We invite you to try our Shakespeare Quiz! Readers who answer all sixteen questions correctly will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt. Please submit your answers by May 9, 2014, to be eligible for a prize.

1.

Shakespeare is credited with inventing thousands of words that we commonly use today. Which of the following words did Shakespeare NOT coin?

2.

The Globe Theater, built by Shakespeare's acting company, burned down in 1613 when a cannon shot produced sparks that caught the thatched roof on fire during a performance of which play?

3.

In which play does the following passage appear?:

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing."

4.

Shakespeare is known for borrowing his plots from earlier works. For instance, Two Noble Kinsmen, co-written with John Fletcher, is based on "The Knight's Tale" by which author?

5.

Complete the following quote from King Lear: "How sharper than a  _____________ it is to have a thankless child!"

6.

Which playwright disliked Shakespeare's work so much that he once allegedly said, "It would be positively a relief for me to dig him up and throw stones at him"?

7.

In which play does the following passage appear?:

"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
Who fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

8.

Which of Shakespeare's heroines dresses up as a boy named Ganymede and runs away to the Forest of Arden?

9.

Which of Shakespeare's plays features the famous stage direction, "Exit, pursued by a bear"?

10.

In which play does the following passage appear?:

"Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again."

11.

In his will, Shakespeare bequeathed to his wife, Anne Hathaway, which object that has led to much speculation?

12.

Fill in the character's name in the following quote: "Yond _____________ has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."

13.

Who is the title character of The Merchant of Venice?

14.

In which play does the following passage appear?:

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!"

15.

Which of Shakespeare's characters says the following?: "I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me."

16.

Which Shakespeare character shares his name with a now-out-of-production beer?

Readers who answer all sixteen questions correctly will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt. Please submit your answers by May 9, 2014, to be eligible for a prize.

Please include your email in the field below to receive a summary of your answers:

The First Folio of Shakespeare on display at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Photo by Daderot.

Women's History Month Quiz

You can still take the Women's History Month Quiz from our March 2014 e-newsletter. Please include your email address prior to submitting the quiz form in order to receive a summary of your answers. Take the quiz»