View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Describe Will’s relationship with the prominent group of playwrights in London during his day.
(a) He fit in well with them
(b) He was extremely angry at them
(c) He copied their plays
(d) He did not fit in with them

2. What happened to the members of the important group of playwrights in London during Will’s day?
(a) They all conspired to assassinate Will in the method of Julius Caesar
(b) They all joined the Church
(c) They all left the country
(d) They all died

3. What situation did Will leave behind in London when he went to Stratford?
(a) An ailing father that was close to death
(b) A threat that he was going to be executed for treason
(c) An accusation of embezzlement from the church
(d) A dispute leading to the dismantling and rebuilding of a particular theater

4. What did Robert Greene do to criticize Will publicly?
(a) Made a speech criticizing his work
(b) Published a tract criticizing his work
(c) Complained to the queen about his work
(d) Burned down his house

5. Who took Robert Greene in so that he did not have to die on the streets of London?
(a) Another playwright
(b) A shoemaker
(c) A queen
(d) An actor

6. Which person associated with Queen Elizabeth was executed on accusations of heresy and treason?
(a) The monarch’s daughter
(b) The monarch’s hairdresser
(c) The monarch’s doctor
(d) The monarch’s priest

7. Where was Will’s family living while he was in London?
(a) Paris
(b) Stratford
(c) London
(d) Lancashire

8. What was the name of Christopher Marlowe’s play that was about a Jew?
(a) The Jew of Malta
(b) Tamburlaine the Great
(c) As You Like It
(d) Come Alongside Me

9. What did Queen Elizabeth require of her subjects, no matter what their religious beliefs were?
(a) Tithing to the Protestant church
(b) Attendance of the weekly government-mandated church services
(c) Commitment to marriage
(d) Public baptism

10. Which young aristocrat eventually became Will’s patron?
(a) The Earl of Stratford
(b) King Henry
(c) Queen Elizabeth
(d) The Earl of Southampton

11. Why did Will leave London to return to Stratford?
(a) To go to the doctor
(b) To attend church regularly
(c) To attend a funeral
(d) To raise money

12. Which of Will’s plays does the removal of motivation for characters’ actions NOT affect?
(a) Twelfth Night
(b) Othello
(c) King Lear
(d) Hamlet

13. Where did Will live near the end of his life?
(a) London
(b) Birmingham
(c) Lancashire
(d) Stratford

14. What does Chapter 8 say that Will may have developed towards the Earl of Southampton?
(a) Animosity
(b) Romantic feelings
(c) Sympathy
(d) Apathy

15. Which play does NOT demonstrate a focus on the father-daughter relationship?
(a) The Tempest
(b) Pericles
(c) Twelfth Night
(d) King Lear

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of these monarchs reigned during Will’s career and loved theater the MOST?

2. What was a result of the production of Hamlet?

3. What theater in London burned down towards the end of Will’s life?

4. Which of these was another prominent playwright (and likely the leader) within the theater community of Will’s day?

5. Which of Will’s famous tragedies was written during the reign of King James?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 548 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample