TOTS - Context, Authorial Methods and Comic concepts Flashcards
What is a soliloquy?
As the character is alone on stage we might expect a soliloquy to express genuine thoughts/emotions.
Why is imagery of hunting, falconry and clothes important?
Hunting and falconry images foreground ideas about social class and gender status. Clothes imagery foregrounds issues of identity and appearance v. reality.
Where is a framing device present in TOTS?
- The Induction is used as a frame, perhaps to distance the audience from the Petruchio/Katharina plot.
-However it contains many key comedic elements suggesting it is significant in its own right.
What is antithesis?
Contrasts used for effect eg at character level or word level.
What is dialogue and wordplay?
Witticisms, puns, repartee and innuendo are key aspects of wordplay.
What are speech features?
Commands, questions and insults are key features of the dialogue.
What is stage action?
Asides, onlookers and comments on the action are often as important as the action itself.
What is the importance of the sequence of the play?
Induction; developed exposition in Act 1; fast moving in Acts 2 and 3; slows down in Act 4 before the climax of Act 5. Each character’s journey through the story. The resolution of the play.
What is the plot and sub-plot of the play?
Petruchio and Katharina main plot; Bianca and suitors sub-plot. Use of sub-plot is typical of dramatic comedy.
What are examples of dramatic spectacle?
eg the on-stage energy of K and P; the combative dialogue between them; the physical energy of the taming scenes in Act 4, etc.
What are stock characters?
Stock characters are archetypal characters distinguished by their flatness.
Give some examples of stock characters in TOTS.
- Drunks and Wastrels- Christopher Sly
- Young Lovers- Lucentio and Bianca
- Disobedient Young Women- Katherina
- Servants and Masters- Lucentio, Tranio and Biondello, Petruchio and Grumio
What is Commedia dell’arte?
A form of 16th-18th century comic Italian theatre based on stock characters.
What is the Shrew and Shrew Literature?
A ‘shrew’ was a stereotypically bossy woman, common in 16th/17th century culture. Talking too much was a key characteristic of a shrew. Many ballads about shrews existed.
What were Elizabethan views on marriage?
In the upper classes marriage was transactional rather than for love. Fathers would choose a husband and provide them with a dowry - usually land, money or other valuables.
