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Quiz about Shakespeare Authorship Controversy
Quiz about Shakespeare Authorship Controversy

Shakespeare Authorship Controversy Quiz


Did Shakespeare really write Shakespeare? Some think not, and they advance Edward de Vere as the true author. This quiz looks at those claims and at Shakespeare's life.

A multiple-choice quiz by skylarb. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
skylarb
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
114,344
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
1052
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Less is known about Shakespeare than any other playwright of his time. Whereas we have many surviving documents containing the original writings of other playwrights, we have no such documents from Shakespeare, and only six signatures.


Question 2 of 10
2. William Shakespeare is known to have acted in at least one of Ben Jonson's plays.


Question 3 of 10
3. Those who support Shakespearean authorship of the plays (rather than crediting them to some other author using Shakespeare as a pseudonym) are called _________. Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Those who believe Edward de Vere really wrote Shakespeare's plays are called _________. Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Those who believe Edward de Vere wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare offer a variety of evidence. Which of these is _not_ used either to support de Vere's authorship or to question Shakespeare's? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Shakespeare mentioned his plays in his will.


Question 7 of 10
7. Shakespeare didn't mention his library in his will.


Question 8 of 10
8. One of the publishers of the First Folio was Edward de Vere's brother-in-law.


Question 9 of 10
9. Which of the following figures has NOT expressed doubts as to whether Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon really wrote the plays attributed to him? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Why do those who support de Vere's authorship say he didn't claim credit? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Less is known about Shakespeare than any other playwright of his time. Whereas we have many surviving documents containing the original writings of other playwrights, we have no such documents from Shakespeare, and only six signatures.

Answer: False

According to David Kathman, "The amount and type of evidence linking William Shakespeare of Stratford with the works attributed to him is extremely comparable to the parallel evidence for virtually any contemporary of his, and in most cases is much better." (See http://shakespeareauthorship.com/ox3.html.) We do have only six surviving signatures of Shakespeare. However, we do not have many surviving documents containing the signatures--let alone the writings--of other playwrights either. We have only one signature from Marlowe, for instance, and none at all from Webster.
2. William Shakespeare is known to have acted in at least one of Ben Jonson's plays.

Answer: True

He is in the cast list for "Every Man In His Humour."
3. Those who support Shakespearean authorship of the plays (rather than crediting them to some other author using Shakespeare as a pseudonym) are called _________.

Answer: Stratfordians

The majority of scholars believe that Shakespeare really wrote the plays attributed to him, but some have suggested others for the role. Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the strongest contenders.
4. Those who believe Edward de Vere really wrote Shakespeare's plays are called _________.

Answer: Oxfordians

Edward de Vere was the Earl of Oxford, hence the name Oxfordians. The Shakespeare Oxford Society was incorporated in 1957 in order to research, discuss, and support this view.
5. Those who believe Edward de Vere wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare offer a variety of evidence. Which of these is _not_ used either to support de Vere's authorship or to question Shakespeare's?

Answer: Shakespeare of Stratford died before "The Tempest" was written

Actually, it is Oxford who died before the last plays were written--at least if we base the chronology on when the plays were produced and performed. Oxford died in 1604, and "The Tempest" was produced as late as 1611. Oxfordians argue that the plays were written before de Vere's death and produced later.
6. Shakespeare mentioned his plays in his will.

Answer: False

He did not, but Stratfordians do not consider this at all suspicious, since the company, and not he, would have owned them.
7. Shakespeare didn't mention his library in his will.

Answer: True

Those who protest Shakespeare's authorship find this very odd. Stratfordians, however, do not, since it was not common to mention one's library in one's will. Francis Bacon did not mention his either.
8. One of the publishers of the First Folio was Edward de Vere's brother-in-law.

Answer: True

Heminges and Condell introduced the First Folio, attributing the plays at that time to Shakespeare.
9. Which of the following figures has NOT expressed doubts as to whether Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon really wrote the plays attributed to him?

Answer: Ben Jonson

In an introduction to a book entitled "The Mysterious William Shakespeare," (by Charlton Ogburn) Blackmun said, "If I had to cast my vote . . . it would be for the Oxfordians." Mark Twain questioned Shakespearean authorship in his essay "Is Shakespeare Dead?" Emerson said he could not "marry" the facts of Shakespeare's common life as a "jovial actor" to his verse. James referred to the "divine William" as "the biggest and most successful fraud ever practiced on a patient world." Ben Jonson is the only contemporary of Shakespeare on the list, and he credited Shakespeare with authorship of the plays.

These quotes are drawn from "The Shakespeare Authorship Page" at http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com.
10. Why do those who support de Vere's authorship say he didn't claim credit?

Answer: Renaissance courtiers were forbidden to publish poetry

"The Shakespeare Authorship Page" claims that a prohibition against publishing poetry was the "unwritten code of the court." Shakespeare's plays were quite popular in his own day, and no one seems to have thought the sonnets were the work of a homosexual, so these are not reasons advanced for de Vere's failure to take credit.
Source: Author skylarb

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