Shakespeare Flashcards
Hamlet
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Denmark (Elsinore Castle)
Characters:
Hamlet (Lead)
Opehlia (Dame)
Claudius (Villain; H’s Uncle)
Gertrude (H’s Mom, Claudius’s Lover)
Polonius (O’s Dad)
Laertes (O’s Brother)
Horatio (H’s Friend)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Hamet’s “Friends”)
Ghost of Father
Yorick (Gravedigger)
Plot:
Other:
Macbeth
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Scotland (Dunsinane Castle)
Characters:
- MacBeth
- Lady MacBeth (suicide after dreams of bleeding hands)
- Banquo (general, son to be king)
- MacDuff (kills Macbeth, c section)
- Duncan (king, killed by MacBeth)
- Malcolm (1st son)
- Donalbain (2nd son)
- Witches
Plot:
Other:
“double double toil and trouble” ““Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” “Stars hide your fires”
Othello
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Cyprus (some Venice)
Characters:
- Othello (Main; Moorish)
- Desdemona (Dame)
- Iago (Villain)
- Rodrigo (Iago’s henchman)
- Michael Cassio (the bull)
- Amelia (Iago’s wife)
Plot:
Other:
King Lear
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: England
Characters:
- Lear (Main; king)
- Cordelia (good daughter)
- Regan (evil daughter, poisoned by Goneril, married Cornwall)
- Goneril (evil daughter, suicide, married Albany)
- Duke of Kent (good guy, exiled)
- Fool
- Gloucester (eyes gouged out; sons Edmund (bad) and Edgar good, becomes king))
Plot:
Other:
Romeo and Juliet
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Verona, Italy
Characters:
- Romeo Montague (Main)
- Juliet Capulet (Main)
- Tybalt Capulet (J’s cousin, killed by R)
- Benvolio Montague (R’s cousin)
- Mercutio (R’s friend, killed by Tybalt)
- Paris (J’s betrothed, killed by R)
- Friar Laurence
Plot:
Other:
“star crossed lovers” “what’s in a name?”
Merchant of Venice
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Venice
Characters:
- Antonio (Merchant)
- Portia (Bachelorette, many suitors)
- Bassanio (A’s spendthrift friend, Portia’s suitor)
- Shylock (Greedy merchant; pound of flesh)
- Jessica (Shylock’s daughter, Lorenzo’s girl)
- Lorenzo (J’s boy)
Plot: Basanio chooses gold casket, Shylock loses trial against Antonio, forced to convert to Cristianity
Other:
Julius Caesar
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Ancient Rome
Characters:
- Caesar
- Brutus (villain)
- Cassius (villain)
- Calpernia (JC’s wife)
- Portia (Brutus wife)
- Soothsayer (prophet)
- Other first triumvirate (Crassus, Pompey)
Plot:
Other: “beware the ides of march”
Antony and Cleopatra
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Egypt/Rome
Characters:
- Mark Antony
- Cleopatra
- Other second triumvirate (Octavian, Lepidus)
Plot:
Other:
Troilus and Cressia
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Troy (Trojan War)
Characters:
- Troilus (Son of Priam)
- Cressida (Son of Trojan priest siding with Greeks)
Plot: Love affair in Trojan War
Other:
Titus Andronicus
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Ancient Rome
Characters:
- Titus (Main; roman general)
- Tamora (Goth Queen)
- Saturnius (son of dead emperor)
- Lavinia (TA’s daughter)
- Aaron (the bull)
Plot:
Other: Very gory, possibly his first tragedy
Coriolanus
Genre: Ancient Rome
Setting: Tragedy
Characters:
- Coriolanus
Plot: General/politician is deposed, allies with Volscians, roman coup fails, volscians kill him
Other:
Timon of Athens
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Athens
Characters:
- Timon
- Flavius (T’s chief servant)
Plot: Rich guy spends all his $$ on fake friends, goes poor, they abandon him, he lives in a cave
Other:
Cymbeline
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Ancient Britain
Characters:
- Imogen (Cymbeline’s daughter)
- Cymbeline
Plot:
Other:
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Greece
Characters:
- Lysander
- Demetrius
- Helena
- Hermea
- Bottom (labourer weaver, given ass’s head)
- Oberon (king of fairies)
- Titania (queen of fairies, falls for bottom)
- Robin Goodfellow (fairy who does spells, a type of fairy called puck)
Plot: Love potion chicanery
Other:
The Tempest
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Mediterranean
Characters:
- Prospero (Main; rightful duke of Milan)
- Antonio (villain, P’s brother)
- Miranda (P’s daughter)
- Caliban (monster servant)
- Ariel (Fairy servant)
- Ferdinand (son of Naples king alonso, M’s beau)
Plot:
Other:
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”
Taming of the Shrew
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Padua, Italy
Characters:
- Katherina (B’s sister, the shrew)
- Petruchio (K’s toxic husband)
- Bianca (good girl)
Plot: Battle of the sexes, story within a story, gaslighting/abuse
Other:
Twelfth Night
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Shipwrecked adriatic
Characters:
- Viola (in love with Duke Orsino)
- Duke Orsino
- Olivia (falls for V in drag, then S)
- Sebastian (V’s brother, goes for O)
Plot: Drag play, Both couples happy
Other:
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Much Ado About Nothing
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Messina, Sicily
Characters:
- Benedick (Beatrice’s boy)
- Beatrice (Benedick’s girl)
- Claudio (Hero’s boy)
- Hero (C’s girl)
- Don John (villain)
Plot:
Other:
Winter’s Tale
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Sicily and Bohemia
Characters:
- Leontes (king of sicily, jealous husband)
- Hermione (L’s wife)
- Polixenes (king of bohemia, accused bull)
- Perdita (L’s daughter, exiled)
- Florizel (Polixenes’ son, Pedita’s lover)
Plot:
Other:
As You Like It
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Ardennes
Characters:
- Rosalind (heroine)
- Celia (R’s cousin)
- Touchstone (court fool)
- Orlando (hero)
- Oliver (villain(ish); orlando’s brother)
- Duke Senior (Rosalind’s dad, exiled)
- Duke Frederick (villain(ish), Duke Sr’s usurper brother)
Plot: Plenty of mix-ups / costumes.
Other:
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
Measure for Measure
Genre:
Setting: Vienna
Characters:
- Duke
- Angelo (temp duke, villain)
- Claudio (prisoner)
- Isabella (C’s sister)
Plot: Undercover boss: duke edition
Other: Play ends with duke’s proposal but no answer either way by Isabella
All’s Well That Ends Well
Genre: Comedy
Setting: France
Characters:
- Helena (heroine, betrothed)
- Bertram (villain, bethrothed)
- Diana (attempted mistress)
Plot: Ring + Fetus = Marriage accepted by bertram
Other:
Comedy of Errors
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Syracuse
Characters:
Plot: 2 sets of twins, mistaken
Other:
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Genre: Comedy
Setting: England
Characters:
Plot: Lads give up girls and drinking, quit, girls say yes but only if they work for a year first
Other:
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Genre: Comedy
Setting: Verona, Milan
Characters:
- Valentine (G1, wants to explore)
- Proteus (G2, wants love)
- Sylvia (V’s girl, both go for her)
- Julia (P’s og girl)
Plot:
Other:
Merry Wives of Windsor
Genre: Comedy
Setting: England
Characters:
- Falstaff
Plot: Mistresses (wives) thought to be cheating, he is told to seduce them
Other:
King John
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
Richard III
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
1.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
(5.4.8), Richard
2.
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York.
(1.1.1-2), Richard
Henry IV
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
Henry V
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”
Henry VI
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
Henry VIII
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
Pericles
Genre:
Setting:
Characters:
Plot:
Other:
Shakespeare Wife
Anne Hathaway
Shakespeare Monarchs
Elizabeth I, James I
Nickname
The Bard of Avon / The Bard
Hometown / Burial
Stratford upon Avon
Main Theatre
Globe Theatre
