#triviatuesday - Today we bid a “Happy Birthday!” to William Shakespeare. In appreciation of the author-like-no-other, we ask several TriviaTuesday questions.

Since it’s tough to find a birthday card for someone’s 403rd birthday, today we’ll just bid a simple “Happy Birthday!” to William Shakespeare (1564-1616), who “contributed thousands of words to the English language…” *

In appreciation of the author-like-no-other,  we ask not one, but several, TriviaTuesday questions relating to the Bard of Avon:

1. What Shakespeare play contains the most lines?

   2. In what Shakespeare plays did the following expressions appear?

a. “Conscience does make cowards of us all.”

b. “What the dickens”

c. “Lord, what fools these mortals be?”

d. “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

e. “Dead as a doornail”

f. “Parting is such sweet sorrow”

   3. Which MidPointe Library spokesman (whose name was inspired by the Bard) recently turned down an offer to be the “mane” spokesman for the Library of Congress?

Following are the correct answers to Numbers 1 and 2, found in “The Shakespeare Book of Lists -- the Ultimate Guide to the Bard, His Plays, and how They’ve Been Interpreted (and Misinterpreted) Through the Ages”: **

1. “Hamlet” boasts a whopping 4,042 lines.

2. a. “Hamlet”

  b. “The Merry Wives of Windsor”

  c. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

  d. “Richard III”

  e. “Henry VI.” Part 2

  f. “Romeo and Juliet”

  3. On April 1 MidPointe Library officials proudly announced that “Shakespurr,” their friendly, book-loving mascot with a name recalling the Bard, had been offered the prestigious position of “mane” spokesman at the venerable Library of Congress.

However, immediately afterward MidPointe officials breathed a sigh of relief when Shakespurr reminded them that it was April Fool’s Day and that he had just been “lion” about the job offer.

He then continued to amuse a relieved staff with more bad puns.

*From the 2018 “Chase’s Calendar of Events.” The 2019 version is available for checkout at MidPointe Library.

** “The Shakespeare Book of Lists -- The Ultimate Guide to the Bard, His Plays, and How They’ve Been Interpreted (and Misinterpreted) Through the Ages” by Michael LoMonico. Published in 2001 by the Career Press. Available for checkout at MidPointe Library.

If you’re a Shakespeare fan, look no further than MidPointe Library for hundreds of works by and about The Bard! Go to:

www.midpointelibrary.org > Catalog Search > William Shakespeare

Then continue your search for all-things-Shakespeare on thousands of sites in our eLibrary (books, audiobooks, magazines, movies, TV shows, music and research databases) available at:www.midpointelibrary.org > eLibrary.

No library card? No problem! Get your free card at any MidPointe location (Middletown, West Chester, Trenton, Monroe, Liberty Township (2nd floor of Liberty Center) and onboard our roaming “Library On Wheels,” formerly known as the Bookmobile!

You can find images of MidPointe’s beloved lion mascot, Shakespurr, on MidPointe’s social media, at all MidPointe locations and “in person” at special events in the area.

His friendly image also brightens the exterior of MidPointe’s “Library On Wheels.”

P.S. Sometimes he goes along for the ride.