Disguises and ‘bed-tricks’: Shakespeare’s love of deception [quiz]

Although Shakespeare employed disguises in many of his plays for the sake of comedic effect — take Sir Falstaff dressed as the obese aunt of Mistress Ford’s maid, for example — many more of his characters are entangled in other serious, deceptive plots. The majority of disguises are assumed with the sole purpose of concealing the individual’s true identity, many times for the assurance of his or her safety. In fact, most of Shakespeare’s plays address the concept of identity in one way or another. His comedies include great instances of disguise, mistaken identities, tricks, and revelations, which allows yet more characters’ identities to be restored and, ultimately, more lighthearted and amusing stories. However, his tragedies and histories involve more cases of banishment and disownment, where characters are stripped of their former identities. Whether dancing in masques or impersonating another, try out our quiz below to see if you recognize some of the disguises and deceptive plots from Shakespeare’s plays.

Featured Image: “Illustrations to Shakespeare – small rectangle series” by John Massey Wright. CC BY-SA 4.0 via Folger Shakespeare Library

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