Context

Question 1

Who was Seneca and what did he write?

Answer 1

He was an ancient Roman playwright and was one of the main writers to develop tragedies. His plays involved medieval men, and were violent and sensationalised cruelty.

Question 2

How does Shakespeares Hamlet contrast Senecan heroes?

Answer 2

Hamlet is a Renaissance man, a reflective man, and the play focuses on his individual suffering - it is an elaborate exploration of his mind

Question 3

What play does Hamlet borrow heavily from?

Answer 3

Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ - features a ghost who asked for his death to be avenged, madness and a character called Horatio.

Question 4

What Act was passed due a genuine belief in the supernatural?

Answer 4

The Witchcraft Act in 1542 - which made witchcraft punishable by death

Question 5

What did James I write about the supernatural?

Answer 5

Daemonologie - warning of the dangers of black magic

Question 6

What year was the play first performed and how old was Elizabeth I?

Answer 6

First performed in 1601 and Eliz was 67.

Question 7

Why did Elizabeth make the public feel a sense of anxiety and unease?

Answer 7

She had no children and it was uncertain who would inherit her crown when she died - refused to name an heir.

Question 8

How long had Elizabeth I ruled for?

Answer 8

40 years - her long reign represented a time of peace after the turmoil caused by her father

Question 9

How is Shakespeare about to explore the controversy surrounding the Catholic Church?

Answer 9

He sets his play in Denmark - allowing his to explore these issues without having to worry about the ‘Bishops Ban’ of 1599 which was an act of censorship to ban plays that were deemed blasphemous.

Question 10

How could Gertrude be linked to Mary Queen of Scots?

Answer 10

Like Gertrude, Mary failed to observe a proper period of mourning following the death of her husband, and actually went on to marry the man thought to have murdered her husband.

Question 11

What is a Petrarchan lover?

Answer 11

It is a stereotypical romantic love relationship - in which a women is an untouchable and perfect beauty.

Question 12

How did Elizabeth I maintained her political sway?

Answer 12

By being ‘masculine’ in her control - ‘I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and a king of England, too’ - speech to troops facing the Spanish Armada

Question 13

Why did Elizabeth I construct herself in a ‘masculine’ way?

Answer 13

Due to having to face the deeply rooted misogyny she faced as a female figure of authority in a patriarchal system - she had to be a man in head and heart but play up to her physical female role.

Question 14

What did devout protestants not believe in?

Answer 14

They did not believe in ghosts and protestant theologian often argued that appiritions could only be devices of the devil to disturb and mislead Christians.

Question 15

What did Roman Catholics believe in in relation to ghosts?

Answer 15

They believed there was another possibility, purgatory. A state of moderated torment in which a soul would undergo purification before entering heaven’

Question 16

What happened to Shakespeare’s son?

Answer 16

Hamnet died age 11, 5 years before Hamlet was performed.

Question 17

Who was Elizabeth I excommunicated by?

Answer 17

Pope Pius V - she was labelled a heretic for making England a protestant nation, making her an enemy of the Catholic state

Question 18

Who was Sir Francis Walsingham?

Answer 18

He created the complex spy network and was Elizabeth I’s most loyal ministers. His network unearthed a series of plots to overthrow Elizabeth and replace her with Mary.

Question 19

What was the Sanguine temperament?

Answer 19

Air - considered to be the most desirable - the people were thought to be enthusiastic, active and social

Question 20

What was the Choleric temperament?

Answer 20

Fire - associated with aggressive behaviour, due to an excess of yellow bile in the body

Question 21

What was the Phlegmatic temperament?

Answer 21

Water- associated with listless and unenergetic behaviour, due to an excess of phlegm in the body

Question 22

What was the Melancholic temperament?

Answer 22

Earth- excess of black bile was thought to cause depression

Question 23

What is Humanism?

Answer 23

‘Man is the measure of all things’

Question 24

What was the Renaissance a time of?

Answer 24

Rebirth of questioning and curiosity, direct contrast to Medieval Era which was characterised by the study of religious doctrine and traditional faith.

Question 25

What was the Great Chain of Being?

Answer 25

That God set out an order for everything in the universe - a social order in which the king or queen was there because they had been chosen by God. Therefore, disobeying or betraying the monarch was not just a crime on earth, but a sin against God.

Question 26

What were private revenge acts?

Answer 26

Actions taken by an individual in response to a wrong committed on themselves or their family. Often these ‘blood feuds’ would be settled by a duel or other violent retributive action. However, the person being avenged could be in the right or wrong and yet violent revenge would still be justified, because it was an external threat to a family’s honour and reputation.

Question 27

Who was Niccolo Machiavelli?

Answer 27

He was an influential political thinker of his time and wrote the text ‘The Prince’ in which he suggested that rulers must sometimes act ignobly to achieve their goals - ‘everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are’.