Quiz: Shakespeare's Life and Times
What London theater is most associated with Shakespeare's plays?
- The Globe was built in 1599 by Elizabethan actor Richard Burbage's brother Cuthbert Burbage.
Shakespeare's plays were published (as folios)
- None of Shakespeare's plays were published in his life time. After his death, two of Shakespeare's colleagues thought the plays should be published and rounded up what at the time were considered the most authoritative versions of his plays.
A number of scholars have questioned the authorship of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. Which one of these men has NOT been thought to be the actual author of Shakespeare's works?
- In 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court held a mock trial to identify the true author of Shakespeare's works. They ruled in favor of the man himself, William Shakespeare.
Which British monarch reigned for most of Shakespeare's life?
- Elizabeth I, born in 1533, was queen on England from 1558�1603. Her cousin James I took over the throne in 1603 and ruled until his death in 1625.
William Shakespeare was reportedly born and died on what day?
- Church records show that Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, but there are no records of his actual birth date.
Shakespeare's son was named:
- Shakespeare had three children with Anne Hathaway, Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at age 11 in 1596.
What did Shakespeare will to his wife Anne Hathaway?
- Very little is known about Anne Hathaway. She married Shakespeare at the age of 26, he was 18, and they lived apart for much of their lives.
Shakespeare spent most of his career acting in and writing for which troupe?
- Shakespeare began working with the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1594.
Which of these writers was NOT a contemporary of Shakespeare?
- Samuel Coleridge (1875–1912) was actually a noted Shakespearean scholar and poet in his own right.
Shakespeare was born and retired in:
- Shakespeare grew up in Stratford-on-Avon, spent most of his working life in London and retired to Stratford-on-Avon in 1613. He is buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in his home town. Shakespeare's epitaph reads: Good Friend, for Jesus� sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here: Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones.
