Shakespeare Quiz Questions - Exam 1

A tautology is:

the expression of the same thing twice, using different words

England was ruled by which monarch or monarchs when Shakespeare wrote his plays?

Queen Elizabeth I and King James I

What was the typical structure of a theatrical company in Shakespeare's day?

A small group of adult male actors would share risks and profits and also take on apprentices to play female roles.

Which of the following things, according to Hamlet, can express the depth of his grief?

None of these.

Which of the following statements about the first scene of Hamlet is NOT true?

Horatio believes that the Ghost is haunting the castle because of the recent marriage of his widow and his brother.

In Act 2 of Hamlet, most of the characters are preoccupied by which of the following questions?

Why is Hamlet acting so strangely?

Hamlet says that he won't kill Claudius while he is praying because

he wants to make sure that Claudius ends up in Hell.

Which of the following is NOT a reason for the failure of Polonius's "test" of Hamlet's love for Ophelia?

Gertrude refuses to allow her new husband to spy on her son.

In the play-within-the-play, the King is murdered by

his nephew

When Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, England

was officially a Protestant nation.

Which of the following statements about Gertrude is demonstrably true? (In the text of Hamlet, not necessarily in performance.)

The audience is given almost no information about her motivations or private thoughts.

In his "To be or not to be" speech, Hamlet concludes that suicide would be preferable to continuing to live, were it not for...

the uncertainty of the afterlife.

A "memento mori" is

an object that serves as a reminder that death is the necessary end of every life.

Hamlet decides to participate in the fencing match, despite his forebodings, because

he believes there is no point in trying to alter what has been ordained by Providence.

In her account of Ophelia's death, Gertrude emphasizes that

Ophelia was not responsible for her own actions.

In Act 4, Hamlet discovers that Fortinbras is about to

attempt to seize a tiny and useless piece of Polish land.

Claudius and Laertes insist that Ophelia's madness should be attributed to

Her grief over her father's death.

The audience knows the truth about how Ophelia died, even if some of the characters do not. (Base your answer on the text itself, not on possible productions.)

False

The Dance of Death motif in the artistic tradition generally depicts

the skeletal figure of Death leading people of all social classes in a dance.

In the final lines of the play,

Fortinbras expresses his opinion on whether Hamlet would have made a good soldier.

Malvolio's fantasies about being "Count Malvolio" focus on

humiliating Sir Toby.

Shakespeare's audience would have been predisposed to dislike a character described as a "puritan" because

Puritans frequently denounced plays and playgoers.

In his conversation with "Cesario" in Act 2, Scene 4, Orsino does NOT express which of the following opinions?

Love is a ladder by which men ascend to God.

"Fancy" in Shakespeare's time could mean both

love and imagination

Which of the following choices best describes Malvolio's reaction to finding a letter in Olivia's handwriting, addressed to "the unknown beloved"?

He is determined to find reason to believe that the letter was written to him.

Olivia is able to make her own legal and financial decisions because

she is unmarried.

Orsino asks for more music at the beginning of Twelfth Night because

he hopes that if he consumes enough music, he'll get sick of both music and love.

Antonio's expressions of love for Sebastian are

socially acceptable.

Olivia transgresses against the social expectations for women in her society by

actively pursuing "Cesario."

Which of the following qualities was necessary for qualifying as a "gentlemen" in sixteenth-century England?

The ability to live idly without laboring for money (usually on revenue from land ownership).