My kingdom for a horse...

[fajrdrako]

I got this Shakespeare test from 17catherines, who commented in passing that she has read almost all of her "Complete Works of Shakespeare", which is more than I have done - I tend to focus on favourite bits (mostly the ones with sexy heroes: Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, Henry IV, part 1, Much Ado About Nothing, for example) and there are some plays I hardly know at all. But I think I've either read or seen most of them at one time or another. What am I missing? Henry VIII. King John. Others...? I'm always a little fuzzy in memory about All's Well That Ends Well, but not because I haven't read it.

I'm sort of a hopeless Shakespeare fangirl, really.

So the only question I have left is: what question did I get wrong on the quiz?

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King You scored 95%!

You are a king! Wise, powerful, and wealthy, you rule your country with a steady hand and are admired greatly by your subjects. You will be remembered long after you pass from this plane. It's all due to Shakespeare, whom you read and study.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Shakespeareness

Link: The Shakespeare Test written by flimsymonkey on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Comments

[rivier.livejournal.com]

I scored 100%! Cue ridiculous gloating...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Hee - Good for you! You don't need to wonder which question you went wrong on.

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

OH I so know what you mean, about wondering which one was wrong!!!!!!

LOL I got 95 too. I think I'll go through it with the help of Google... Just so that I know.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Eeeh - I got 80%, I'm absolutely HUMILIATED. I'm going back to bed to hide my shame under the pillows.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It was actually fun.... It's a long time since I've done a quiz about Shakespeare! And the questions tended to be about well-known material, not the more obscure stuff.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Aww. You don't need to do that. Just listen to David Tennant or Sam West or one of those great voices doing the Shakespeare readings. That'll put a thrill up your spine!

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

It was fun indeed. Even though I did it 11-ist p.m., when I was still at work Saturday evening LOL

*sighs* The UK-ians are having it good... last night JB was on TV... tonight they can see Mansfield Park with Billie Piper...

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Oh dear you so have a point... DT as Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing...

But then again, DT seems to be brilliant in whatever I've seen him :) *thumbs up*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He's talented, that's for sure. And Benedick is one of my favourite Shakespeare characters - how could I fail to love his version?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's hard for me to imagine Billie Piper as a Jane Austen character. Intriguing, though!

[ceruleancat.livejournal.com]

I only scored 85%, but found the last question really amusing:

King Lear had two selfish daughters. One of them had a name that sounded similar to a sexually-transmitted disease, while the other had a name that was similar to the name of a US President. What disease and what president?
Syphilis and Harding
Hepatitis and Hayes
Chlamydia and Clinton
Gonnorhea and Reagan

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

I wondered, too, and went back. (rest in white - other people: if you've a colored background and don't want spoilers, rip out your eyes. Now.)

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Nope, I got all of these right. I am not 100% which was in B., but it rang the bell. (according to Wiki, A Winter's Tale)
And the last one... I just recently saw The Merchant of Venice to be able to forget it.

LOL I'll go through the quiz tomorrow, with Google on the side. I'll find which one I got wrong. I think :)

Thanks for the help. :)

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

in white

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I missed out on Lear, I guess. :-/ Well.
Re 11 no, but I have now added them to my to-check-out list LOL
Re 12 - Well there was a recent (2004) film with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes... I mean... I am bound to remember such a line, especially delivered by Pacino!
Re 17 Please! Rupert Everett as Oberon! And Calista Flockhart as Helena. Umm yes!
Re 20. That one occurs at least twice in Bujold, I think. First in Barrayar, when Padma is discussing getting young Aral drunk, and I think another time when Galen fast penta-s Miles. No?

LOL oh it's fun to discuss the Bard, isn't it?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you - it seems likely (by memory) that the one I missed was #4, not that I remember what I said.

This whets my appetite for Shakespeare!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

(according to Wiki, A Winter's Tale)

I got that one because I just saw that play at the NAC a couple of years ago. Had to stop to think for a bit for the title - "The play where the statue comes alive" - but I remembered about the location.

Did you see the movie version of "A Merchant of Venice" with Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes? I thought it was wonderful.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, one of the real charms of that test was its sense of humour and word play - I think Shakespeare would have liked it.

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

I missed out on Lear, I guess.
I do crosswords - Regan appears from time to time. :<)

That one [iambic pentameter] occurs at least twice in Bujold, I think. I believe you are correct, although I don't recall the instances. But it doesn't appear with reference to Sh., does it? - you're expected to know that. ;<)

And getting through some of the other questions was facilitated by D L Sayers, to whom I'm indebted for many prods and nudges.

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Well on the second occasion Miles is reciting Richard III... I do not atm recall if 'iambic pentameter' was mentioned explicitly... *wanders off to check* Yep, it is.
Hmm. Actually, neither Sh. nor Richard III is mentioned... only the beginning words and the fact that it's a play...

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

Ah. THanks. I'm not familiar with that one, except for the title. At the end of Shakespeare in Love, it sounded like he was going to set one in the Bahamas. ;<)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

am bound to remember such a line, especially delivered by Pacino!


Wasn't he wonderful? That's probably why I got that one right...!

Calista Flockhart always strikes me as a little creepy but I loved Everett as Oberon - another of my favourite Shakespeare roles - and Stanley Tucci was great as Puck.

Re quotes: there are times when listening to Shakespeare that I think I'm hearing a litany of Agatha Christies titles.

Yes, I love discussing Shakespeare. There's my guilty fannish secret!

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Pacino was indeed wonderful. I rather liked the entire production, actually.

I didn't mind Calista Flockhart. Despite having seen the play in various renditions, she was the first one who delivered the line 'We should be wooed and were not made to woo' in a way that just made sense to me.
And I so loved the mudfight scene...
But Everett as Oberon... there are times when he looks at Titania and I just wish that some man, some day, will look that way towards me... LOL I know, I know.
And Stanley Tucci was indeed fab :)

Eh... I never could get very much into detective novels, I don't know why. Well I know - because usually either the reader knows a lot more than the detective, or vice versa, and that's not so much fun...

If Shakespeare's a guilty fannish secret... I would say things are badly off. He is, in my view, among the places to start when fangirling (or fanboying) about. But then again, my upbringing may be giving me a slight bias in the area. LOL

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Pacino was indeed wonderful. I rather liked the entire production, actually.

So did I. I thought Jeremy Irons was wonderful too, and at his sexiest. I don't usually like Joseph Fiennes - I find him bland - but he was fine. Lynn Collins as Portia was great, too. Beautiful cinematography. Good intepretation of the material all around. Oh, yes, wonderful movie... I have a copy, but haven't watched it for a while.

my upbringing may be giving me a slight bias in the area. LOL

We are both corrupted by the vile influence of the theatre! Isn't it wonderful?

I've talked to a number of people lately (like commodorified who don't like Hamlet - the character, not necessarily the play. I have adored Hamlet as the perfect byronic hero since I was twelve. Angsty, tormented and articulate - what's not to love?