See question thirty-seven. Posthumous Portrait of Shelley Writing Prometheus Unbound, oil on canvas. Keats-Shelley Memorial House, Rome, Italy. Image Wikimedia Commons
Over the next nine days, 46 questions will be posed, one for each letter of the alphabet plus 20 others (There will be six one day). The 20 others appear as duplicate letters, and these duplicates spell out the name of the Roman Fortification which in CE 150 to 160 was the furthest boundary from the city of Rome, and the country that it was situated in. It is a three-word answer with eight letters in the first part of the name and four in the second part; the country has eight letters in its name. BTWFit, as used in the post title, is an archaic term meaning ‘a division of a song, ballad, or story’.
Thirty-six
Nicolas Cage ate a live cockroach for a scene in which 1980s film?
Thirty-seven
The title of which Percy Bysshe Shelley sonnet was the Greek name for Rameses II of Egypt?
Thirty-eight
Which Samuel Beckett play’s characters include Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo and Lucky?
Thirty-nine
Which Persian king was assassinated in 465BC by Artabanus, the commander of the royal guard?
Forty
What is a tropical cyclone that originates in the Northwestern Pacific Basin known as?
Good luck! I’ll post the answers after all the questions have ben asked..
The unaltered title page from 1609 edition of Shake-Speares Sonnets. Image Wikimedia Commons
The first question concerns an event that happened on May 20th and, like the others, is connected to ‘Shakespeare’.
One
On this day, Shakespeare’s sonnets were first published. In what town or city, and in which century, was this?
Answer: London; 17th century.
In London on 20 May 1609, Thomas Thorpe produced the first publication of Shakespeare’s Sonnets — with the hyphen in the name. It’s unclear whether Thorpe used an authorised manuscript of Shakespeare as his source or an unauthorised copy. This publication is the primary source of the sonnets and contains 154 sonnets and the poem A Lover’s Complaint. The sonnets explore themes like time, love, and mortality, with the first 126 addressed to a young man and the last 28 to a woman.
Two
Who portrayed Elizabeth I in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love?
Answer: Judi Dench.
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 romantic comedy film about a fictional love affair between William Shakespeare and Viola de Lesseps during the writing of Romeo and Juliet. The film received critical acclaim, grossed $289 million, and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture.
Three
Falstaff is a comic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from the play … and scenes from Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, by William Shakespeare.
This quote from the text of the Wikipedia article about Verdi’s Falstaff has had a Shakespeare play removed from it. What play?
Answer: The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Falstaff is a comic opera by Giuseppe Verdi, based on Shakespeare’s works. Though not as popular as his earlier operas, it is now part of the standard repertory, championed by conductors like Toscanini, Karajan, Solti, and Bernstein.
Four
In Julie Taymor’s 2010 film adaptation of which Shakespeare play did Helen Mirren play Prospera, Duchess of Milan?
Answer: The Tempest.
The Tempest (2010) is a fantasy comedy-drama film based on Shakespeare’s 1611 play. Written and directed by Julie Taymor, who deviates from the original by changing the main character, Prospero, into a female, Prospera, played by Helen Mirren.
Five
The port-city of Messina is the setting for a Shakespeare comedy. What comedy, and on what island is the port-city of Messina?
Answers: Much Ado About Nothing; Sicily.
Much Ado About Nothing, a Shakespearean comedy, centres on two Messina romances. Claudio and Hero’s love faces challenges from Don John, while Benedick and Beatrice’s witty banter drives the humour.
It Puzzles the Will
It Puzzles the Will. — Hamlet
The title seemed fitting as it’s a Shakespearean quote for a Will-themed puzzle.
The amended title page from first edition of Shake-Speares Sonnets. Image Wikimedia Commons
The first question concerns an event that happened on May 20th and, like the others, is connected to ‘Shakespeare’.
One
On this day, Shakespeare’s sonnets were first published. In what town or city, and in which century, was this?
Two
Who portrayed Elizabeth I in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love?
Three
Falstaff is a comic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from the play … and scenes from Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, by William Shakespeare.
This quote from the text of the Wikipedia article about Verdi’s Falstaff has had a Shakespeare play removed from it. What play?
Four
In Julie Taymor’s 2010 film adaptation of which Shakespeare play did Helen Mirren play Prospera, Duchess of Milan?
Five
The port-city of Messina is the setting for a Shakespeare comedy. What comedy, and on what island is the port-city of Messina?
