Exam 1

Question 1

What is the fundamental characteristic of Shakespearean comedy according to Northrop Frye?

Answer 1

The green world

The green world is a space where the action of the comedy transforms from the normal world, achieves comic resolution, and then returns to the normal world.

Question 2

C.L Barber in Shakespeare’s Festive Comedy

Answer 2

Comedy is rooted in social traditions and rituals that stretch back to society’s pagan festive holidays. During these times of festivity, society undergoes a transformation as social structures become inverted and misrule reigns. Because of this comic misrule, society is renewed or “clarified” through the process of merrymaking and purgation.

Question 3

What is a soliloquy?

Answer 3

A speech by a character usually alone on stage that verbalizes inner thoughts to the audience.

Question 4

What is the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue?

Answer 4

A monologue is an extended speech by a single character with intended listeners onstage.

Question 5

What is an aside?

Answer 5

Words spoken by a character in an undertone to the audience or to a particular character, which other characters cannot hear.

Question 6

What is the most common verse form used by Shakespeare?

Answer 6

Iambic pentameter.

Question 7

What is an ‘iam’?

Answer 7

A foot that contains an unstressed and stressed syllable.

Question 8

What does pentameter indicate?

Answer 8

Five feet to the measure.

Question 9

What is unrhymed iambic pentameter called?

Answer 9

Blank verse.

Question 10

What are two iambic pentameter lines that rhyme together called?

Answer 10

Couplets.

Question 11

What is the definition of comedy in relation to Shakespearean plays?

Answer 11

A play or story that concludes in marriage, often more than one marriage.

Question 12

What was Roman New Comedy based on?

Answer 12

Greek New Comedy.

Question 13

What are some stock characters found in Roman New Comedy?

Answer 13

• Senex (grumpy old man) * Miles gloriosus (braggart soldier) * Courtesan * Silly son.

Question 14

What are central themes of New Comedy?

Answer 14

• Mistaken identity * Reunion of lost children.

Question 15

What type of plot structure does Roman New Comedy implement?

Answer 15

Five act plot structure.

Question 16

Who is Plautus and what is he known for?

Answer 16

A Roman writer who composed New Comedy plays with slapstick and verbal humor.

Question 17

What is the significance of Plautus’s play ‘Menaechmi’?

Answer 17

It is the basis for Shakespeare’s ‘A Comedy of Errors’, featuring a pair of male twins.

Question 18

Who is Terence and how does his writing differ from Plautus?

Answer 18

A Roman writer known for light comedy of manners and an emphasis on social problems.

Question 19

What is the ‘double plot’ developed by Terence?

Answer 19

A structure in which two separate but related plotlines converge in a play.

Question 20

What is the first act in the five act structure?

Answer 20

Exposition.

Question 21

What occurs during the rising action of a play?

Answer 21

The formation of problems or conflicts in the story.

Question 22

What is the climax in a narrative?

Answer 22

The height of the conflict.

Question 23

What happens during the falling action of a play?

Answer 23

The unraveling of the conflict.

Question 24

What does the resolution in a comedy typically involve?

Answer 24

Conclusion of the conflict, often involving marriage.

Question 25

Humor character

Answer 25

The ability to make the audience smile or laugh e.g. Bottom from a Mid Summer Nights Dream

Question 26

Senex figure

Answer 26

An archetype, as described by Carl Jung, representing wisdom, guidance, and prudence e.g.

Question 27

What is Shakespeare's birthday and death day?

Answer 27

April 23, 1564 (birth), April 23, 1616 (death)

Question 28

Main themes of A Mid Summer Night's Dream

Answer 28

1. Love and the complexities of immature love, unrequited love, and the fickle nature of romantic feelings. 2. Patriartical control on others and how it causes stability but causes chaos for the young lovers 3. How magic is used to disrupt the natural order of nature, such as with the love potion 4. Pureness of the female and how virginity is valued in women

Question 29

Main themes of Twelth Night

Answer 29

1. Characters experience intense passions, sometimes driven by infatuation or illusion rather than genuine connection. 2. How people can be in love with the idea of being in love. 3. Viola's disguise as Cesario is central to the plot, creating a web of mistaken identities and romantic entanglements. 4. Disguise allows characters to explore different aspects of themselves and challenge social norms.

Question 30

Main themes for Much Ado About Nothing

Answer 30

1. The different kinds of deception: Kindly and Evil and when both go too far 2. The complexities of courtship, highlighting the role of social expectations, misunderstandings, and the power of language. 3. Valuing the male word over the female word and the power of slandering. 4. How language is used as a weapon for deception and means of expressing affection 5. The difference in the ideal woman of the time (Hero who is agreeable and quiet) versus the nonideal woman (Beatrice who speaks her mind and is loud (a shrew in other words))

Question 31

Main characters of Mid Summer Night's Dream

Answer 31

**The Athenian Lovers:** Hermia: A young woman in love with Lysander.   Lysander: Hermia's lover.   Helena: Hermia's friend, in love with Demetrius.   Demetrius: Initially in love with Hermia, later with Helena.   **The Fairies:** Oberon: King of the Fairies.   Titania: Queen of the Fairies.   Puck (Robin Goodfellow): A mischievous fairy, Oberon's servant. **The "Mechanicals" (or "Rustics"):** Nick Bottom: A weaver, who is also an amateur actor.     **The Athenian Royalty:** Theseus: Duke of Athens.   Hippolyta: Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus.   Egeus: Hermia's father.  

Question 32

Main characters for Twelth Night

Answer 32

**Viola/Cesario:** A shipwrecked noblewoman who disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and enters the service of Duke Orsino.   **Orsino:** The Duke of Illyria, a nobleman who is deeply in love with Olivia.   **Olivia:** A wealthy countess who is in mourning for her brother. She becomes infatuated with Cesario (Viola in disguise).   **Sebastian:** Viola's twin brother, who is also shipwrecked and presumed dead. **Malvolio:** Olivia's pompous and ambitious steward.   **Sir Toby Belch:** Olivia's carousing uncle.   **Sir Andrew Aguecheek:** Sir Toby's foolish friend and drinking companion, who is also attempting to woo Olivia.   **Maria:** Olivia's clever waiting-gentlewoman, who orchestrates the prank on Malvolio.   **Feste:** Olivia's witty and insightful clown (or fool).   **Antonio:** A sea captain who rescues Sebastian and develops a deep affection for him.

Question 33

Main characters for Much Ado About Nothing

Answer 33

**Beatrice:** A witty and independent noblewoman, niece to Leonato.   **Benedick:** A sharp-tongued and equally witty soldier, friend to Don Pedro. **Claudio:** A young and impressionable soldier, friend to Benedick and Don Pedro.   **Hero:** Leonato's virtuous and gentle daughter, and Claudio's beloved. **Don Pedro:** A noble prince, friend to Claudio and Benedick.   **Don John:** Don Pedro's illegitimate and malicious brother.   **Leonato:** A respected nobleman and governor of Messina, Hero's father. **Margaret:** Hero's waiting-gentlewoman, who is unintentionally involved in Don John's plot.   **Borachio:** Don John's follower, who helps carry out his schemes.   **Conrade:** Another of Don John's followers.   **Dogberry:** A comical and bumbling constable.   **Verges:** Dogberry's equally inept partner.