Genres

Question 1

Drama tended to fall into certain genres during the elizabethan period, what were the 3 most popular genres?

Answer 1

• comedies
• history plays
• tragedies

Question 2

True or false? Shakespeare and a lot of other elizabethan comic writers were greatly influenced by the mediaeval times.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

What did mediaeval tales of romance and courtly love lead to?

Answer 3

Led to the development of the romantic comedy, which Shakespeare perfected in Twelfth Night.

Question 4

What do comedic plays deal with?

Answer 4

They deal with the comic possibilities of people falling in love, mistaken identity, combinations of realism and fantasy, family AND show that mistakes can be put right and that harmony is possible.

Question 5

The upsurge in nationalism helped the popularity in which type of play?

Answer 5

History plays

Question 6

Why were history plays so popular?

Answer 6

Cause of the upsurge in nationalism, people wanted to know more about their own country.

Question 7

What did the elizabethans believe about history?

Answer 7

• They believed that history followed identifiable patterns reflecting the will of god.
• and that a country would be punished by god when it strayed from obedience from gods laws.

Question 8

Why would playwrights often turn to ancient history?

Answer 8

To avoid being censored for making political points.

Question 9

Would it still relate to there society at the time if play writers were referring to ancient history.

Answer 9

Yes, because they would indirectly make points about the society of the time. “History always repeats itself”

Question 10

What two themes are prevalent in history plays?

Answer 10

Leadership and power.

Question 11

Why did the elizabethans have a taste (liked) tragedies? [5]

Answer 11

• the heightened emotions
• the sense of a hero struggling against over powering odds
• the triumph of human spirit
• the intense moral concerns
• the violence and bloodshed

ALL APPEALED STRONGLY TO AUDIENCES DURING THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD.

Question 12

Why was there an interest in classical Italian writers like Seneca (tragedies)?

Answer 12

Due to the renaissance.

Question 13

How did Seneca [the Italian writer] influence Shakespeare’s work? [5]

Answer 13

Influenced his work with;
- magnificent language
- violent scenes
- horror
- revenge
- supernatural events

Question 14

What did tragedies allow/examine and portray?

Answer 14

• allowed for the examination of MORALITY
• portrayed the clash between GOOD AND EVIL.

Question 15

How would a trudge die illustrate the mediaeval concept of the wheel of fortune?

Answer 15

By showing a central character falling from a position of good fortune to one of ill fortune.

Question 16

Explain how Shakespeare incorporated the wheel of fortune.

Answer 16

• He would have ‘tragic heroes’ who are often of high birth [like a prince].
• the protagonist faces dilemmas and crisises, often SELF-IMPOSED and must deal with bad luck or the results of his decisions.

Question 17

What is a ‘tragic flaw’?

Answer 17

An innate weakness that a protagonist [ie. prince] will have that can lead to his downfall.