Yellow Pages Flashcards
(27 cards)
When was the play original performed?
It was first performed for the wedding celebrations of a nobleman and a woman. It seems quite likely that Queen Elizabeth attended the wedding. The play was performed on January 26, 1595 at the wedding of William Stanley,the earl of derby, to Elizabeth Vere,daughter of the Earl of Oxford.
Explain about the title of the play & the date that it occurs
-the words of Thesus(in act four) indicate that the action of the play occurs on May Day( May 1st). Yet, the title refers Midsummers Eve, which falls on June 23rd. During, Shakespeare’s time it was a time of festivals and frivolity. The play takes this title from this day because of the madness and merrymaking often associated with midsummer festivities
When is it suggested that the play was written & when was it revised?
It is suggested that the play was written as early as 1592.
Revised twice
-1595
-1598
(Variations in the plays style suggest revisions)
How many plays did Shakespeare write? How many appeared in quarto form?
- He wrote at least 37 plays
- 18 appeared in quarto form
What is a quarto?
Is a book that is produce by folding a large sheet into four and then binding the sheets. The result would be about the size of today’s paperbacks
When did the complete works of Shakespeare appear in a single volume? And what was it known as?
- in 1623
- known as the first folio
What is a folio
- a book produced by folding large printed sheets in half and then binding the sheets
What is considered to be the most authoritative of the versions of mid-summers?
The first Quarto
What poetic form did Shakespeare use for writing?
Blank verse
What is blank verse?
It contains a rhythm pattern known as iambic pentameter. Which means that most lines contain five feet(pentameter) and each foot contains an unstressed and stressed syllable(an imab)
What scenes of the play do not use blank verse
The scenes involving the discussions about love are written almost entirely in rhyming couplets. Also some is written in prose
How many lines long is the play? How many of these are prose?
2150 lines long
400 are prose
Prose contrasts strongly with elevated style of blank verse. In Shakespeare’s plays, prose is generally used in letters and other documents, in scenes involving servants and members of the lower classes, in scenes involving madness, and in scenes of comic relief. If servants are speaking nobly, they may use verse, and if nobles are chatting informally they may use prose
Above, aloft
A speech or scene played in the balcony above the stage level or from higher up in the loft
Alarum
A loud shout, it is a signal call to arms
Aside
Spoken directly to the audience or to a specified character and not heard by the others on the stages
Below, beneath
A speech or scene played from below the surface of the stage using a trap door
Exit
The actor leaves the stage
Exeunt
The actors leave the stage
Falls
The character is wounded and falls
Flourish
A fanfare of trumpets,usually announcing the entrance of royalty
Hautboys
Musicians playing wind instruments
Manent
The actors remain
Omnes
All
Sennet
A trumpet call announcing the entrance of a royal procession
