Context

Question 1

Machiavellian characters

Answer 1

Machiavellian villains were calculated and cunning, often the cardinal could assume this role given that he is charming, clever and ultimately evil

Question 2

Revenge tragedy tropes

Answer 2

• death of protagonist
• soliloquies
• murder
• madness
• disguise

Question 3

Catholasism

Answer 3

Catholics were seen as corrupt, not allowed to sit in parliament from 1619

Question 4

Astrology

Answer 4

The study of celestial events in relation to human affairs, horoscopes, link to fate vs free will

Question 5

Lycanthropia

Answer 5

Where man becomes wolf

Question 6

Revenge

Answer 6

Christianity warns against revenge

Question 7

Aristotle’s theory of tragedy

Answer 7

Serious and feelings are the centre of the play, namely feelings of pity and fear

Question 8

Censorship

Answer 8

An Italian setting gave Webster freedom to explore politically unacceptable ideas that would have been dangerous if set in England

Question 9

Mary Queen of Scott’s

Answer 9

Suspected of treason in 1587 and was executed, much like the Duchess who’s power and seemingly Protestant actions

Question 10

Stoicism

Answer 10

Endurance of pain and hardship without complaint or the expression of emotions

Question 11

Link Hamlet

Answer 11

Shakespeare and Webster wrote at a similar time. Familial deception is present in both Hamlet and The Duchess Of Malfi. Also, Bosola and Hamelt are both poisoned with melancholy

Question 12

The four humours

Answer 12

Renaissance doctors used them to explain human behaviour

Question 13

What does excess blood mean

Answer 13

Sanguine, Full of life

Question 14

Example of a sanguine character

Answer 14

Duchess

Question 15

What does phlegmatic mean

Answer 15

Excess phlegm, lack of emotion

Question 16

Example of a phlegmatic character

Answer 16

The cardinal

Question 17

What does melancholic mean

Answer 17

Excess black bile

Question 18

Melancholic character

Answer 18

Bosola

Question 19

What does choleric mean

Answer 19

Excess yellow bile, angry

Question 20

Choleric character

Answer 20

Ferdinand

Question 21

Witches in 16th and 17th century

Answer 21

Females who were old, physically disabled, had a mental illnesses or were widowed were considered to be practising witchcraft. The possession of herbs such as mandrake or cannabis could have resulted in execution by burning.

Question 22

Bedlam

Answer 22

Mental hospital open to the public 1770 which resulted in patient abuse

Question 23

Renaissance scepticism

Answer 23

Challenging common perceptions of truth and morality

Question 24

Features of an Aristotelian tragedy

Answer 24

Minimal sub plot, one setting over 24hrs

Question 25

Renaissance marriage

Answer 25

Marriage was for alliances, love and marriage were separate, to marry for love was foolish.

Question 26

Elizabeth I

Answer 26

Confidence in sexuality, she chose the throne over relationships and the Duchess chooses love over her authority

Question 27

Jacobean drama

Answer 27

Plays exaggerated human situations, violence, selfishness, ambition, evil.

Question 28

Corruption in Jacobean court

Answer 28

838 people payed for the position of ‘knoght’, this made him unpopular as this was seen to corrupt the natural order

Question 29

Great chain of being

Answer 29

God allocated the social hierarchy, to change or disrupt it would be usurping Gods powers and going against him

Question 30

Malcontent

Answer 30

Character who is mistreated and condemns their society. They are willing to use ant means to gain a promotion in society though.

Question 31

17th century independent woman

Answer 31

Women who weren’t displaying veirtues such as chastity, obedience and modesty were seen to threaten the social fabric of society

Question 32

Public executions

Answer 32

Commonly attended by the public and different methods of torture were used to ensure the victim suffered for as long as possible.

Question 33

T.s Elliot

Answer 33

‘Webster was much possessed with death and saw the skull beneath the skin’

Question 34

Momento mori

Answer 34

Symbol of death

Question 35

Jesus before he was crucified

Answer 35

‘Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’

Question 36

Real life duchess

Answer 36

Giovanni d’Aragona. Married in secret and was supposedly went on a pilgrimage with their three children and were killed when found by cardinal brother

Question 37

Elizabeth I at Tilbury Docks

Answer 37

‘I have the heart and stomach of a king’

Question 38

Hubris

Answer 38

Excessive pride

Question 39

Hamartia

Answer 39

Fatal flaw

Question 40

Peripeteia

Answer 40

Sudden reversal of fortune

Question 41

Denouncement

Answer 41

Final part of the play, plot is concluded

Question 42

Catharsis

Answer 42

Release of pent up emotion

Question 43

What does eponymous mean

Answer 43

The main character’s name is the title of the text

Question 44

The Original theatre The Duchess Of Malfi was performed in

Answer 44

Blackfriars , dark and candle lit

Question 45

What influenced Jacobean Theatre?

Answer 45

Aristotelian tragedy and Seneca’s tragedy

Question 46

Body politic

Answer 46

Power is separate from the frail physical

powers of the body and derived from angels

Question 47

Lady Arabella Stuart

Answer 47

James I imprisoned her for marrying in secret. She escaped dressed as a man but was found and imprisoned in the Tower of London where she starved herself.