Bardic Gems Strewn Around Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cymbeline

The protagonist Cymbeline is based on Cunobeline, a Celtic King of Britain who reigned from 10 AD to 40 AD. Several of his coins survive and Roman historical records tell us about his activities. The fact that the Roman emperor Augustus is mentioned in the play helps us date the story between 10 and 14 AD.

Although "Cymbeline" is dubbed a tragedy in the First Folio, several scholars believe it is more of a romance or even a comedy.

Answer: Cymbeline

Samuel Johnson believed that the play had a very complex plot, which could result in the audience failing to understand what they were seeing. He also believed that the story is way too unrealistic. Yet, both John Keats and William Hazlitt listed it as a favorite.

In the 20th century, Harold Bloom expressed the opinion that, with this play, Shakespeare was actually poking fun at his earlier works.

Answer: The Comedy of Errors

The motif of twin brothers, separated at birth, now seeking each other, is directly taken from Plautus' comedy. Shakespeare has added many more characters and elaborate details, however, which makes him not an imitator, but a dramatist who adapts and reworks older patterns in weaving a new and fascinating - and in this case very funny - tale.

Answer: The Comedy of Errors

Ephesus was one of the oldest cities in Asia Minor, founded by the Greeks in Antiquity. The name of that metropole was known to Shakespeare's audience, even if only from the Bible. Given that the play is set in the ancient world, it complies with the standard set by Aristotle, namely that the plot must unfold in a single location, within 24 hours and revolve over a specific theme. Only here and in "The Tempest" did the Bard comply with this standard.

Answer: The Winter's Tale

Greene's "Pandosto" was written in 1588 and reissued in 1607, thus antedating Shakespeare's play by decades. Some elements of Greene's plot may derive from Geoffrey Chaucer. Shakespeare's play, however, has a psychological depth to which the earlier text cannot offer anything comparable.

Although it has historically been grouped among the comedies, "The Winter's Tale" has been characterized by several scholars as a romance.

Answer: The Winter's Tale

The names of the kings in question are Leontes of Sicily and Polyxenes of Bohemia. They have been friends since they were children and, at the beginning of the play, Polyxenes is visiting his friend. Yet, when Leontes begins to suspect that his wife as having an affair with Polyxenes, their friendship turns to enmity.

Answer: Twelfth Night

"Twelfth Night" begins when a ship carrying a young woman named Viola capsizes and sinks off the coast of Illyria. The name, known from classical geography, refers to an expanse of land on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, north of the Greek region of Epirus. Using a classicizing geographical appellation was meant to show the playwright's erudition.

Answer: Twelfth Night

Feste is attached to the household of Lady Olivia and we are told that her father was fond of the entertainment he provided. Throughout the play, he sings a number of songs, such as "O Mistress Mine" and "I Am Gone, Sir".

Answer: Love's Labour's Lost

Henry IV, before gaining the French crown, ruled in Navarre. In the play, the main character is described as governing the very same land. Navarre's friends are also based on real-life French aristocrats of Shakespeare's era. This might be a factor accounting for the limited popularity of the play for a long time after Henry IV's death in 1610.

Answer: Love's Labour's Lost

This refers to the disguise used by Navarre and his friends in order to court the ladies of the entourage of the Princess of France.

The term "Muscovites" denotes inhabitants of the kingdom of Muscovy, which in 1721 took over the name of the medieval dynasty of the Rus' and began calling itself as the Russian Empire.