Shakespeare Quiz

Question 1

In which town was William Shakespeare born?

Accepted Answer

Stratford-upon-Avon

Answer

London

Answer

Oxford

Answer

Canterbury

Question 2

Which Shakespeare play features the line 'To be, or not to be, that is the question'?

Accepted Answer

Hamlet

Answer

Macbeth

Answer

King Lear

Answer

Othello

Question 3

What was the name of Shakespeare's theatre in London?

Accepted Answer

The Globe

Answer

The Rose

Answer

The Swan

Answer

The Curtain

Question 4

In Macbeth, the three witches open the play with what famous line?

Accepted Answer

When shall we three meet again

Answer

'Something wicked this way comes'

Answer

'Fair is foul, and foul is fair'

Answer

'Double, double, toil and trouble'

Answer

'When shall we three meet again'

Question 5

Which Shakespeare play features the characters Oberon, Titania, and Puck?

Accepted Answer

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Answer

The Tempest

Answer

As You Like It

Answer

The Winter's Tale

Question 6

How many plays did Shakespeare write?

Accepted Answer

37

Answer

27

Answer

33

Answer

42

Question 7

Romeo and Juliet is set in which Italian city?

Accepted Answer

Verona

Answer

Rome

Answer

Florence

Answer

Venice

Question 8

What type of verse did Shakespeare mainly use in his plays?

Accepted Answer

Iambic pentameter

Answer

Rhyming couplets

Answer

Free verse

Answer

Dactylic hexameter

Question 9

In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock demands what as collateral for his loan?

Accepted Answer

A pound of flesh

Answer

Gold

Answer

Land

Answer

His daughter

Question 10

Who speaks the famous 'All the world's a stage' speech?

Accepted Answer

Jaques

Answer

Hamlet

Answer

Prospero

Answer

Falstaff

Question 11

What is the name of the jealous villain in Othello?

Accepted Answer

Iago

Answer

Cassio

Answer

Brabantio

Answer

Roderigo

Question 12

Shakespeare's sonnets are dedicated to a mysterious figure referred to as 'Mr W.H.' Who has been proposed as a candidate?

Accepted Answer

Henry Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton) or William Herbert (Earl of Pembroke)

Answer

William Harvey

Answer

Walter Raleigh

Answer

William Hatfield

Question 13

Which Shakespeare play features the 'green-eyed monster' as a metaphor for jealousy?

Accepted Answer

Othello

Answer

Hamlet

Answer

Macbeth

Answer

King Lear

Question 14

In King Lear, how many daughters does King Lear have?

Accepted Answer

Three

Answer

Two

Answer

Four

Answer

Five

Question 15

Which Shakespeare play involves a shipwreck and a magician controlling an island?

Accepted Answer

The Tempest

Answer

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Answer

The Winter's Tale

Answer

Pericles

Question 16

What Shakespeare play is considered the longest?

Accepted Answer

Hamlet

Answer

King Lear

Answer

Othello

Answer

Henry V

Question 17

The phrase 'Neither a borrower nor a lender be' comes from which Shakespeare play?

Accepted Answer

Hamlet

Answer

The Merchant of Venice

Answer

Twelfth Night

Answer

Much Ado About Nothing

Question 18

Which of Shakespeare's plays is considered the only pure comedy without dark undertones by many scholars?

Accepted Answer

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Answer

Much Ado About Nothing

Answer

As You Like It

Answer

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Question 19

What is a 'Shakespearean sonnet' and how does it differ from a Petrarchan sonnet?

Accepted Answer

Shakespearean = 3 quatrains + couplet (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG); Petrarchan = octave + sestet

Answer

Both are identical in structure

Answer

Shakespearean has 16 lines; Petrarchan has 14

Answer

Shakespearean rhymes all lines; Petrarchan has no rhyme

Question 20

Which Shakespearean villain says 'I am not what I am'?

Accepted Answer

Iago

Answer

Macbeth

Answer

Richard III

Answer

Edmund