Shakespeare: Unit 1 Exam Review

Vocabulary flashcards based on Shakespeare's Unit 1 lecture notes, covering historical context, Elizabethan era details, comedic elements, and plot points from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.

Shakespeare's Birthplace and Year

Stratford-on-Avon; 1564

Globe Theater Construction Date

Around 1599.

Impact of Rising London Population on Theater

Major positive impacts, including an economic boost and 50-72 million visits to London playhouses from 1567-1642.

England's Chief Source of Wealth (Shakespeare's Time)

Textile industry, specifically its production and exportation of wool.

Women's Status in Elizabethan England (excl. aristocrats)

Very little legal standing or personal autonomy.

Scolds

Women who expressed their opinions too enthusiastically; punished through physical abuse, bridling, half-drowning, or humiliation.

Wars of the Roses

A series of civil wars between the House of York (white rose) and the House of Lancaster (red rose), culminating in Henry Tudor's victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Henry VIII's First Marriage

To Catherine of Aragon, requiring Papal dispensation due to her earlier marriage to his brother Arthur.

Elizabeth I's Mother and Religion

Anne Boleyn; Protestant.

Significance of 1603 in British History

Elizabeth I dies and James VI becomes King (James I).

Elizabeth I's Reign Context

Female Monarch in a male-dominated world.

Elizabeth I's Ruling Methods

Savvy political maneuvering, confident command, and the 'Cult of Love'.

The 'Cult of Love' (Elizabeth I)

Elizabeth I displayed genuine concern and affection for her subjects, who reciprocated similarly.

James I's Mother

Mary, Queen of Scots.

Challenges Faced by James I

Different church, different customs, and different institutions of government in England and Scotland.

Gunpowder Plot

On November 5, 1605, a group of Catholics attempted to blow up Parliament and kill James I and others (now called Guy Fawkes Day).

Why Macbeth interested James I

Takes place in historical Scotland and deals with witches, both of which were of great interest to him.

King James Authorized English Bible

Authorized for publication by James I in 1611, it has had a huge influence on both Religion and Literature.

Definition of Comedy (Shakespeare's Time)

Any play that included a happy ending.

Old Comedy

An Ancient Greek form that satirized well-known living people and commented on current events.

Characteristics of 'New Comedy'

Derived from Roman dramatists, involves stock characters, and often follows a predictable pattern.

New Comedy often portrays the surprising triumphs of…

The apparently weak over the apparently powerful, youth over age, love over property, wit over authority, and pleasure seekers over prudent calculations.

New Comedy and Rebelliousness

Implies that rebelliousness marks a phase of life, not a precursor to social change.

Shakespeare's Elements of New Comedy

Characters in disguise, separated family members reunited, smart-mouthed servants, cowardly braggarts, a drunkard, a coward, and a fool.

The Marriage Plot in Shakespearean Comedy

Absolutely essential to Shakespeare's comic drama.

Characteristics of Shakespeare's Heroines

Often vocal and opinionated, smarter and wittier than male counterparts, and triumph over constraints placed by men of the time.

Characteristics of Love in Shakespeare's Comedies

Starts with multiple obstacles, always in the eye of the beholder, social standards of beauty mean nothing, can appear highly idealized, can be criticized and mocked, and usually works out in the end despite seemingly impossible circumstances.

Hermia's Options if Refusing Demetrius (MSND)

1) Become a nun or 2) Be killed.

Bottom's Profession

A weaver.

Myth for "the play within the play" (MSND)

Pyramus and Thisbe.

Peter Quince

Carpenter and play director.

Robin Goodfellow (Puck)

Mischievous fairy, right-hand man to Oberon.

Titania and Oberon's Argument (MSND)

Dispute over a boy from India that was Titania's late good friend's child, but Oberon wants to take the boy as a servant, causing havoc on nature.

Magic Flowers (MSND)

When the juice is dripped onto a sleeping individual, it will cause them to fall in love with the first living thing they see upon waking.

Oberon's Mistake with Lysander (MSND)

Oberon mistakes Lysander for Demetrius, putting the flower juice on his eyes, causing him to love Helena and leave Hermia.

Helena's Reaction to Both Lysander and Demetrius's Love (MSND)

She thinks they are mocking her together and angrily tries to run off.

Reason for Bottom's Transformation (MSND)

Oberon wanted Titania, under the flower's influence, to fall in love with a foul creature.

Titania's Love Interest (MSND, after magic)

Bottom as a donkey.

Couples Married at End of A Midsummer Night's Dream

Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, Theseus and Hippolyta.

Demetrius's Love at End of MSND

Still under the flower's influence.

Simultaneous Events at Beginning of Twelfth Night

The lovesick Orsino pining for Olivia, a shipwreck, and Olivia mourning for her recently deceased brother.

Mean-Spirited Elements in Twelfth Night

Revenge, vindictiveness, bitterness, and humiliation.

Couples Married at End of Twelfth Night

Olivia and Sebastian, Viola and Orsino, Toby and Maria.