Shakespeare and the Renaissance

Question 1

What does the word “renaissance” mean?

Answer 1

rebirth in interest of classic culture of Greece and Rome

Question 2

What is the definition of a “Renaissance Man” (person)?

Answer 2

interested in art, science, literature, history, and other subjects

Question 3

What was the main difference between the Renaissance and the Middle Ages?

Answer 3

changes in thinking, religion/ heaven vs concern of individualism/ wordly

Question 4

When and where did the Renaissance begin?

Answer 4

Italy in the 14th. c.

Question 5

Name five characteristics of the Renaissance

Answer 5

capture of Constantinople by the Turks (drove Greek scholars to Italy), Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press, development of finance/ capital investment/ credit led to merchant class becoming larger/ more important, voyages of discovery, humanism, spread of latin

Question 6

What was humanism and who were its two leading scholars?

Answer 6

tried to fit morals of a non-Christian society (ancient Greece/ Rome) into a religious one; Erasmus and More were its two leading scholars

Question 7

humanist who wrote Utopia as a satire of a perfect society because Utopia is Greek for “no place”

Answer 7

Thomas More

Question 8

How did the Renaissance affect the modern world?

Answer 8

brought new ways of thinking

Question 9

What was the reformation?

Answer 9

attempt to reform certain practices of the Catholic Church

Question 10

Who were the two most outspoken leaders of the Reformation?

Answer 10

Calvin and Luther (95 Theses… excommunicated)

Question 11

Why was the beginning of the Renaissance delayed in England?

Answer 11

War of the Roses

Question 12

How did Henry VIII’s desire for a son help bring out a break with the Catholic Church?

Answer 12

he wanted an annulment from Katherine of Aragon

Question 13

List Henry VIII’s six wives, their children, and what happens in their marriage to Henry

Answer 13

Katherine of Aragon- divorced (Mary), Anne Boleyn -beheaded (Elizabeth), Jane Seymour- died in childbirth (Edward VI), Anne of Cleves- divorced, Catherine Howard- beheaded, Catherine Parr - survived

Question 14

Why is Mary I known as “Bloody Mary”?

Answer 14

killed a lot of Protestants and reverted England back to Catholicism

Question 15

How old was Elizabeth when she became queen? How long did she reign? Why was she known as the “Virgin Queen”?

Answer 15

25 years old… 45 year reign…. never married

Question 16

What was Elizabeth’s first act of restoring peace as queen? How else did England prosper under her reign?

Answer 16

reestablished the Church of England (Anglican church) as the official religion… she was a supporter of arts/education, reduced taxes, and supported a strong central gov

Question 17

What event happened in 1588 to ensure the Peace of England?

Answer 17

English Navy defeated Spanish Armada

Question 18

Who followed Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 18

James VI of Scotland/ I of England (Stuart Line)

Question 19

Who was Mary, Queen of Scots?

Answer 19

cousin of Elizabeth I who was beheaded for treason

Question 20

What three things is James I noted for as King of England?

Answer 20

divine right of kings, sponsored English translation of the Bible, patron of Shakespeare

Question 21

What was the most important Elizabethan literary form?

Answer 21

sonnet

Question 22

Name three characteristics of sonnets

Answer 22

14 lines of iambic pentameter, themes of love- especially of a beautiful and unattainable woman, definite rhyme scheme

Question 23

Name three types of sonnets

Answer 23

italian, english (Shakespearean), Spenserian

Question 24

Other poets during the Renaissance were

Answer 24

John Multan, Edmund Spenser, John Donne

Question 25

wrote the epic poem Paradise Lost

Answer 25

John Multan

Question 26

epic poem The Fairy Queen (heroine based on Liz I)

Answer 26

Edmund Spenser

Question 27

metaphysical poet who wrote more on intellectual subjects

Answer 27

John Donne

Question 28

Other dramatists (playwrights) were

Answer 28

Kit Marlow (Dr. Faustus… sells soul to devil), Ben Johnson

Question 29

When and where was Shakespeare born?

Answer 29

Stratford-on-Avon, England on April 23, 1564

Question 30

Who did Shakespeare marry and at what ages? How many children were there?

Answer 30

Anne Hathaway (she was 26 and he was 18)… three children

Question 31

Who did Shakespeare work for and what did he own?

Answer 31

an actor in Lord Chamberlain’s Theater, later renamed The King’s Men in honor of James I… part of the Globe Theatre

Question 32

How many plays and sonnets did Shakespeare write?

Answer 32

37 plays and 154 sonnets

Question 33

How are Shakespeare’s plays categorized?

Answer 33

tragedies, comedies, and histories

Question 34

What are the five big tragedies in Shakepeare’s tragic period?

Answer 34

Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet

Question 35

What is the first folio?

Answer 35

In 1623, seven year’s after his death, Shakespeare’s collection of plays was published

Question 36

What was new about Renaissance Theater

Answer 36

permanent housing

Question 37

What was the general admission for public theatre?

Answer 37

1 penny for those who could afford it; more expensive seating in the tiers

Question 38

people who sat or stood around the stage on the dirt floor

Answer 38

groundlings

Question 39

what indicated a performance

Answer 39

flag flying from the peak; different colors meant different types

Question 40

when did performances occur and why?

Answer 40

during the day because there was no lighting

Question 41

How was setting an atmosphere created in the plays

Answer 41

actor’s dialogue

Question 42

How long did plays last on stage?

Answer 42

11-14 days

Question 43

What was the language of plays?

Answer 43

blank verse because audience appreciated the beauty of the poetry

Question 44

What was the difference between private and public theaters?

Answer 44

private theaters were smaller, more expensive, and indoor