Shakespeare quiz questions: the Bard's life, plays and legacy

April 23 is Shakespeare Day, which also happens to be St George's Day. It's the date traditionally given as both his birthday and the day he died, 52 years later. Whether you're putting together a themed quiz night or just want a solid entertainment round, these ten questions cover the Bard's life, work and the weird bits in between.

The questions

1In which English town was William Shakespeare born in 1564?

Answer:Stratford-upon-Avon(click to reveal)

He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 26 April 1564. His exact date of birth wasn't recorded, but it's traditionally celebrated on April 23, since babies were usually baptised within three days of being born.

2What was the name of Shakespeare's wife?

Answer:Anne Hathaway(click to reveal)

They married in 1582 when he was 18 and she was 26. Yes, she shares her name with the Hollywood actress, and no, they're not related. The Hathaway family cottage in Shottery is now one of the most visited heritage sites in England.

3"To be, or not to be, that is the question" is the opening line of a famous soliloquy. Which play is it from?

Answer:Hamlet(click to reveal)

The speech appears in Act 3, Scene 1 and is probably the most quoted line in the English language. Prince Hamlet is weighing up the pain of life against the uncertainty of death. Light stuff for a Tuesday afternoon.

4What was the name of the London theatre most closely associated with Shakespeare's company?

Answer:The Globe(click to reveal)

It was built in 1599 on the south bank of the Thames by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the playing company Shakespeare belonged to. The original burnt down in 1613 when a cannon prop set the thatched roof on fire during a performance of Henry VIII. A modern reconstruction opened in 1997, about 230 metres from the original site.

5In which play does Juliet say "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Answer:Romeo and Juliet(click to reveal)

A common mistake here: "wherefore" doesn't mean "where." It means "why." Juliet isn't looking for Romeo on a balcony. She's asking why he has to be a Montague, the family her own family despises. That changes the whole meaning of the scene.

6How many plays is Shakespeare generally credited with writing?

Answer:37 (some sources say 38 or 39)(click to reveal)

The exact number depends on how you count collaborations and disputed attributions. The Folger Shakespeare Library recognises 37 plays as the traditional count, though modern scholarship has added a few co-authored works to the list. They're usually split into comedies, tragedies and histories.

7Actors and theatre workers consider it bad luck to say the name of one particular Shakespeare play inside a theatre. Which play?

Answer:Macbeth(click to reveal)

It's referred to as "the Scottish play" instead. The superstition has several possible origins: one story claims Shakespeare used real witches' spells in the script and cursed the production. A more practical theory is that theatres in financial trouble would often stage it because of its popularity, so the play became associated with venues that were about to close. If someone slips up and says the name, the traditional remedy is to leave the room, spin around three times, spit over your left shoulder and knock to be let back in.

8Shakespeare's plays contain hundreds of words that had never appeared in print before. Which of these common English words did he popularise: "lonely," "gossip," or "breakfast"?

Answer:Lonely (first appears in Coriolanus)(click to reveal)

He's often credited with inventing over 1,700 words, though modern research suggests many of them already existed in spoken English and he was simply the first to write them down. Still, words like "assassination," "eyeball," "bedazzled" and "uncomfortable" all have their earliest known written use in his plays.

9There's a seven-year gap in Shakespeare's life, from 1585 to 1592, where no records of him exist. What is this period commonly called?

Answer:The Lost Years(click to reveal)

After the baptism of his twins in 1585, he vanishes from the historical record until he turns up in London's theatre world in 1592. Nobody knows for sure what he was doing. Theories range from working as a schoolteacher to joining a travelling theatre troupe to lying low after poaching deer from a local landowner.

10In his will, Shakespeare left his wife Anne a famously odd bequest. What was it?

Answer:His "second best bed"(click to reveal)

It sounds like a deliberate snub, but it probably wasn't. The best bed in an Elizabethan household was typically reserved for guests, so the second best bed was likely the one the couple actually slept in. Anne was also entitled to a third of all his property under the dower laws of the time, whether the will mentioned it or not.

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Ten questions that cover the highlights without needing a literature degree to answer them. If you're running a quiz around April 23, throw a couple of these into your entertainment round. Shakespeare might have died over 400 years ago, but he's still good quiz material.