Shakespeare Play Quotations & Revision Flashcards

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering key quotes, speakers, act/scene numbers, contexts, and themes across Shakespeare's plays: Hamlet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, The Tempest, and Julius Caesar.

Who speaks the quote "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"?

Marcellus (Act I, Scene 4)

What themes are associated with Marcellus's quote "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"?

Corruption, political disorder

Who speaks the quotation "To be, or not to be: that is the question"?

Hamlet (Act III, Scene 1)

What themes are associated with Hamlet's quote "To be, or not to be: that is the question"?

Existence, uncertainty, mortality

Who speaks the line "The play's the thing" in Hamlet?

Hamlet (Act II, Scene 2)

What is the context of Hamlet's line "The play's the thing"?

Hamlet's plan to expose Claudius through the play

Who speaks "This above all: to thine own self be true"?

Polonius (Act I, Scene 3)

What theme is associated with Polonius's quote "This above all: to thine own self be true"?

Advice/selfhood

Who speaks "Frailty, thy name is woman!"?

Hamlet (Act I, Scene 2)

What is the context of Hamlet saying "Frailty, thy name is woman!"?

Hamlet's disappointment with Gertrude

Who says "Get thee to a nunnery" in Hamlet?

Hamlet (Act III, Scene 1)

What is the context of the quote "Get thee to a nunnery"?

Hamlet's encounter with Ophelia

Who speaks the line "Alas, poor Yorick!"?

Hamlet (Act V, Scene 1)

What is the context of Hamlet's line "Alas, poor Yorick!"?

Graveyard scene; meditation on mortality

Who speaks the line "The rest is silence" in Hamlet?

Hamlet (Act V, Scene 2)

Who speaks "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" in Macbeth?

Three Witches (Act I, Scene 1)

What themes are associated with "Fair is foul, and foul is fair"?

Appearance/reality; supernatural

Who speaks "When shall we three meet again?" in Macbeth?

First Witch (Act I, Scene 1)

Who delivers the line "Is this a dagger which I see before me?"?

Macbeth (Act II, Scene 1)

What is the context of Macbeth's line "Is this a dagger which I see before me?"?

Immediately before Duncan's murder

Who speaks "Out, damned spot! out, I say!"?

Lady Macbeth (Act V, Scene 1)

What theme is expressed in Lady Macbeth's quote "Out, damned spot! out, I say!"?

Guilt

Who says "A little water clears us of this deed" in Macbeth?

Lady Macbeth (Act II, Scene 2)

What is the context of Lady Macbeth saying "A little water clears us of this deed"?

Immediately after Duncan's murder

Who speaks "Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?"?

Macbeth (Act II, Scene 2)

What theme is associated with "Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?"?

Guilt and irreversible crime

Who delivers the quote "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"?

Macbeth (Act V, Scene 5)

What themes are expressed in Macbeth's quote "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow"?

Time, futility, meaninglessness

Who speaks "Out, out, brief candle!" in Macbeth?

Macbeth (Act V, Scene 5)

What theme is highlighted by "Out, out, brief candle!"?

Transience of life

Who speaks the line "None of woman born shall harm Macbeth"?

Second Apparition (Act IV, Scene 1)

Who delivers the quote "Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until / Great Birnam Wood…"?

Third Apparition (Act IV, Scene 1)

Who opens Twelfth Night with "If music be the food of love, play on"?

Duke Orsino (Act I, Scene 1)

Who speaks/reads "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em"?

Malvolio reading Maria's forged letter (Act II, Scene 5)

Who speaks "I am all the daughters of my father’s house, / And all the brothers too"?

Viola (Act II, Scene 4)

What is the context of Viola saying "I am all the daughters of my father’s house, / And all the brothers too"?

Viola's concealed identity

Who says "Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit" in Twelfth Night?

Feste (Act I, Scene 5)

Who says "This is my lady’s hand, these be her very C’s…"?

Malvolio (Act II, Scene 5)

What is the context of Malvolio saying "This is my lady’s hand, these be her very C’s…"?

His interpretation of the forged letter

Who speaks "The whirligig of time brings in his revenges" in Twelfth Night?

Feste (Act V, Scene 1)

What theme is expressed in "The whirligig of time brings in his revenges"?

Changing fortunes/time

Who speaks "All the world’s a stage" in As You Like It?

Jaques (Act II, Scene 7)

What play does the quote "All the world's a stage" come from?

As You Like It

Who follows "All the world’s a stage" with "And all the men and women merely players"?

Jaques (Act II, Scene 7)

Who delivers "The Seven Ages of Man" speech in As You Like It?

Jaques (Act II, Scene 7)

Who says "O Rosalind! these trees shall be my books"?

Orlando (Act III, Scene 2)

What is the context of Orlando saying "O Rosalind! these trees shall be my books"?

Orlando's love poems

Who speaks "Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?" in As You Like It?

Phoebe (Act III, Scene 5)

Who says "Can one desire too much of a good thing?" in As You Like It?

Rosalind (Act IV, Scene 1)

Who says "The fool, the fool! I met a fool i’ the forest"?

Jaques (Act II, Scene 7)

What is the context/character reference in Jaques's line "I met a fool i’ the forest"?

Touchstone

Who delivers the quote "We are such stuff as dreams are made on" in The Tempest?

Prospero (Act IV, Scene 1)

What themes are associated with "We are such stuff as dreams are made on"?

Illusion, transience, mortality

Who exclaims "O brave new world!" in Act V, Scene 1 of The Tempest?

Miranda

Who speaks "This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother"?

Caliban (Act I, Scene 2)

What is the context of Caliban's line "This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother"?

Caliban's claim to the island

Who says "Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises" in The Tempest?

Caliban (Act III, Scene 2)

Who speaks "Hell is empty, and all the devils are here"?

Ariel (Act I, Scene 2)

Who says "What’s past is prologue" in The Tempest?

Antonio (Act II, Scene 1)

What is Miranda's full quote starting with "How beauteous mankind is!" in Act V, Scene 1?

"How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world…"

Who speaks "Beware the Ides of March" in Julius Caesar?

Soothsayer (Act I, Scene 2)

Who delivers the line "Cowards die many times before their deaths"?

Caesar (Act II, Scene 2)

Who says "But, for mine honour, I will know no personal cause to spurn at him"?

Brutus (Act II, Scene 1)

What is the context of Brutus's quote "But, for mine honour, I will know no personal cause to spurn at him"?

Brutus's internal conflict over Caesar

Who speaks "Et tu, Brute?—Then fall, Caesar!"?

Caesar (Act III, Scene 1)

Who addresses the crowd with "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"?

Antony (Act III, Scene 2)

Who says "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more"?

Brutus (Act III, Scene 2)

Who says "Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war"?

Antony (Act III, Scene 1)

Who delivers the quote "This was the noblest Roman of them all"?

Antony (Act V, Scene 5)

What is the context of Antony saying "This was the noblest Roman of them all"?

Antony's judgment of Brutus after Brutus's death

Who speaks "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars"?

Cassius (Act I, Scene 2)

In which Act and Scene of Hamlet does Marcellus say "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"?

Act I, Scene 4

In which Act and Scene of Hamlet does Hamlet say "Frailty, thy name is woman!"?

Act I, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of Macbeth is "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" spoken?

Act I, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene does Macbeth ask "Is this a dagger which I see before me?"?

Act II, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene does Lady Macbeth say "Out, damned spot! out, I say!"?

Act V, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of Macbeth is "A little water clears us of this deed" spoken?

Act II, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene does Macbeth deliver the "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech?

Act V, Scene 5

In which Act and Scene of Twelfth Night is "If music be the food of love, play on" spoken?

Act I, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of Twelfth Night does Feste say "Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit"?

Act I, Scene 5

In which Act and Scene of Twelfth Night is "The whirligig of time brings in his revenges" spoken?

Act V, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of As You Like It does Jaques deliver "All the world’s a stage"?

Act II, Scene 7

In which Act and Scene of As You Like It does Phoebe say "Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?"?

Act III, Scene 5

In which Act and Scene of As You Like It does Rosalind say "Can one desire too much of a good thing?"?

Act IV, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of The Tempest does Prospero say "We are such stuff as dreams are made on"?

Act IV, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of The Tempest does Miranda say "O brave new world!"?

Act V, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of The Tempest does Caliban say "This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother"?

Act I, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of The Tempest does Caliban say "Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises"?

Act III, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of The Tempest does Ariel say "Hell is empty, and all the devils are here"?

Act I, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of The Tempest does Antonio say "What’s past is prologue"?

Act II, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does the Soothsayer say "Beware the Ides of March"?

Act I, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does Caesar say "Cowards die many times before their deaths"?

Act II, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does Caesar say "Et tu, Brute?—Then fall, Caesar!"?

Act III, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does Antony say "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"?

Act III, Scene 2

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does Antony say "Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war"?

Act III, Scene 1

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does Antony say "This was the noblest Roman of them all"?

Act V, Scene 5

In which Act and Scene of Julius Caesar does Cassius say "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars"?

Act I, Scene 2

Super-High-Yield Quote #22: "Hell is empty, and all the devils are here" is spoken by which character?

Ariel

Super-High-Yield Quote #24: "Cowards die many times before their deaths" is spoken by which character?

Caesar