EnglishYears 7–9Reading

Shakespeare introduction

Read and understand Shakespeare: plot, characters, themes and Elizabethan language

What you'll learn

  1. 1

    Imagine you're at a theatre 🎭 and someone says 'To be, or not to be' — that's Shakespeare! He wrote plays over 400 years ago.

  2. 2

    Shakespeare wrote plays about how long ago?

  3. 3

    Build a sentence from one of Shakespeare's most famous lines: 'All the world's a stage'. Tap the words in the right order.

  4. 4

    Let's look at a line from Shakespeare: 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?'

  5. 5

    What does 'wherefore' mean in Shakespeare?

  6. 6

    Here are three things Shakespeare invented: lonely (was 'lonely' before?), fashionable, and even the word 'bedroom'! 🏠

  7. 7

    How many words did Shakespeare invent that we still use?

Practise Shakespeare introduction with Whizlo

Free AI-tutored lessons, unlimited practice questions, and progress tracking for ages 11–14. Aligned to the UK National Curriculum.