Shakespeare and His Plays Quiz

Question: What is the name of the penniless Venetian who asks his friend for a loan in The Merchant of Venice?

Answer: In The Merchant of Venice, Bassanio, a noble but penniless Venetian, asks his wealthy merchant friend Antonio for a loan so as to impress and woo the heiress Portia.

Question: Which was the first play on Roman themes written by Shakespeare?

Answer: For the first of his Roman plays, Shakespeare chose to write about the vengeful Roman general Titus Andronicus.

Question: Between whom does a “merry war” of words go on in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing?

Answer: In Much Ado About Nothing, the characters Beatrice and Benedick, who are highly skeptical of romance and courtship, have “a kind of merry war” between them, matching wits in clever repartee.

Question: Which play by Shakespeare opens with these words: “If music be the food of love, play on”?

Answer: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night begins, “If music be the food of love, play on.”

Question: In which play by Shakespeare do witches play an important role?

Answer: Witches figure prominently in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Question: Which of these plays by Shakespeare uses a statue to reveal a most dramatic secret?

Answer: One of Shakespeare’s final plays, The Winter’s Tale is a romantic comedy with elements of tragedy. Its resolution centres on the use of a (presumed) statue to reveal a dramatic secret. [Warning: spoilers follow.] The complicated plot begins with Leontes, the king of Sicilia, entertaining his old friend Polixenes, the king of Bohemia. Leontes jealously mistakes the courtesy between his wife, Hermione, and Polixenes as a sign of Hermione’s adultery with his friend, and the pregnant Hermione is thrown in jail. Further complications ensue, including the presumed death of Hermione, but, at the end, all is forgiven; Hermione, who is seen as a statue, proves to be alive.

Question: Which of the following poems was not written by William Shakespeare?

Answer: The Prelude is by William Wordsworth.

Question: In which of the following plays by Shakespeare does the character Claudius appear?

Answer: As Shakespeare’s Hamlet opens, Hamlet is mourning his father, who was killed, and lamenting the behaviour of his mother, Gertrude, who married his uncle Claudius within a month of his father''s death.

Question: In which of Shakespeare’s plays does the group of clowns Feste, Malvolio, Sir Toby Belch, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek appear?

Answer: In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a subplot involves the members of Lady Olivia’s household—including the clowns Feste, Sir Toby Belch, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek—who are among those who scheme to undermine another clown, the high-minded, pompous Malvolio.

Question: In which of the following plays by Shakespeare does the comic character Falstaff appear?

Answer: Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays are dominated by the massive character of Falstaff and his roguish exploits in Eastcheap.

Question: Which theatre was accidentally set alight by a cannon, fired to mark the king’s entrance onstage during a performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII in 1613?

Answer: The Globe Theatre in London was the place in which the plays of William Shakespeare were performed after 1599. In 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, the thatch of the Globe was accidentally set alight by a cannon, fired to mark the king’s entrance onstage in a scene at Cardinal Wolsey’s palace. The entire theatre was destroyed within the hour.

Question: The writings of which man acted as the main source of historical material for many Elizabethan playwrights?

Answer: Raphael Holinshed is remembered chiefly because his Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande (1577) was used as a historical source for many Elizabethan dramatists, especially Shakespeare.

Question: Which historical character created by Shakespeare boasts that he can “set the murtherous Machevil to school”?

Answer: Shakespeare’s character Richard, duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), boasts in Henry VI, Part 3, that he can “set the murtherous Machevil to school.”