Shakespearean Insults

"[Your] mind is like a barber's chair that fits all buttocks: the pin-buttock, the quatch-buttock, the brawn-buttock or any buttock." A clown says this in which play?


All's Well That Ends Well. The clown says this to the Countess of Roussilon in 2. 2. 16-18


"The gold I give will I melt and pour down thy ill uttering throat". Who says this in "Cleopatra"?

Cleopatra. "Antony and Cleopatra", 2. 5. 34-35


"[His brain] is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage."

As You Like It. "As You Like It", 2. 7. 38-40


"[You] lily-livered, action-taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, super servicable, finical rogue." From 'King Lear'; to whom would you attribute this?

Earl of Kent. "King Lear", 2. 2. 16-17


"[Your] virginity breeds mites, much like cheese." Which play?

All's Well That Ends Well. Parolles said this to Helena in the palace of the Countess of Roussilon. "All's Well That Ends Well", 1. 1. 139


"There's many a man hath more hair than wit." Play, please.

The Comedy of Errors. Antipholus of Syracuse talking with Dromio of Syracuse in 'The Comedy of Errors', 2. 2. 81-82


"We leek in your chimney." Which 'regnal' play?

Henry IV pt. I. Henry IV pt. I, 2. 1. 19


"You sullion! You rampollion! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!"

Henry IV pt. II. Sir John Falstaff was speaking to the hostess Quickly. 2. 1. 58-59


"He neve broke any man's head but his own, and that was against a post when he was drunk.' This was said by a mere boy about whom in 'Henry V'?

Nym. Henry V, 3. 2. 42-43


"He's a tried and valiant soldier." "So is my horse." Which play?

Julius Caesar. Octavian and Antony in discussion. 4. 1. 28-29


"[You] leather-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouch!"

Henry IV pt. I. So said Prince Henry. 2. 4. 68-70


"[Thou] art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrol bitch." Which 'kingly' play?

King Lear. The Earl of Kent to Oswald, steward to Goneril. 2. 2. 18-21


"Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, thou lily-liver'd boy." This is from Macbeth, but who says this?

Macbeth. Macbeth says this to a servant. 5. 3. 14-15


"What do you see? You see an ass-head of your own do you?" Who says this in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?

Bottom. Bottom, with his ass's head, says this to Snout. 3. 1. 111-112


"Scratching could not it make it worse, 'twere such a face as yours." Who says this in response to Benedick of Padua in 'Much Ado About Nothing'?

Beatrice. 1. 1. 126-127


"Some...strange bull leap'd your father's cow And got a calf in that same noble feat Much like to you, for you have just his bleat." Also from 'Much Ado About Nothing', this time with Benedick speaking to whom?

Claudio. 5. 4. 49-51


"Hang! Beg! Starve! Die in the Streets!" I think this quote will be easy for most so fill in the blank. The Play's name, please.

Romeo and Juliet. Capulet says this to Juliet whilst ranting and raving about her proposed marriage to Paris. 3. 5. 192


"Thou hast no more brain than I have in my elbows." The play, please.

Troilus and Cressida. Thersites says this to Ajax. 2. 1. 45-46


"I hate thee, Pronounce thee a gross lout, a mindless slave." The play?

Winter's Tale. Winter's Tale, 1. 2. 300-1


...and last but not least insulting: "If you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt."

The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Thurio insults Valentine in front of a lady. 2. 4. 37-38

Quotes from The Tempest

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare. The work was one of Shakespeare's last works; the play was produced in 1611. In The Tempest, Prospero and his daughter have lived on an island for 12 years. They were stranded on the island when Antonio usurped Prospero's rightful place as Duke of Milan. Here are few quotes from The Tempest.


"None that I love more than myself. You are a councillor; if you can command these elements to silence and work the peace of the presence, we will not hand a rope more - use your authority. If you cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of the hours, if it so hap."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.1

"A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.1

"Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground, long heath, broom, furze, anything. The wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.1

"Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"in my false brother
awakened an evil nature, and my trust,
like a good parent, did beget !of him
A falsehood in its contrary as great
As my trust was, which had, indeed, no limit,
A confidence sans bound..."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"Library
Was dukedom large enough"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"good wombs have borne bad sons."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"Would I might
But ever see that man!"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"Hell is empty
And all the devils are here"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service,
Told thee no lies, made no mistakes, served
Without or grudge or grumblings. Thou did promise
To bate me a full year."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both! A southwest blow on ye
And blister you all o'er!"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"To name the bigger light and how the less"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"violate
The honour of my child."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"You taught me language, and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with't."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"Might I but through my prison once a day
behold this maid. All corners else o' th' earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough
Have I in such a prison."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2

"doublet is as fresh as the first day I wore it?"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.1

"My lord Sebastian,
The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness,
And time to speak it in--you rub the sore
When you should bring the plaster."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.1

"All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavour."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.1

"'Tis as impossible that he's undrowned
as he that sleeps here swims."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.1

"As this Gonzalo; I myself could make
A chough of as deep chat. O, that you bore
The mind that I do, what a sleep were this
For your advancement! Do you understand me?"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.1

"Were I in England now, as I once was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday-fool there but would give a piece of silver. There would this monster make a man--any strange beast there makes a man. When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.2


"Four legs and two voices; a most delicate monster!"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.2

"These be fine things, an if they be not sprites. That's a brave god, and bears celestial liquor. I will kneel to him."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.2

"dropped from heaven?"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.2

"I'll show thee the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries;
I'll fish for thee, and get thee wood enough.
A plague upon the tyrant I serve!
I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee,
thou wondrous man."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2.2

"The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead,
and makes my labours pleasures. O, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father's crabbed,
And he's composed of harshness."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.1

"Poor worm, thou art infected!
This visitation shows it."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.1

"O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,
and crown what I profess with kind event
If I speak true; if hollowly, invert
what best is boded me to mischief: I,
Beyond all limit of what else i' th' world,
Do love, prize, honour you."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.1

"As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.2

"Act to Trinculo Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou! I would my valiant master would destroy thee. I do not lie"
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.2

"What, what did I? I did nothing! I'll go farther off."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.2

"And that most deeply to consider is
The beauty of his daughter. He himself
Calls her nonpareil. I never saw a woman
But only Sycorax, my dam, and she;
But she as far surpasseth Sycorax
As great'st does least."
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.2