The Plays of Shakespeare

Question 1

In which play does Jaques deliver the speech that begins “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”?

Answer 1

As You Like It

Question 2

In Julius Caesar, who is described as “the last of the Romans”?

Answer 2

Cassius

Question 3

While disguised as a doctor of law in The Merchant of Venice, Portia makes a celebrated speech in which she says that the quality of what “is not strained”?

Answer 3

Mercy

Question 4

Printed in 1594, what is Shakespeare’s first Roman Tragedy?

Answer 4

Titus Andromicus

Question 5

In Richard III, which eight words complete the opening sentence that begins “Now is the Winter of our discontent”?

Answer 5

Made glorious summer by this sun of York

Question 6

According to the report of Mistress Quickly, who “babbled of green fields” on his deathbed?

Answer 6

Falstaff

Question 7

The proverbial expression “The course of true love never did run smooth” is a line from which of the plays?

Answer 7

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Question 8

In which of the history plays does the title character look into the mirror and say “Is this the face which fac’d so many follies, that was at last out-fac’d by Bolingbroke”?

Answer 8

Richard II

Question 9

In Romeo and Juliet, the Friar urges Romeo to flee to which town after killing Tybalt?

Answer 9

Mantua

Question 10

Which play was also known in Jacobean times as “All is True”?

Answer 10

Henry VIII

Question 11

What is the name of the tragic heroise whose final line is “Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters”?

Answer 11

Cordelia

Question 12

Which Shakespearean king is described as “More sinned against than sinning”?

Answer 12

Lear

Question 13

How are Valentine and Proteus known in the title of a Shakespeare comedy?

Answer 13

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Question 14

According to Thersites in Act Five of Troilus and Cressida, two things “hold fashion”. One is “wars”, what is the other?

Answer 14

Lechery

Question 15

What is the name of the “simple constable” in Measure for Measure?

Answer 15

Elbow

Question 16

According to Tennyson, the tenderest lines in Shakespeare - “Hang there like fruit, my soul, Till the tree die!” - are from which play?

Answer 16

Cymbeline

Question 17

In Loves Labours Lost, what does Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, make his courtiers foreswear for three years along with food and sleep, and instead devote themselves to study?

Answer 17

Women

Question 18

Which of Shakespeare’s comedies has a heroine called Hero?

Answer 18

Much Ado About Nothing

Question 19

In Anthony and Cleopatra, an asp is brought to Cleopatra in a basket said to contain which fruit?

Answer 19

Figs

Question 20

In Henry IV Part One, whom does the king describe as a “Mars in swaddling clothes”?

Answer 20

Harry Hotspur

Question 21

Counting the lines printed in the 1623 folio, which is the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays?

Answer 21

The Comedy of Errors

Question 22

Before which besieged town does Henry V make his speech beginning “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”?

Answer 22

Harfleur

Question 23

What is the profession of Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Answer 23

Weaver

Question 24

Which play opens at Antioch and ends in Ephesus did not appear in the 1623 folio?

Answer 24

Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Question 25

In Romeo and Juliet, what is the name of Capulet’s niece, with whom Romeo was enamoured before he met Juliet?>

Answer 25

Rosaline

Question 26

Which fruit is embroidered on Desdemona’s handkerchief, which makes Othello believe she has given to Cassio?

Answer 26

Strawberries

Question 27

In Macbeth, Malcolm was one of Duncan’s sons. What is the name of the other?

Answer 27

Donalbain

Question 28

In King John, what disguise has Arthur adopted when he is killed leaping from the castle walls while attempting to escape?

Answer 28

Ship’s boy

Question 29

Who was the pedlar, the self styled “snapper up on unconsidered trifles” in The Winters Tale?

Answer 29

Autolycus

Question 30

In Act One of Richard III, Lady Anne insults Richard by calling him a toad, and what other animal?

Answer 30

Hedgehog