AO4

Question 1

In which year did William Blake die?

Answer 1

1827

Question 2

In which year were “The Songs of Innocence and Experience” first published?

Answer 2

1839, twelve years after Blake’s death.

Question 3

Camillo’s real life counterpart was named…

Answer 3

Peretti

Question 4

Cardinal Monticelso is based upon…

Answer 4

Cardinal Montalto, later Pope Sixtus V

Question 5

Why was Webster’s later play “The Duchess of Malfi” considered unusual?

Answer 5

It featured a strong female character as its protagonist

Question 6

Why did “The White Devil” bomb at the Red Bull theatre?

Answer 6

It was considered too intellectual, too political and too dark for the working-class audience. The Red Bull theatre typically performed plays for mindless escapism. The theatre also had a hearing problem and was performed in mid-winter, meaning the groundlings were frozen.

Question 7

How does Isabella de Medici differ between how she was in real life and how she appears in “The White Devil”?

Answer 7

Isabella was spirited and financially independent; her father disliked Brachiano’s reckless spending and decided to allow Isabella to keep her own dowry. She also had an affair, which some historians believe is Brachiano’s reason for murdering her, rather than wanting to to marry Vittoria.

Question 8

At what ages were Isabella engaged and later married to Brachiano?

Answer 8

Engaged at 11, married at 16.

Question 9

Elizabeth I’s Tilbury address 1588 features this famous line.

Answer 9

“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King.” (Elizabeth I)

Question 10

How did Pope Sixtus V describe Queen Elizabeth?

Answer 10

“She certainly is a great Queen.”