At the End of the Play Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hamlet

The Gravedigger hands Hamlet a skull that he dug out of the ground, and reveals that it is Yorick's skull. As it turns out, Hamlet remembers Yorick from his childhood and seeing his old jester as merely a skull forces him into a meditation on death. "Alas poor Yorick" indeed.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

"Romeo and Juliet" indeed ends on this note. Above Juliet, the armored corpse of Tybalt has been there since Act Three, but Paris and Romeo are dead from the tragic events of this night. Friar Laurence intended to help Juliet and Romeo escape together, but Juliet tells him to leave without her so she can commit suicide and join Romeo in death.

Answer: Coriolanus

"Coriolanus" is the story of a great Roman general who proves that military skill won't always translate off the battlefield. His anti-populist rhetoric proves fatal to his political career, and he ends up banished and in league with Rome's enemies. This causes his family to beg him to pardon his ungrateful city.

Answer: Othello

This depicts the moments leading up to the murder of Desdemona in Act Five, Scene Two of "Othello". Othello, driven to mad jealousy by his corrupt lieutenant Iago, has finally decided to kill his reportedly unfaithful wife.

Answer: King Lear

"King Lear" is a long, painful sequence of familial trauma. It culminates in Lear losing all of his daughters, last and most importantly Cordelia, the one daughter who was true to him throughout his ordeal.

Answer: Macbeth

"Macbeth" famously culminates not only in the war against Macbeth, but the decline of his wife's mental health. She ends up sleepwalking and half-revealing their secrets as she raves about blood on her hands and the deaths she and her husband are responsible for.

Answer: Henry V

"Henry V" ends after Henry V enjoys a solid victory over the French and then goes to the French court to negotiate the peace. Part of this peace is that he will marry the French princess Catherine, and the scene after their introduction plays out as he tries to woo her with his soldiering prowess.

Answer: King John

"King John" chronicles the succession-based drama after the death of Richard I. John is the oldest surviving son of Richard's father Henry II, but the second son had a son, Arthur, who may have the stronger claim. After much pan-European intrigue which involves the Church as a great enemy to John, the clergy appears to be guilty of finally killing King John, who passes off the crown to his son (Henry III).

Answer: Richard III

"Richard III" ends with the Battle of Bosworth Field between King Richard III and the Earl of Richmond (who will become Henry VII). The night before the battle, the ghosts of Richard's victims visit both Richard and his foe, blessing Richmond and cursing their murderer. Richard wakes, terrified of his guilt.

Answer: Merry Wives of Windsor

"Merry Wives of Windsor" is a play centered around the misadventures of Jack Falstaff as he pursues two married women without any success. Eventually their pranks on him culminate with a forest-set joke where the town pretends to be fairies bent on punishing Jack for his sins.