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The Second Shakespeare Challenge |
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Part 2: The Answers
1. When did Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, die?
Correct Answer: c. 1608
Mary Arden Shakespeare died in September of 1608, just as Shakespeare was writing Coriolanus. Many believe that Coriolanus's relationship with his mother, Volumnia, parallels Shakespeare's relationship with Mary Arden.
2. In which play will you find the character Servilius?
Correct Answer: D. Timon of Athens
Servilius, a minor character in the play, is Timon's servant. But he plays a key role in Act 2, Scene 2, when he is sent to ask Lucius for a loan on behalf of Timon.
3. Which was Shakespeare's primary source for The Winter's Tale?
Correct Answer: B. Pandosto
The prose romance, Pandosto, was written in 1588 by Robert Greene. Incidentally, Greene's reference to Shakespeare in his autobiography, Greene's Groatsworth of Wit (1592), was the first literary reference to Shakespeare on record.
4. Which of the following plays did not appear in the 1623 Folio?
Correct Answer: C. Pericles
No one knows for certain why Pericles was omitted from the First Folio, but some critics speculate that it was because the editors of the Folio, Heminge and Condell, believed that the play was the work of more than one author.
5. In what year did Shakespeare buy New Place?
Correct Answer: C. 1597
New Place, one of the largest houses in Stratford, complete with two barns and two gardens, became Shakespeare's primary residence until his death in 1616.
6. Shakespeare's paternal grandfather, Richard Shakespeare, was a farmer in which location?
Correct Answer: A. Snitterfield
Richard Shakespeare was a farmer in the small village of Snitterfield, located four miles from Stratford. Records show that Richard worked on several different farms which he leased from various landowners. Coincidentally, Richard leased land from Robert Arden, Shakespeare's maternal grandfather.
7. Which of Shakespeare's characters said, "I have not slept one wink"?
Correct Answer: C. Pisanio
Pisanio, a character in Cymbeline, is the servant of Posthumus. The weary Pisanio tells Imogen:
"O gracious lady,
Since I received command to do this business
I have not slept one wink." (III.iv.109)
8. Who is King Henry's personal physician in Henry VIII?
Correct Answer: D. Dr. Butts
Dr. Butts was Henry VIII's beloved physician in both the play and in real life. The portrait of Dr. Butts on the right was painted by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543).
9. Akira Kurosawa's famous movie epic Ran is based on which Shakespeare play?
Correct Answer: B. King Lear
In 1985, at the age of 75, Akira Kurosawa directed his masterpiece, Ran, based on Shakespeare's Lear. The movie is being re-released this year for those who missed it on the big screen the first time. The official site should not be missed.
10. Which Shakespearean sonnet begins with the line: "What potions have I drunk of Siren tears"?
Correct Answer: C. Sonnet 119
What potions have I drunk of Siren tears,
Distill'd from limbecks foul as hell within,
Applying fears to hopes and hopes to fears,
Still losing when I saw myself to win!
What wretched errors hath my heart committed,
Whilst it hath thought itself so blessed never!
How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted
In the distraction of this madding fever!
O benefit of ill! now I find true
That better is by evil still made better;
And ruin'd love, when it is built anew,
Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater.
So I return rebuked to my content
And gain by ill thrice more than I have spent.
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