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Quiz about More About Shakespeare
Quiz about More About Shakespeare

More About Shakespeare Trivia Quiz


This is my second quiz about Shakespeare - his life and times. You will not need to know the detail of his plays to play this quiz, but an interest in Shakespeare should help you.

A multiple-choice quiz by Mixamatosis. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
Mixamatosis
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
374,479
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
215
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Question 1 of 10
1. Which of these places associated with Shakespeare can still be visited today? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Which theatre company was Shakespeare working for at the end of his career? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What was the name of Shakespeare's youngest brother who is buried in Southwark Cathedral in London? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Who was the only one of Shakespeare's siblings to outlive Shakespeare? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. John Heminges and Henry Condell were members of Shakespeare's theatre company who helped to arrange the publication of his plays after his death (the first folio). Shakespeare left them something in his will. What was it? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Shakespeare's theatre company was at one time suspected of involvement in a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I.


Question 7 of 10
7. It was once customary for dances (jigs) to be performed at the end of a performance of Shakespeare's plays. Who was the main performer of these dances? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. How many women were there in Shakespeare's theatre company? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Shakespeare has no direct descendants today. Who was his last surviving descendant? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Which author of plays was a rival of Shakespeare during his lifetime but helped to publish a first folio of Shakespeare's plays after his death and wrote a dedication to Shakespeare at the front. Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which of these places associated with Shakespeare can still be visited today?

Answer: His birthplace

Silver St was bombed in WW2 and the lodging house no longer exists. Blackfriars theatre was demolished in 1655. Shakespeare never went to university (There's no evidence that he did).
2. Which theatre company was Shakespeare working for at the end of his career?

Answer: The King's Men

Shakespeare's theatre company under Elizabeth I was 'The Chamberlain's Men' but when James I ascended the throne, the company's name was changed to 'The King's Men'.
3. What was the name of Shakespeare's youngest brother who is buried in Southwark Cathedral in London?

Answer: Edmund

Mary and John Shakespeare were 40 and 49 respectively when Mary gave birth to her last son Edmund. Edmund appears to have been involved in the theatrical work in London, probably as an actor. He died aged 27, shortly after the death of his own illegitimate son.

His son was christened Edward in St Leonard's church in Shoreditch, known as "the actor's church", but died a month later. Edmund was buried in St Saviour's Southwark, now known as Southwark Cathedral. A plaque can still be seen there in memory of him.

The deaths were probably due to the plague. It is thought that William Shakespeare paid for the funeral because it was a costly one. Shakespeare's brother, Gilbert, also had a business in London. Richard was another brother.
4. Who was the only one of Shakespeare's siblings to outlive Shakespeare?

Answer: Joan

William was the third child of his parents' eight children, and the eldest son. He died in 1616. Anne died in 1579. Gilbert died in 1612. Richard died in 1613 but Joan lived until 1646 (age 77). Joan (whose married surname was Hart) has direct descendants living in the 21st century. Sadly William Shakespeare does not. His line died out with his grand-daughter, Elizabeth.
5. John Heminges and Henry Condell were members of Shakespeare's theatre company who helped to arrange the publication of his plays after his death (the first folio). Shakespeare left them something in his will. What was it?

Answer: Money to buy memorial rings

In relation to Hemmings and Condell, the will only mentions money for memorial rings. Shakespeare's "second best" bed was left to his wife, which has caused speculation about the nature of their relationship.
6. Shakespeare's theatre company was at one time suspected of involvement in a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I.

Answer: True

The Earl of Essex hatched a plot to overthrow Elizabeth I. Before the attempted coup took place, Shakespeare's company 'The Chamberlain's Men' were asked to stage a performance of Richard II for Essex and his supporters. Richard II is a play where King Richard is deposed by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke.

The Earl of Essex was a distant cousin of Elizabeth I. The coup attempt against Elizabeth I failed, but 'The Chamberlain's Men' were suspected of having supported it. In 1601 Augustine Phillips,from 'The Chamberlain's Men', was called before The Privy Council to account for his company's actions.

His explanation must have convinced The Privy Council, as the company was not punished, but played before Elizabeth I on the night before the Earl of Essex was executed.
7. It was once customary for dances (jigs) to be performed at the end of a performance of Shakespeare's plays. Who was the main performer of these dances?

Answer: Will Kempe

Will Kempe often played the comic parts of low ranking characters in Shakespeare's plays, such as Dogberry in 'Much Ado About Nothing'. He would often perform jigs on stage at the end of the plays. He left the company in 1600 and went on to perform his 'Nine Days Wonder', as he called it, when he danced all the way from London to Norwich.
8. How many women were there in Shakespeare's theatre company?

Answer: 0

Women were not allowed to act on stage in Shakespeare's time. All the women's parts were played by boys dressed as women.
9. Shakespeare has no direct descendants today. Who was his last surviving descendant?

Answer: Grand daughter Elizabeth

Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, predeceased Shakespeare, dying at the age of 11 years. Judith, Hamnet's twin sister, had 3 sons but none of them lived to be older than 21. Her first son's given name was Shakespeare. He died aged 6 months. Shakespeare's eldest daughter, Susanna had only one child, Elizabeth, and though Elizabeth married, she had no children.

She was his last surviving direct descendant.
10. Which author of plays was a rival of Shakespeare during his lifetime but helped to publish a first folio of Shakespeare's plays after his death and wrote a dedication to Shakespeare at the front.

Answer: Ben Jonson

Shakespeare sometimes acted in Ben Jonson's plays. During Shakespeare's lifetime, Ben Jonson said some critical things about Shakespeare's writing and made fun of Shakespeare concerning the Shakespeare family's acquisition of a coat of arms, raising Shakespeare to gentleman status.

However after Shakespeare's death Jonson, together with two of Shakespeare's colleagues from his theatre company, helped to gather his plays into a first folio and have them published under Shakespeare's name, including a eulogy to Shakespeare by Jonson. Without Jonson's actions, the world may never have known Shakespeare's plays.
Source: Author Mixamatosis

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