History
Shakespeare Deep Dive Quiz
All 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and the true story behind the Bard of Avon.
All 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and the true story behind the Bard of Avon.
William Shakespeare is credited with inventing over 1,700 words that we still use today — from "assassination" and "eyeball" to "lonely" and "bedroom." This quiz digs deep into the Bard's life, all 37 plays, 154 sonnets, the Globe Theatre, and the Elizabethan world that shaped the greatest writer in the English language.
Each round presents 10 randomized questions from a pool of 50, with four multiple-choice options and instant feedback after every answer. Your final score comes with a performance tier and shareable results.
You'll explore Shakespeare's biography from Stratford-upon-Avon to the London stage, his comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances, the construction and fate of the Globe Theatre, the structure and themes of the 154 sonnets, and the words and phrases he contributed to the English language.
Shakespeare is generally credited with writing 37 plays, though some scholars count 36 or 38 depending on how collaborations are counted. These span comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream, tragedies like Hamlet and Macbeth, histories like Henry V, and late romances like The Tempest.
Theater superstition holds that saying "Macbeth" inside a theater (except during rehearsal or performance) brings bad luck. The play is instead referred to as "the Scottish Play." The superstition may date back to the play's witchcraft scenes or to a long history of accidents during productions. Actors who slip up are traditionally told to leave the theater, spin around three times, spit, and knock to be let back in.
Shakespeare is credited with the earliest recorded use of over 1,700 English words, including "assassination," "eyeball," "lonely," and "generous." However, many of these words may have existed in spoken English before he wrote them down. His plays and poems are simply the earliest surviving written record. Still, his creative wordplay and willingness to coin new terms had an enormous influence on the English language.
Last updated: April 2026