IMPORTANT: Comprehension questions will be in chronological order as you read through the story. Page numbers are approximate, and will vary with different editions of the book.
Section 1: Chapters 1-7
Vocabulary
- adept: very skilled at a craft
- antagonist: a person who actively seeks trouble
- apothecary: a person who manufactures and sells medicine
- countenance: ones facial expression
- expedient: convenient but lacking quality
- infuse: to fill something
- unsavory: foul to the senses
Comprehension Questions
- Widge expected a royal and loving family but was adopted by a cold and unloving doctor. pg. 5
- Widge discovers that Dr. Bright’s sermons were sometimes copied. pg. 6
- Widge says that there were orphans who were unsound of body and mind who were still at the orphanage or who had died there. pg. 15
- Widge doesn’t confront the stable boy because he knows that he is the new boy, and new boys don’t have any rights. pg. 27
- Widge is surprised because his new master has a very mild appearance. pg. 29
- Widge is incredulous when he finds out London has a curfew because London is a symbol of freedom. pg. 38
- Widge needs to change his clothing in order to appear more like a Londoner and less like a country dweller. pg. 39
- Widge passes the time waiting for Hamlet to be performed by watching the traffic on the street. pg. 41
- The house Widge sees has a cross nailed to the door because it is a plague house. pg. 42
- Falconer responds to Widge by saying he was only protecting his master’s investment. pg. 45
- The words, totus mundus agit histrionem, were inscribed under Atlas’ feet, which translates to, “all the world’s a stage.” pg. 47
- Widge’s most pressing problem while copying the play is assigning names to each player. pg. 49
- Many people considered the world of theatre to be immoral, so women were forbidden to act on stage. pg. 49
- Widge became so enthralled in the play that he only cared about whether Hamlet avenged his father’s death. pg. 50
Section 2: Chapters 8-14
Vocabulary
- curfew: a law that requires people to remain indoors during night
- daunting: appearing impossible to complete or achieve
- emphatic: expressing something with force
- furtive: hiding from something, usually from trouble
- innocuous: peaceful, not harmful
- melancholy: a feeling of uncaused sadness
- wince: to jump in anticipation of something painful
Comprehension Questions
- The thought of having to fend for himself in London, and the reward he was promised both made Widge reconsider running away. pg. 52
- Falconer knocks the gravedigger from the play into the drainage ditch. pg. 54
- Widge’s favorite parts of the play are the fencing fights. pg. 55
- Falconer and Widge lose their lodgings because Falconer killed one of the other lodgers in a duel. pg. 58
- Widge escapes from the playhouse when his chasers have to leave to put out a fire. pg. 62-63
- The fire at the theater is extinguished when the sky opens up and rains on it. pg. 64
- Widge is recognized when he runs into the second gravedigger from the play. pg. 67
- Widge says that he came to London to become a player. pg. 70
- The cannoneer and the boy named Nick were the only two members of the company opposed to taking Widge on. pg. 72
- Sander doesn’t mind Widge joining his room because he says it will give him someone to talk to and study his lines with. pg. 75
- Mr. Shakespeare had apprenticed as a glover. pg. 77
- Mr. Shakespeare plays the ghost of Hamlet’s father in the play. pg. 80
- Nick says that “widge” means “horse” where he comes from. pg. 86
- Mr. Shakespeare tells Sander to instruct Widge in laughing. pg. 106
Section 3: Chapters 15-20
Vocabulary
- clamor: a loud noise from a crowd
- concoct: to devise a story or a plan
- cursory: hasty and lacking details
- formidable: forcing respect through power or strength
- shirk: to avoid a responsibility
- sullen: moody or bad tempered
- thwart: to prevent a plan from happening
Comprehension Questions
- Widge is irritated at having to help Sander because he has to set down his playbook. pg. 108
- The sleeves are not sewn onto the costumes so that they can be reused in other plays. pg. 109
- Sander thinks Nick is in no shape to be a part fo the play because he has a bit of a beard and his breath smells like beer. pg. 111
- Jack takes the play book from Widge because he doesn’t trust him. pg. 113
- Mr. Heminges suggests that he and Mr. Shakespeare trade jobs as he is going on stage. pg. 115
- Chriss Beeston thinks Will Kempe left the company to sell Mr. Shakespeare’s plays to other companies. pg. 117
- Widge’s training at the theatre company is different from that of his past in that he is treated as if he has some intellect. pg. 120
- Widge and Julian find that both of their mothers died young, and that their fathers were both criminals. pg. 129
- Widge believes he got all his lines out correctly, but can’t remember for sure. pg. 131
- Mr. Heminges wants to see Widge in the property room to discuss the trouble he had with Thomas. pg. 141
- The company got on the Queen’s bad side when they performed a play that showed a deposition of a ruler. pg. 156
- Julian’s Identity is discovered when her shirt is torn, revealing a cloth wound around her chest. pg. 159
Section 4: Chapters 21-27
Vocabulary
- countenance: ones facial expression
- doublet: a padded jacket worn from the 1300s to the 1700s
- exasperate: to irritate or frustrate someone
- fortnight: a period of time lasting two weeks
- rapier: a thin, lightweight sword with a sharpened point
- succumb: to give in to pressure
- sumptuous: appearing expensive
Comprehension Questions
- Nick is angry because he didn’t know he was fencing with a girl for such a long time. pg. 161
- Nick fights the student when he jokes about Nick dueling with a girl. pg. 165
- The two students run after the tavern owner threatened to call for the constable. pg. 170
- The authorities felt that Nick had suffered enough, and took him to a hospital instead of prison. pg. 170
- Nick is offered the part of Ophelia because Sanders has to focus on Nick’s part, and Sam and James were not old or experienced enough. pg. 174
- Widge is shocked when he arrives at Whitehall because there is no stage. pg. 179
- Widge manages to survive because he says that he becomes Ophelia through some miraculous process. pg. 180
- Widge is transformed through playing Ophelia in that it makes actually want to be a player. pg. 188
- Widge discovers nick stealing a playbook from the Globe. pg. 191
- Nick escapes being caught by tipping Widge’s boat, launching him into the water. pg. 196-197
- The beggar doesn’t want to be seen with Widge and Mr. Armin because nobody gives money to beggars with well-dressed friends. pg. 200-201
- Widge fears what will become of him if Falconer wins the duel. pg. 205
- Simon Bass and Mr. Armin know eachother because they were both members of the Chamberlain’s men. pg. 209
- Julia goes to France because women are allowed to act on stage there. pg. 213