Shakespeare
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
97 free Shakespeare trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Shakespeare trivia questions with answers. Think you're a Shakespeare expert? Put your knowledge to the test with our comprehensive Shakespeare trivia quiz. From his most famous plays like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet to lesser-known works, this quiz covers the life, times, and literary genius of William Shakespeare. Challenge yourself and discover how much you really know about the world's greatest playwright.
30 of 97 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which English town was William Shakespeare born?
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon, a market town in Warwickshire, was Shakespeare's birthplace in 1564; he retired there and died there in 1616.
Q 02Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet, twin of Judith, died in 1596 at what age?
11
Hamnet was 11 when he died of unknown causes and was buried on 11 August 1596; his twin sister Judith lived on until 1662.
Q 03What did Shakespeare pointedly leave his wife in his will?
His second-best bed
He signed the will within a month of his death, opening it by describing himself as in 'perfect health'; scholars still argue whether the bequest was a snub or a tender reference to the marital bed.
Q 04How many children did William Shakespeare have?
Three
Three: Susanna, born 1583, and the twins Hamnet and Judith, born 1585. Only the daughters reached adulthood, and the line ended when Susanna's daughter Elizabeth died childless.
Q 05Which two monarch-named eras of England’s history did Shakespeare write across?
Elizabethan and Jacobean
Elizabethan and Jacobean: he began writing under Elizabeth I by 1592 and continued into the reign of James I, who made his company the King's Men in 1603.
Q 06Alongside some 39 plays and three long narrative poems, how many sonnets did William Shakespeare leave behind?
154
154 sonnets survive; scholars think he wrote them across his career for a private readership, alongside some 39 plays and three long narrative poems.
Q 07Which candlelit London playhouse did Shakespeare's company take over for winters in 1608?
Blackfriars
Blackfriars, an indoor theatre lit by candles, came to the King's Men in 1608; its intimate, wealthier audience suited the masque-like effects of late plays such as The Tempest.
Q 08In what year did the First Folio gather Shakespeare's plays into one volume?
1623
It appeared in 1623, seven years after his death, and preserved 18 plays that had never been printed before.
Q 09William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, held what profession?
Glover
Glover was John Shakespeare's trade: he made and sold gloves, and also held civic posts including alderman and bailiff, the equivalent of mayor.
Q 10Which rival playwright called Shakespeare an 'upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers' in 1592?
Robert Greene
The jibe in Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit is the first surviving reference to Shakespeare's London career, and it parodies a line from Henry VI, Part 3.
Q 11Which of Shakespeare's tragedies features a Danish prince seeking revenge for his father's murder?
Hamlet
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, detailing Prince Hamlet's quest for revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father and married his mother.
Q 12Which London playhouse did Shakespeare's company build for itself in 1599?
The Globe Theatre
Members of Shakespeare's company built it themselves on the south bank of the Thames, and tradition gives it the motto Totus mundus agit histrionem, 'all the world plays the actor'.
Q 13In what year were Shakespeare's sonnets first published together in a quarto?
1609
Q 21Where do Rosalind, Celia and Orlando take refuge after leaving Duke Frederick's court?
The Forest of Arden
The Forest of Arden, where the banished Duke Senior holds a rustic court; there Rosalind, disguised as the youth Ganymede, tests Orlando's love in As You Like It.
Q 22Which play features a shipwreck, identical twins and mistaken identities in Illyria?
Twelfth Night
Twins Viola and Sebastian are parted by the shipwreck, and Viola's disguise as a boy tangles everyone's love lives.
Q 23What device is at work when the audience knows a heroine only took a sleeping potion, but her lover thinks she is dead?
Dramatic irony
1609: the publisher Thomas Thorpe entered 'Shake-speares Sonnets' in the Stationers' Register on 20 May 1609, and the quarto appeared that year with its dedication to 'Mr. W.H.'.
Q 14Which character in one of Shakespeare's tragedies drowns after going mad?
Ophelia
Polonius's daughter loses her mind after her father is killed and drowns while hanging flower garlands from a willow over a brook.
Q 15Which of Shakespeare's history plays features a notoriously villainous king with a physical deformity?
Richard III
Richard III is a history play portraying the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent downfall of the titular king, who is often depicted as hunchbacked.
Q 16Which playwright succeeded Shakespeare at the King's Men and likely co-wrote his last three plays?
John Fletcher
John Fletcher, who became the King's Men's chief playwright, co-wrote Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen and the lost Cardenio with Shakespeare around 1613; The Two Noble Kinsmen was omitted from the First Folio.
Q 17Which of these is often classed as one of Shakespeare's 'problem plays'?
Measure for Measure
Shakespeare's problem plays, including Measure for Measure, are characterized by their complex ethical dilemmas, dark humor, and endings that are not entirely satisfying.
Q 18Who was William Shakespeare's wife?
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway was 26 to Shakespeare's 18 when they married in November 1582; she outlived him and lies buried beside him in Stratford.
Q 19Which play's love quadrangle of Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena is muddled by fairies?
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, known for its magical forest setting and intertwined romantic plots.
Q 20A misfiring stage cannon set Shakespeare's playhouse ablaze in 1613 during a performance of which play?
Henry VIII
Henry VIII, then billed as All Is True: a cannon fired for the king's entrance ignited the Globe's thatch on 29 June 1613, and the theatre was rebuilt in 1614 with a tiled roof.
Dramatic irony: the audience knows Juliet has only drunk a sleeping potion, so Romeo's grief over her 'corpse' in the Capulet tomb carries a dread the character cannot feel.
Q 24Who is the main antagonist in Shakespeare's 'Othello'?
Iago
Iago is one of Shakespeare's most cunning and manipulative villains, driving the tragic events of Othello through his deceit and jealousy.
Q 25Which play features the line, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players"?
As You Like It
This famous monologue, known as 'The Seven Ages of Man,' is delivered by the melancholy Jaques in 'As You Like It,' reflecting on the stages of human life.
Q 26What was the name of the acting company Shakespeare was a part of, later known as the King's Men?
The Lord Chamberlain's Men
Shakespeare was a shareholder and primary playwright for The Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became The King's Men in 1603 under the patronage of King James I.
Q 27Which Shakespeare play, set partly at Portia's Belmont, turns on a 'pound of flesh' bond?
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a controversial play that explores themes of justice, mercy, and prejudice through the story of Shylock and Antonio.
Q 28What do the three witches prophesy for Banquo, a general in King Duncan's army?
His descendants will be kings
Banquo is told he will not wear the crown himself but will father a line of kings, a promise that later drives the new king to have him murdered.
Q 29In drama, what is the term for a speech in which a character alone on stage speaks their thoughts aloud?
Soliloquy
A soliloquy lets a character speak their thoughts aloud, typically alone on stage, and Shakespeare used the device to reveal motivations and feelings.
Q 30Which Shakespeare play features the bickering lovers Beatrice and Benedick?
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing: Beatrice and Benedick swear off love until their friends trick each into believing the other is secretly smitten, while Don John's slander nearly wrecks Hero and Claudio's wedding.