Trivia

Who Said What in Shakespeare?

We all know it was Hamlet who wondered whether it was better to be or not to be. Some other quotes may be less well known, but still meaningful in the context of the play. Have a try.

1.' Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince.' - Who says this at the end of 'Hamlet'?
*Horatio
*Osric, a fencing- master
*Fortinbras, Prince of Norway
*his mother Gertrude
2.'Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.' Whose words are these?
*Julius Caesar
*Cinna the Poet
*Marcus Antonius
*Cinna the Conspirator
3.Who says this in what play: 'How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world That has such people in it.'?
*Helena in ' Midsummernight's Dream '
*Beatrice in 'Much Ado About Nothing'
*Miranda in 'The Tempest'
*Cordelia in ' King Lear '
4.'You taught me language; and my profit on it Is, I know how to curse; The red plague rid you, For learning me your language. ' Whose words are these?
*Falstaff in Henry V
*Kate in the Taming of the Shrew
*Shylock in the Merchant of Venice
*Caliban in the Tempest
5.'And thus I clothe my naked villainy with odd old ends stolen forth of holy writ And seem a saint when most I play the devil.' Who says this about himself and in which play?
*Iago in Othello
*Falstaff in Henry V
*Edmund, Gloucester's bastard son in King Lear
*Richard III in Richard III
6.Who does Iago say this to: 'Put money in thy purse.'?
*Othello
*Roderigo
*Desdemona
*Cassio
7.'Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions ?'- Who speaks these words?
*Jessica, his daughter
*Nerissa, her waiting-maid
*Portia , a rich heiress
*Shylock himself
8.' If it were done when it's done, then it were well It were done quickly.'- Words spoken by?
*Macbeth himself
*The Three Witches
*Lady Macbeth
*King Duncan
9.Who, in King Lear, says this about himself: 'I am a man More sinned against than sinning'?
*Lear himself
*Edmund, Gloucester's bastard son
*Kent
*Gloucester
10.Who is this said about in Julius Caesar: 'This was the noblest Roman of them all. All the conspirators save only he, did that they did in envy of great Caesar.'?
*Cinna the Conspirator
*Cassius
*Brutus
*Cinna the Poet

Answers
1. Horatio
In W.J.Craig 's compact Oxford Shakespeare edition of the Complete Works:Act V ,Scene Two, line 373.- Hamlet's mother dies first after drinking the poisoned cup. - Fortinbras is the foreigner who takes over Elsinore after Hamlet's death and organises the funeral. - Osric is a joke in the play.
2. Julius Caesar
II.ii.32 - Has been quoted already in 'defence' of those committing suicidal bomb attacks in the Middle- East.
3. Miranda in 'The Tempest'
V.i.183.- Source of inspiration for Aldous Huxley.
4. Caliban in the Tempest
The Tempest I,ii,363. - Caliban protests against his state of half-animal half-human. - Not unlike Frankenstein 's Monster?
5. Richard III in Richard III
6. Roderigo
Roderigo is rather foolishly in love with Desdemona.And Jago suggests he can buy her. - I,iii.345
7. Shylock himself
III.i.63 - All the others are too short-sighted to see the other side of the coin. - Portia , though a talented 'lawyer', sees the shortcomings in Shylock's character , but is unable to look beyond her 'christian cliches'.- Jessica is not really aware of the causes of her father's behaviour and marries a christian without thinking too much of the injustices done to her (Jewish) people.
8. Macbeth himself
I.vii.1 .- Quite typically Shakespeare represents Lady Macbeth as the temptress and Macbeth himself as the hesitating male who has to overcome his scruples. Inspired by 'Genesis' ? - Later Lady Macbeth turns out to be the weaker and goes mad. - Macbeth faces his fate courageously.
9. Lear himself
III,ii.59 - Lear knows he is not offering a spectacle of great dignity , but remembers it was his daughters who caused his misery.
10. Brutus
V,v.73 - Brutus is portrayed as a noble defender of democracy , killing not for personal gain but for a noble cause. Marcus Antonius , though himself a demagogue , is clever enough to recognise the qualities of his opponent.- Cinna the Poet is mistaken for Cinna the Consprirator by the angry mob. Kind of inside joke on Shakespeare's part?

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