Quotes: From What Play and Who Said It
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Alonso, Caliban
The Tempest
A shipwreck brings twins to the coast of Illyria, where mistaken identities lead to romantic entanglements involving a lovesick duke and a countess
Twelfth Night
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more
Henry V (Henry V)
Hecate, Siward
MacBeth
Two sets of twins separated at birth cause chaos and confusion when they unknowingly end up in the same city, leading to mistaken identities and comedic mishaps
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows
Trinculo (The Tempest)
Roderigo, Emilia, Cassio
Othello
A Roman general who despises the common people rises to power but is ultimately brought down by his own pride and betrayal by those closest to him
Coriolanus
I am a man more sinn'd against than sinning
King Lear (King Lear)
Duke of Buckingham, Lord Hastings, Clarence, Lady Anne
Richard III
A usurping brother takes over a dukedom, while the rightful duke and his daughter find refuge in the Forest of Arden, where love and disguise intertwine
As You Like It
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
Iago (Othello)
Fool, Edmund
King Lear
A young woman cures a king of his illness and demands the hand of a reluctant nobleman in marriage, leading to a story of pursuit, trickery, and eventual reconciliation
All's Well That Ends Well
My salad days, When I was green in judgment
Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra)
Helena
A Midsummer Night's Dream
An English king with a questionable claim to the throne faces rebellion at home and prepares for conflict with France, culminating in the famous Battle of Agincourt
Henry V
All the world ’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players
Jaques (As You Like It)
Horatio
Hamlet
A young noblewoman disguises herself as a man to test her beloved’s character, while her father sets up a series of casket riddles for her suitors
The Merchant of Venice
Claudio, Don Pedro, Hero
Much Ado About Nothing
A cynical nobleman squanders his fortune on friends and flattery, then retreats into misanthropy when they abandon him, raging against humanity itself
Timon of Athens
A long-lost prince embarks on a journey involving pirates, shipwrecks, and miraculous reunions, ultimately discovering his presumed-dead wife and daughter
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
An English king struggles with rebellion led by Hotspur while dealing with his wayward son, the future Henry V, whose roguish friend Falstaff provides comic relief
Henry IV
A wager on a wife’s fidelity leads to false accusations, a faked death, and eventual reconciliation in this romance tinged with jealousy and magic
Cymbelline
A group of noblemen swears off women for three years to focus on study and self-improvement, only to immediately fall in love with visiting ladies
Love's Labour's Lost
A disguised duke manipulates events to test the virtue of his subjects, while a man must marry a woman he has wronged to save his own life
Measure for Measure
A spirited verbal sparring match between a confirmed bachelor and a witty woman leads to unexpected romance, alongside a subplot of slander and mistaken identity
Much Ado About Nothing