Revision for Midterm

Question 1

What is the line separating the Apron from the rest of the stage?

Answer 1

Proscenium line

Question 2

In the Early Middle Ages, what is the Church’s response to theater?

Answer 2

The Church discourages theater

Question 3

What is the meaning of the passage and who says it: “ Truly, the tree yields bad fruit” (38) ?

Answer 3

Touchstone and he is making fun of Orlando’s poetry

Question 4

What are the three types of Irony ?

Answer 4

Dramatic Irony, Situational Irony, Verbal Irony.

Question 5

Tiresias, the blind man, “sees” the best. What form of irony is this?

Answer 5

Situational irony

Question 6

What is the purpose of the Chorus in Antiquity drama?

Answer 6

To represent the audience’s interrogations and reactions.

Question 7

What are the three unities of Greek tragedy?

Answer 7

Unity of action, unity of time, unity of place

Question 8

Which part of the stage is the most important one?

Answer 8

Downstage center

Question 9

What writing festival did Sophocles win several times?

Answer 9

The City Dionysia

Question 10

What was the name of Shakespeare’s theatre company?

Answer 10

The Lord Chamberlain’s Man / the King’s Men

Question 11

Why does Oedipus wants to find the former King’s killer?

Answer 11

To save Thebes and its citizens

Question 12

What does the comedy focus on?

Answer 12

The fortunes of the community.

Question 13

Complete the sentence:
Tragedy focuses on the misfortunes of __________________.

Answer 13

the individual

Question 14

“The more pity, that fools may not speak wisely what wise men do foolishly”
a) Who speaks this passage?
b) What is it’s significance?

Answer 14

a) Touchstone
b) The line expresses Touchstone’s role as a fool in the court in which he cannot speak freely and must navigate carefully in order to no anger the people of the court

Question 15

What is Verbal Irony ?

Answer 15

When someone means the opposite of what they are saying. E.g.: When Celia refers to Orlando as a “brave man” but then proceeds to mock him (page 49) or when Touchstone says: “Praise the gods for thy foulness” (page 47).

Question 16

What is a catharsis?

Answer 16

The cleansing of the pity and fear.

Question 17

What are the two famous theaters

Answer 17

• The Globe
• The Blackfriar

Question 18

According to Aristotle, why should the reader feel fear in a tragedy?

Answer 18

The main character should resemble the reader, so they fear the same downfall

Question 19

When does theatre become secular?

Answer 19

During the Renaissance

Question 20

Who is suspected of being Laius’ muderer in Act II ? (In Oedipus Rex)

Answer 20

Oedipus

Question 21

Were women allowed to play in theaters in Shakespeare’s time?

Answer 21

• No.

Question 22

Identify who says the following lines, at which moment of the story and what are their relevance: “Meantime, forget this new-fallen dignity/ And fall into our rustic revelry./Play music! And you, brides and bridegrooms all,/With measure heap’d in joy, to the measures fall.”

Answer 22

Duke Senior says these lines at the end of Act V, at the moment of the celebration. He encourages everyone to have fun before they go back to the real life at the court.

Question 23

According to Aristotle, why should the reader feel pity in a tragedy?

Answer 23

The punishment should far exceed the mistake.

Question 24

Who were the actors during antiquity drama? (male or female)

Answer 24

Male

Question 25

What is the meaning of Celia’s name change to Aliena?

Answer 25

She is now estranged from her home

Question 26

In Act IV of As You Like It, what are Ganymede`s (Rosalind) intentions when speaking with Orlando?

Answer 26

Ganymede tries to rectify Orlando`s idealized version of Rosalind. Make him realize that she is a human with flaws.

Question 27

Who says the following lines: “In matters where I have no cognizance/ I hold my tongue” (23)? (In Oedipus Rex)

Answer 27

Creon

Question 28

What is the last year of the period of Antiquity?

Answer 28

476 ACE

Question 29

What rulers reigned during Shakespeare’s time?

Answer 29

1. Elizabeth I (Elizabethan)
2. James I (Jacobian)

Question 30

“The Duke is humorous: what he is, indeed, / More suits you to conceive than I to speak of.”
a) Who speaks this line?
b) What is it’s relevance?

Answer 30

a) Le Beau
b) This shows how the court, unlike the forest, stops people from speaking their minds

Question 31

What is the main difference between the tragic hero and the antihero?

Answer 31

The hero wants the common good, whereas the antihero focuses on individual desires.

Question 32

What do the horns symbolize in As You Like It?

Answer 32

Cuckoldry

Question 33

Give three characteristics of the tragic hero.

Answer 33

Wants the common good, is above the common man and has a hamartia that causes his downfall.

Question 34

What is Dramatic Irony ?

Answer 34

Dramatic Irony is when the audience is aware of something that the characters are not aware of. E.g.: When Oedipus says: “I, as for my own father, Will fight this fight, and follow out every clue, Seeking to seize the author of this murder” (page 12). In this passage we are aware that Oedipus is the killer but the characters are not.

Question 35

According to Aristotle, why should the reader feel fear in a tragedy?

Answer 35

The character should resemble us, so the reader should fear the same downfall.

Question 36

Which character says the following line: “No, no Orlando, men are April when they woo, December when they wed […]” (58) ?

Answer 36

Ganymede (Rosalind)

Question 37

Who speaks theses lines:
“Not as a mocker come I, Oedipus, / Nor to reproach for any former pain.”

Answer 37

Creon :)