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Quiz about William Shakespeares Quiz
Quiz about William Shakespeares Quiz

William Shakespeare's Quiz


Did the Bard really write a Trivia quiz on his own plays? Submit thyself to the inquisition and to thine own conclusion come.

A multiple-choice quiz by uglybird. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
uglybird
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
191,848
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
1332
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 207 (7/10), Guest 67 (4/10), Guest 96 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. In a quiz written for the place of "Merry and Bawbling Queries", the Bard of Avon asked, "Prithee, when the Duke didst inform Shylock saying, 'We all expect a gentle answer, Jew,' what sense of gentleness might the most gentle Duke have compassed?" (Which of the following conveys a meaning of "gentle" consistent with the usage of Elizabethan times?) Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In his quiz, Shakespeare asks the following question: "When Hamlet doth, in his feigned ecstasy, importune the fair Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery," to what unreligious and unseemly place might Hamlet allusion make? (For which of the following was "nunnery" slang in Shakespeare's time?) Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. According to the quiz that William Shakespeare purportedly authored, "In Twelfth Night the proud Duke Orsino committed disparagements to the bawbling vessel that Antonio didst captain. Marry, could a bawbling vessel possess a shallow draught and bulk unprizable?"


Question 4 of 10
4. Included in the Bard's queries was this: "Some souls are so generous and forward as to champion the cause of my having first scratched certain words onto foolscap. With which of the preceding words would one be secure if one were to accuse me of their first design?" (Which of the following words is Shakespeare believed to have coined?) Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Many Shakespearian insults are well known and much beloved. It is not surprising that the Bard included a question regarding them on his quiz. He asks, "If thou wouldst call a man captive, shouldst thou name him caitiff or varlet?" (Which term has "captive" as one of its meanings?)

Answer: (One word, caitiff or varlet)
Question 6 of 10
6. William Shakespeare enters the realm of the occult with his next question. "Three hags take leave from one another on a windswept heath. 'I come graymalkin,' says one. 'Paddock calls' says another. In sooth, with what do these foul witches practice and converse?" (To which of the following might "graymalkin" and "paddock" refer?) Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Shakespeare had to consider the sensibilities of both his audience and patrons. This is apparent in his next question. "A Bard's discretion can serve him well. One of my best discretions is shown in the words of Imogen in 'Cymbeline'. 'Ods pittikins! can it be six mile yet?' From whom would the pity come that sad Imogen dost crave?"

Answer: (One word, three letters)
Question 8 of 10
8. The next question touches on possible class division in Shakespeare's audience. "Betimes I am concerned for those groundlings who stand in the yard, that their mean experience might not include the pastimes of the nobility, which I must, perforce, portray. Mayhap, gentle reader, thou knowest with what implements quoits be played?" (Which of the following are used in quoits?) Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. War played a large role in Shakespeare's dramas. Not surprisingly, one of the Bard's questions concerns war. "When the loyal Anthony was left alone with the 'bleeding piece of earth' after the cruel slaying of the noble Caesar, what did Anthony prophesy that the Spirit of Caesar would let slip?" Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. I hesitate to include the last question in "Merry and Bawbling Queries", by bard@globe", because it casts doubt on the authorship of the quiz. "In the fifth act of "Henry VIII", what words of eternal wisdom didst the monarch share with his favorite daughter, Elizabeth?" Which of the following suggest that the Bard of Avon did not pen this final question? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 24 2024 : Guest 207: 7/10
Mar 05 2024 : Guest 67: 4/10
Feb 23 2024 : Guest 96: 7/10
Feb 06 2024 : Guest 213: 5/10
Feb 05 2024 : crossesq: 9/10
Feb 03 2024 : Guest 86: 7/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In a quiz written for the place of "Merry and Bawbling Queries", the Bard of Avon asked, "Prithee, when the Duke didst inform Shylock saying, 'We all expect a gentle answer, Jew,' what sense of gentleness might the most gentle Duke have compassed?" (Which of the following conveys a meaning of "gentle" consistent with the usage of Elizabethan times?)

Answer: All of them

The quiz taker may be in some doubt as to the authenticity of the manuscript used in this quiz and may wish to know how the author came by it. Whilst browsing in "Ye Bookseller Antiquare" in Stratford on Avon, I chanced to mention to a clerk that I was looking for sources of arcane information for a website called "FunTrivia". The clerk, thus alerted to my quest, began rummaging behind the counter, and I detected the faint sound of a pen scratching across paper. He rose up and proffered what he purported to be an ancient folio for my inspection. The cover page read: An Inquisition for the Place of Merry and Bawbling Queries, by bard@globe". To my surprise and delight I was able to purchase this treasure for what I believe to be a mere fraction of its worth.

'We all expect a gentle answer, Jew" is a quote from Merchant of Venice: IV, i.
2. In his quiz, Shakespeare asks the following question: "When Hamlet doth, in his feigned ecstasy, importune the fair Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery," to what unreligious and unseemly place might Hamlet allusion make? (For which of the following was "nunnery" slang in Shakespeare's time?)

Answer: A brothel

"Ecstasy" was a term for madness in Elizabethan times. The words feigned, importune, unseemly and allusion all appear in Shakespeare's works. Surely this lends to some credence to the authenticity of the quiz manuscript.

The line "Get thee to a nunnery" appears in scene I of the third act of Hamlet.
3. According to the quiz that William Shakespeare purportedly authored, "In Twelfth Night the proud Duke Orsino committed disparagements to the bawbling vessel that Antonio didst captain. Marry, could a bawbling vessel possess a shallow draught and bulk unprizable?"

Answer: Yes

In Twelfth night, the Duke slighted the insignificant vessel that Antonio captained only to praise the captain for being so successful in battle against the Duke's own fleet. Shakespeare refers to the vessel as having "shallow draught and bulk unprizable". "Bawbling" means "trivial". "Merry and Bawbling Queries" is, therefore, the Elizabethan equivalent of "FunTrivia"!
4. Included in the Bard's queries was this: "Some souls are so generous and forward as to champion the cause of my having first scratched certain words onto foolscap. With which of the preceding words would one be secure if one were to accuse me of their first design?" (Which of the following words is Shakespeare believed to have coined?)

Answer: All of these

Not only is William Shakespeare considered to have coined "generous", "champion" and "forward", but the Bard is also credited with "accused", "secure", and "design".
5. Many Shakespearian insults are well known and much beloved. It is not surprising that the Bard included a question regarding them on his quiz. He asks, "If thou wouldst call a man captive, shouldst thou name him caitiff or varlet?" (Which term has "captive" as one of its meanings?)

Answer: Caitiff

"Caitiff", meaning wretched, miserable or despicable is derived from the Latin "captivus". "Varlet", on the other hand, denoting knavery and impudence, comes from "vassal". In "Measure for Measure" Elbow accuses his tormentor of being both caitiff and varlet.
6. William Shakespeare enters the realm of the occult with his next question. "Three hags take leave from one another on a windswept heath. 'I come graymalkin,' says one. 'Paddock calls' says another. In sooth, with what do these foul witches practice and converse?" (To which of the following might "graymalkin" and "paddock" refer?)

Answer: A cat and toad

"Graymalkin" can refer either to a cat or an old woman. A paddock is a large, ugly toad in addition to being an enclosure for animals. The two witches may well be hearing the calls of their familiars. The scene is act I, scene 1 from Mac Beth. The fact that modern scholarship tends to agree with the quiz argues for the quiz's authenticity.
7. Shakespeare had to consider the sensibilities of both his audience and patrons. This is apparent in his next question. "A Bard's discretion can serve him well. One of my best discretions is shown in the words of Imogen in 'Cymbeline'. 'Ods pittikins! can it be six mile yet?' From whom would the pity come that sad Imogen dost crave?"

Answer: God

During the Elizabethan era some considered the word "God" to be the name of "God" and would not speak it in any oath or exclamation lest the name be taken in vain. Expressions such as "ods pittikins" or "ods bodkins" were references to God. In the case of "ods bodkins" the reference was apparently to God's dagger.
8. The next question touches on possible class division in Shakespeare's audience. "Betimes I am concerned for those groundlings who stand in the yard, that their mean experience might not include the pastimes of the nobility, which I must, perforce, portray. Mayhap, gentle reader, thou knowest with what implements quoits be played?" (Which of the following are used in quoits?)

Answer: Iron rings and stakes

In Henry IV, part II Falstaff mentions both Quoits and Flap-dragons. The latter is played with Brandy and flaming raisins. Bear baiting was an Elizabethan pastime. Pratchett fans will recognize the wood and mouse blood as requirements for performing the Rite of AshkEnte.
9. War played a large role in Shakespeare's dramas. Not surprisingly, one of the Bard's questions concerns war. "When the loyal Anthony was left alone with the 'bleeding piece of earth' after the cruel slaying of the noble Caesar, what did Anthony prophesy that the Spirit of Caesar would let slip?"

Answer: The dogs of war

"Public war and private treason" was Pericles' assessment of what one could expect from a tyrant. "Contumelious war" was a phrase that Timon of Athens used as he refused to come to the aid of the Athenians who had spurned him in his time of need. Cardinal Pandulph brought to bear the "storm of war" that forced King John to submit to the Pope in "King John".
10. I hesitate to include the last question in "Merry and Bawbling Queries", by bard@globe", because it casts doubt on the authorship of the quiz. "In the fifth act of "Henry VIII", what words of eternal wisdom didst the monarch share with his favorite daughter, Elizabeth?" Which of the following suggest that the Bard of Avon did not pen this final question?

Answer: Shakespeare did not divide his plays into acts.

"Henry VIII" ends with the presentation of the infant Elizabeth. Crammer delivers a prophecy of the child's future that would be fawning by today's standards. Although Shakespeare is not thought to have divided his plays into acts as he wrote them, later editors certainly did. Who is to say that Shakespeare himself did not live to see these divisions? Perchance, late in life, the Bard presented a quiz to an ancient trivia site, a quiz which languished in a Stratford antiquarian bookstore until a fortunate American tourist purchased it for a pittance.

Then again, it does seem ever so much more likely that the author of the quiz simply made it all up.
Source: Author uglybird

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
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