Shakespeare Unit

Question 1

What year was Shakespeare born?

Answer 1

1564

Question 2

What is the name of Shakespeare’s wife?

Answer 2

Anne Hathaway

Question 3

What did Shakespeare write besides plays?

Answer 3

Poems and Sonnets

Question 4

Why were theaters closed during the 1590’s?

Answer 4

plague

Question 5

What is the name of the theater that Shakespeare helped build?

Answer 5

The Globe Theater

Question 6

What was the first play performed at this theater?

Answer 6

Julius Caesar

Question 7

What was different about the plays that were performed?

Answer 7

women’s parts were played by men, relied on imagination for the different backdrops, built outside of city to avoid laws, happened in afternoon for lighting, people were notified by a flag

Question 8

What were most of Shakespeare’s writings based on?

Answer 8

history or already written fictions

Question 9

When did the Globe Theater burn down?

Answer 9

Summer of 1613 as Henry VIII was being performed

Question 10

When did Shakespeare die?

Answer 10

1616 of illness

Question 11

How many lines are in a sonnet?

Answer 11

14; three quatrains and a couplet

Question 12

What is the period in which Shakespeare lived in called?

Answer 12

Elizabethan

Question 13

What is thought to be the prefect metal that contained all humors?

Answer 13

Gold

Question 14

Why were bells used?

Answer 14

Church bells announced services and Holy days, gave an alarm for fire or war

Question 15

How was mail delivered?

Answer 15

Riders would travel between posts

Question 16

Explain how men and women dressed.

Answer 16

Upper class wore silk, velvet, or satin; Lower class wore wool, linen, or sheepskin; Everyone had to wear what matched their social status

Question 17

What is a “gentleman servingman”?

Answer 17

the head of all servants; oversaw everything and dressed better than the others

Question 18

What is one of the humors?

Answer 18

fire

Question 19

Define commonwealth.

Answer 19

people of a nation

Question 20

Define conquests.

Answer 20

territories taken by force

Question 21

Define drachmas.

Answer 21

ancient coins

Question 22

Define mutiny.

Answer 22

uprising; rebellion against authority

Question 23

Define woe.

Answer 23

deep suffering

Question 24

Define reverence.

Answer 24

honor; respect

Question 25

Define vanquished.

Answer 25

defeated

Question 26

Define alliance.

Answer 26

union joined for a common cause

Question 27

Define scrutiny.

Answer 27

close, careful examination

Question 28

Define stoic.

Answer 28

a person who shows indifference to pleasure or pain

Question 29

Define tragic hero.

Answer 29

a noble and influential person who meets with destruction because of a personal flaw and because of the opposition of others

Question 30

What is/are heraldry/heralds?

Answer 30

Heraldry is the process of officiating tournaments and heralds are free lancers who specialized in the running and scoring of tournaments

Question 31

What is the rhyme scheme of a sonnet?

Answer 31

abab, cdcd, efef, gg

Question 32

Define tyrant.

Answer 32

a single ruler with absolute power that uses it unjustly or cruelly

Question 33

Define soothsayer.

Answer 33

one who predicts the future

Question 34

Define triumvirate.

Answer 34

one of the three men in a ruling body

Question 35

Define allegiance.

Answer 35

loyalty to a cause

Question 36

Define conspiracy.

Answer 36

group in agreement to perform an illegal or evil act

Question 37

Define underlings.

Answer 37

inferiors; subordinates

Question 38

When did Julius Caesar take place and where?

Answer 38

Rome in 44 BC during an unstable time

Question 39

What was the conflict between Pompey and Caesar?

Answer 39

They are both great leaders and have turned against each other and started a civil war.

Question 40

What does Pompey fear about Caesar?

Answer 40

He fears Caesar’s ambition for power and dictatorship will corrupt Rome.

Question 41

What are the three themes in Julius Caesar?

Answer 41

leadership, friendship and loyalty, and fate and superstition

Question 42

Who conspired against Caesar?

Answer 42

Cassius, Casca, Brutus

Question 43

Traits of Caesar and examples.

Answer 43

overly ambitious: overthrows Pompey to become leader; selfless, honorable: gave money and land to his people after he died

Question 44

Traits of Brutus and examples.

Answer 44

noble: wants what’s best for the general good; manipulatable: unknowingly goes along with Cassius’ plan

Question 45

Traits of Cassius and examples.

Answer 45

manipulative: uses Brutus to do his dirty work; envious: envies Caesar because he will be crowned

Question 46

Traits of Mark Antony and examples.

Answer 46

loyal: did Caesar’s bidding and kept his name good; corruptive: killed the people of Rome after Caesar died

Question 47

Traits of Casca and examples.

Answer 47

disloyal: conspired against Caesar; follower: didn’t object to the conspiracy

Question 48

What does Cassius fear about Caesar being the new leader of Rome?

Answer 48

Cassius fears that Caesar will be a corrupt and a tyrannical leader. Cassius states that Caesar is a predator and pictures the Romans as sheep. “…Why should Caesar be a tyrant? I know he would not be a wolf, but that he sees Romans as sheep; he were no lion, were not Romans deer. What trash is Rome, what rubbish, when it empowers so vile thing as Caesar…”(p. 21). Here, Cassius is conspiring against Caesar while comparing him to dangerous animals and their prey. He also says that Rome will turn into a terrible place with Caesar as its leader.

Question 49

Why do the conspirators contract Brutus to be part of the assassination plot to make their mission appear noble?

Answer 49

The conspirators contract Brutus to be part of the assassination plot because Brutus is ‘popular,’ well-known, and will be followed by the people of Rome. Casca knows this and says, “Brutus sits high in all the people’s hearts. That which would appear offensive in us will seem virtuous because of him”(p. 22). Casca is saying that Brutus is loved by everyone. They need him to get rid of Caesar because if they did it, it would be offensive but with Brutus, it would be heroic.

Question 50

How does Brutus justify his reasons for killing Caesar?

Answer 50

Brutus justifies his reasons for killing Caesar by stating that it is for the general good. He is doing the right thing, in his mind. “…I know no personal cause to harm him, but the general good…The abuse of greatness is when it separates remorse from power…”(p. 22). This shows that Brutus isn’t just doing this to get rid of Caesar, but he is doing it for the better of Rome. He knows Caesar will abuse his power and drive Rome into a dark place that it wont be able to come back from.

Question 51

In Act II Caesar declares, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once.” What does it mean to “die many time” before death? Is fear another way to “die”?

Answer 51

(1) What Caesar means by “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once,” is that being afraid is one, in many, ways to die before actual death. He uses this as a metaphor. (2) Cowards who are afraid and run from fights will only live in fear. They will never experience the greatness of life. They will hide themselves and possibly regret their decisions.

Question 52

Give one example of foreshadowing used in Act II. Provide the example and explain why it is an example of foreshadowing.

Answer 52

One example of foreshadowing in Act II is when Artemidorus reads his letter aloud. It foreshadows the death of Caesar. “…If thou read this, O Caesar, thou may live. If not, the fates are with your traitors”(p. 28). Artemidorus plans to give this letter to Caesar. Caesar can take it or not. The letter states the traitors’ names and their plan. This is definite evidence of foreshadowing because Caesar will die.

Question 53

In Act III Antony speaks in front of the crowd in regard to Caesar’s death. What does Antony say about Julius Caesar? Why is this important?

Answer 53

In Act III, Antony tells the crowd that Caesar was not, in fact, ambitious. He asks the crowd whether an ambitious person would refuse the crown several times. He also mentions that Caesar was his friend, and that the people shouldn’t refuse to mourn for him because he was an honorable man. “He was my friend, faithful and just to me. But Brutus says he was ambitious; and Brutus is an honorable man…he is an honorable man. You all did love Caesar once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then to mourn for him”(p. 33). This is important because it convinces the people of Rome that Caesar did not deserve to be killed, even if the killer, Brutus, was an honorable man.

Question 54

In Act IV Caesar’s ghost appears to Brutus. Why does Brutus think the apparition has appeared?

Answer 54

Brutus thinks the apparition has appeared to give him courage, strength, and support while he battles. The apparition is foreshadowing his death while Brutus is misinterpreting the presence of Caesar’s apparition.

Question 55

Before the battle ends in Act V, Cassius, Titinius, and Brutus have all taken their own lives. Titinius claims, “This is a Roman’s duty to die.” What does Titinius mean by this statement?

Answer 55

Titinius says “This is a Roman’s duty to die,” because it would be humiliating to go back to their own country as a prisoner. He’d rather die than be taken and so would all the others. So, they killed themselves to prevent humiliation and dishonor.

Question 56

Why, at the end of the play, does Antony call Brutus the noblest Roman of them all?

Answer 56

Antony calls Brutus the noblest Roman of them all because Brutus only tried to save Rome from a corrupt leader. Brutus fought for the good of the people, because he believed that Caesar was overly ambitious, while the other traitors did not. “…His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to the world, ‘This was a man’”(p. 45). Here, Antony is saying that Brutus didn’t deserve to die. He was used for his own power and died because of it. He was a good Roman.

Question 57

What is a tragic hero? Give an example of one of the characters who becomes a tragic hero in the play, and what tragic flaw does that character possess that leads to his/her eventual demise?

Answer 57

A tragic hero is a noble and influential person who meets with destruction because of a personal flaw and because of the opposition of others. Brutus became a tragic hero in the play. His tragic flaw was his manipulatable qualities. He trusts too much and can be tricked into doing evil things by Cassius and his other friends because they didn’t want Caesar to be the leader of Rome and many looked up to Brutus. Brutus was a perfect fit. He killed his friend, thinking it was for the good of Rome. In the end, he killed himself because he’d rather die than be taken prisoner by his own country.