Death in Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays [quiz]

Mortality is not a theme that Shakespeare shies away from in his works, and in many cases death serves an integral part of a play’s plot. Occasionally his deaths are tragic, others are gruesome and violent, and others are just creative (we’re looking at you, Antigonus), but they play move the play along or resolve its final conflict. Shakespeare’s frequent incorporation of death in his plays is better understood given the context of his time period, where death was a constant, imminent reality. In his sonnets, his thoughts on death are more clearly revealed and are usually expressed in relation to remembrance and legacy. Brutal deaths and morbid thoughts aside, how much do you know about death and Shakespeare?

Image: “Young Man with a Skull” by Frans Hals. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

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