
Twelfth Night
- D.
Henry V
- 10.Which of these is NOT a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
- A.
Tinkerbell
- B.
Cobweb
- C.
Mustardseed
- D.
Moth
- 11.Complete the line: "Alas, poor Yorick…"
- A.
I knew him, Horatio
- B.
I knew him well
- C.
He hath bore me on his back a thousand times
- D.
Where be your gibes now?
- 12.What did Shakespeare's father do?
- A.
Glove maker
- B.
Shoe maker
- C.
Playwright
- D.
Farmer
- 13.In which play would you find the stage direction, "Exit, pursued by a bear"?
- A.
The Winter's Tale
- B.
The Tempest
- C.
Pericles
- D.
The Two Noble Kinsmen
- 14.Which of the following Henrys is NOT the subject of a history play by Shakespeare?
- A.
Henry VII
- B.
Henry V
- C.
Henry VI
- D.
Henry IV
- 15.In what year was Shakespeare's collected works (the First Folio) published?
- A.
1623
- B.
1632
- C.
1622
- D.
1633
- 16.How many sonnets did Shakespeare include in his sequence?
- A.
154
- B.
164
- C.
144
- D.
124
- 17.Which of the following moons of Uranus is NOT named after a Shakespeare character?
- A.
Umbriel
- B.
Ariel
- C.
Titania
- D.
Oberon
- 18.Which play does NOT have a ghost in it?
- A.
Antony and Cleopatra
- B.
Julius Caesar
- C.
Macbeth
- D.
Richard III
- 19.What were Shakespeare's parents' names?
- A.
John and Mary
- B.
Joseph and Mary
- C.
John and Anne
- D.
Joseph and Margaret
- 20.How many Shakespeare plays have an animal in the title?
- A.
1
- B.
2
- C.
3
- D.
4
- 21.Which play does NOT have a character named Antonio in it?
- A.
Romeo and Juliet
- B.
Merchant of Venice
- C.
Twelfth Night
- D.
The Tempest
- 22.Which Shakespeare play features tennis balls?
- A.
Henry V
- B.
Much Ado About Nothing
- C.
The Tempest
- D.
Twelfth Night
- 23.From which play comes the line, "All the world's a stage…"?
- A.
As You Like It
- B.
Twelfth Night
- C.
The Comedy of Errors
- D.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
- 24.Which of these terms did fellow playwright Robert Greene use to describe Shakespeare?
- A.
Upstart crow
- B.
Uptight crow
- C.
Upright cow
- D.
Uptown girl
- 25.Who is the "merchant of Venice"?
- A.
Antonio
- B.
Shylock
- C.
Bassanio
- D.
Portia
- 26.Which of these is NOT the name of one of Shakespeare's children?
- A.
Edmund
- B.
Hamnet
- C.
Judith
- D.
Susanna
- 27.Which of the following characters from his own plays is Shakespeare said to have acted?
- A.
The Ghost in Hamlet
- B.
Montague in Romeo and Juliet
- C.
Gloucester in King Lear
- D.
Duncan in Macbeth
- 28.Which of these famous writers hated Shakespeare?
- A.
Tolstoy
- B.
Dickens
- C.
Austen
- D.
Lewis Carroll
- 29.Which of these plays by Shakespeare is not included in the First Folio?
- A.
Pericles
- B.
Troilus and Cressida
- C.
Titus Andronicus
- D.
Two Gentlemen of Verona
- 30.Who called Shakespeare the "Sweet Swan of Avon"?
- A.
Ben Jonson
- B.
Christopher Marlowe
- C.
Elizabeth I
- D.
Francis Bacon
- 31.What does the motto on Shakespeare's coat of arms mean?
- A.
Not without right
- B.
Not without mustard
- C.
Not without courage
- D.
Not without honour
- 32.Which of these poems is NOT by Shakespeare?
- A.
Hero and Leander
- B.
The Rape of Lucrece
- C.
The Phoenix and the Turtle
- D.
Venus and Adonis
- 33.Which Shakespeare play is set in Austria?
- A.
Measure for Measure
- B.
Cymbeline
- C.
The Winter's Tale
- D.
Pericles
- 34.The 1956 sci-fi film, The Forbidden Planet, is based on which Shakespeare play?
- A.
The Tempest
- B.
Romeo and Juliet
- C.
Othello
- D.
Macbeth
- 35.Did Shakespeare really write the plays attributed to William Shakespeare?
- A.
Yes
- B.
No
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