final Flashcards
What is the purpose of Drama, and by extension, all art? How does one of the plays we read this semester fulfill that purpose?
The purpose of drama is to teach and delight. The play Tartuffe teaches and delights because the show provides a commentary on the negative effects of a society being controlled by religious hypocrisy. The play teaches that there can be negative consequences when too much faith is put into corrupt religious leaders. Tartuffe also delights readers because the show is a comedy and includes a lot of entertaining dialogue and actions from the characters.
What is the role of the Chorus in Greek tragedy?
To comment on the action of the play and provide information to the audience
What do we mean by the word “ethos?” Give an example of an ethical conflict in a play we have read.
The ethos of a play is the character or characteristics as revealed in action or its representation. The characteristic spirit or a person, community, culture, or era as manifested in its attitude or aspirations. An example of an ethical conflict in one of the plays we read was in Oedipus El Rey. Oedipus was staying in the barrio that believed in divine intervention and listened to Shamans and prophecies and practiced religion. Jocasta believed everyone was fated by God. Oedipus did not conform to this ethical standpoint and believed he could make his own fate. Jocasta and Oedipus argued about their believes during the play. Neither of them were correct though because they were both being controlled by society in some way.
How does classical comedy signal a regeneration of society? Name a play in which it does so.
A classical comedy is set up for a wedding to occur at the end of the play to signify the creation of a new generation to return social order to what it should be. An example of this is Tartuffe because Valere and Mariane get married at the end of the play. Social order is incorrect in Tartuffe because a group in France had designated themselves as the primary social group and critiqued Christians.
What is deus ex machina?
God from the machine
What is Hamartia? Give an example from one of the plays.
Hamarita is the tragic error a character makes in a play that the audience can relate to because they could do the same. An example is in Oedipus The King when Oedipus makes a decision with only his best interest at heart without knowing all the factors. He left Cornith to escape his fate of marrying his mother and killing his father because he didn’t know that he was raised by people that weren’t his biological parents.
Which, according to Aristotle, is more important, action or character? Why?
Aristotle said that action was the most important part of a play because it is what drives the plot forward
What is the significance of the name of the estate, Belle Reve, in Streetcar?
Belle Reve translates to beautiful dreams in French. The name is significant in the play because of Blanche’s tendency to cling to her illusions. The term suggests an illusion, which is not quite true, for the plantation really once existed. It means something beautiful has faded away. This is symbolic because the plantation was something that connect Blanche and Stella to each other, but their connection has faded as they’ve grown up and chosen different life paths.
Explain the complicated nature of Troy’s refusal to let Cory play football in Fences.
Troy does not want Cory to play football because he played baseball in high school and always wanted to be a professional baseball played but was unable to because he is a black man and he resented that his son could have the opportunity to pursue professional sports when he was unable to.
What does Ibsen imply about how the marriage of Torvald Helmer’s to Nora took place in A Doll House?
Ibsen implies that Nora’s father had committed fraud and Torvald was sent to investigate the situation and he cleared Nora’s father’s name in exchange for marrying Nora.
How does the father/son dynamic manifest itself in Endgame?
In endgame, the father/son dynamic exists between “Nagg and Hamm”, “Hamm and Clov”, and “The beggar and his son”.
What is the significance of the title of A Streetcar Named Desire?
The play’s title refers not only to a real streetcar line in New Orleans but also symbolically to the power of desire as the driving force behind the characters’ actions.
How do the events of Death and the King’s Horseman invert the natural order of things?
The natural order of life should be that parents die first and their children burry them. Pilkings interference has disrupted the natural order of things and the elderly are causing the young to die.
How is Troy Maxon in Fences like and unlike Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman?
Troy is similar to Willy because both men care a lot about providing for their families and like Willy Troy has an affair. Troy is unlike Willy because Troy makes it very clear that he does not like his son and only cares about providing his basic needs for him, whereas Willy absolutely loves his sons and wants to create the best quality of life possible for them.
How is Hester’s characterization of her children as “treasures” in In the Blood ironic?
Hester refers to her children as “treasures” because she has no belongings and only has her children. It is ironic that she calls them this because they are creating a burden on her and she ultimately kills her oldest son.
