Midterm

Question 1

Markers of tragedy

Answer 1

Order to chaos
Soliloquy
Ends in death
One noble tragedian
Peripeteia
Hamartia (fatal flaw)
Titled for hero

Question 2

Structure of tragedy

Answer 2

Exposition: Sets time, place, scene
Inciting Force: introduces conflict (i.e. catalyst)
Hamartia: suffers from tragic flaw that is directly responsible for catastrophe
Peripeteia: reversal of fortune, impact of harmartia is compounded
Catastrophe: death of tragedian
Denouement: offers a glimpse of restored order with new society

Question 3

Soliloquy

Answer 3

When a character is talking to us in the audience, or no one at all.

Question 4

Blazon

Answer 4

rhetorical catalog of a woman’s beauty (proving beauty by illustrating each part of a woman’s body. Ex: Lavinia in Titus)

Question 5

Sensational body

Answer 5

Body caught in grip of intense sensation. For example, female bodies in horror movies are used for consumption. Technique helps create an identification with the victim and an aesthetic of excess.

Question 6

Early modern stomach

Answer 6

Stomach signified stubborness and was the emotional epicenter of the body. It acts as cook and ethical judge (diverts food accordingly, to brain for brain power, her efor energy, etc. stomach digestion = stomach power). Digestion was a metaphor for assimilating foreign ideology. Uses stomach to highlight power struggle.

Question 7

Body politic vs. body natural

Answer 7

Body politic is the idea of a collective entity containing all people. Phrases such as “we the people”, “long live the king”, represent that idea of a monarchy never dying. Body natural is how we talk about bodies regularly today, as things that are open for decay.

Question 8

Hamartia

Answer 8

One’s fatal flaw leading to downfall (miss the mark, err in judgement)

Question 9

Fate vs. free will

Answer 9

Argument for FATE: Witches’ prophecy predicts the future and all of it comes true, dagger prompts him to act regicide, and Banquo does not make fate happen like Macbeth and yet it does.
Argument for FREE WILL: Macbeth fulfills prophecy through action. He was already planning before to kill the king before prophecy and dagger as the text suggests. Lady Macbeth claims fate does not make events,. Witches also don’t hold any real power or supernatural knowledge within the play based on the play’s structure.

Question 10

Psychomachia

Answer 10

Medieval tradition of non-individualized characters representing a singular emotion on stage (ex: witches as manifestation of Macbeth’s ambition).

Question 11

Geohumoralism

Answer 11

Attributes characteristics in regional terms. There are 3 regions: Northerners, Middlers, and Southerners. Suggests that the body is porous and impacted by environmental factors. Suggests appearance and temperament are impacted by weather.

Question 12

Northerners

Answer 12

Sociable, hairy and soft skin, heavy, great eaters and drinkers, obtuse, inhumane and cruel, valiant warriors, free from jealousy, known as barbaric and unruly (Ex: Macbeth)

Question 13

Ghosts (Catholic vs. Protestant)

Answer 13

Catholic: Ghosts perform God’s work.
Protestant: Ghosts are manifestations of the Devil sent to haunt

Question 14

Suffocation of the mother

Answer 14

Symptoms: Amenorrhea, fainting, hallucinations, excessive passions, hysteria, madness, suicide.
Caused when you do no menstruate. Menstruation signified excess, impurity, and incontinence and it was necessary to purge in order to regulate the female body. Unleashed menses caused disease.

Question 15

Male actors

Answer 15

4 males per company to play females. They had short and slender builds and un-cracked voices. They used egg glaze and crushed pearl cosmetics. (Boys = 10-21 years old, served as apprentices)

Question 16

Motiveless malignity

Answer 16

Evil for no reason other than evil. (Ex: Iago)

Question 17

Strategic opacity

Answer 17

Shakespeare deliberately leaves questions unanswered. Promotes the longevity of his plays because there are different interpretations each time. (EX: Iago’s motivations are unclear)

Question 18

Protagonist vs. antagonist

Answer 18

Protagonist: “first struggler”, the chief actor, the one whose fate matters the most to the story. Should act upon the world, not merely react to it.
Antagonist: “against struggler”, the worst enemy, nemesis, rival. Opposes the protagonist and his/her goals. Brings about a change in the protagonist.
(Argument for Iago as Protagonist: He has more lines, is in more control of the narrative, has more soliloquies, acts on world instead of reacting, his fate matters most in terms of what he does to Othello, and he is more complex and draws the audience)

Question 19

Humoral body

Answer 19

The body is made up of 4 humors. Humors affect the physiological and psychological aspects of the body. A balance is needed to maintain health. They are mediated by climate, diet, and passions.
Humors: medical understanding of the body. Blood = sanguine, phlegm = phlegmatic, black bile = melancholic (Othello), yellow bile = choleric

Question 20

Southerners

Answer 20

Petite stature and build, melancholic, cold and dry, wise and subtle, superstitious, contemplative (Othello).

Question 21

Jealousy

Answer 21

Paranoid suspicion borne out of melancholy. Black bile = melancholic = cold and dry.

Question 22

Handkerchief

Answer 22

Focus on sight, not truth. Symbolizes wedding sheets. Strawberries = evil or deceit. Symbolizes fidelity, family heritage, trust to Othello. Passes between each couple to demonstrate mistrust of women is endemic.

Question 23

Semantic vs. syntactic theory

Answer 23

Semantic theory = Tone. Based on tone, feel of text. What is being conveyed by text. Gives essence of genre (pathos). How it makes you feel (ex: comedies are funny, tragedies are sad).
Syntactic Theory: How a text works. Based on formal structures. (Ex: tragedies use harmartia, comedies end in marriage)

Question 24

Willow song

Answer 24

Evokes innocence, fear of impending death, revulsion at accusation of adultery. Emblem of sorrow, deserted woman. Offers illusory interiority since audience knows popular willow song.

Question 25

Bed sheets

Answer 25

Murder on bed becomes a perverted consummation of wedding night. Trope of death as bridegroom. Space between what a bed is and what it should be. Othello suffocating her on the bed (“yet, I’ll not shed her blood”) is an inverse consummation.

Question 26

Prescription vs. practice

Answer 26

How we see the past vs. how they actually acted.

Question 27

Middlers

Answer 27

Indifferent, moderate, balanced, malleable, they adopt attributes of closest neighbors.