Dramas

Eteocles

One of the two brothers who dies fighting Polyneices in Antigone.

Polyneices

The brother who is denied a proper burial as per Creon's decree.

Creon's decree

Eteocles is to be buried with honor, while Polyneices is to be left unburied.

Antigone's sister

Ismene.

Divine law

What Antigone believes she must follow to bury Polyneices.

Penalty for burial

Death by stoning.

Initial action of Antigone

She sprinkles dust over Polyneices' body.

Relationship to Antigone

Creon is their uncle.

Haemon

Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé.

Haemon's persuasion

To convince Creon not to execute Antigone.

Teiresias

A blind prophet who warns Creon about the consequences of his actions.

Antigone's fate

She hangs herself in the tomb.

Haemon's death

He stabs himself after finding Antigone.

Eurydice's action

She kills herself after learning of Haemon's death.

Creon's realization

His pride led to the ruin of his family.

Central theme of Antigone

Conflict between divine law and human law.

City suffering from plague

Thebes.

Cause of the plague

The murderer of King Laius is unpunished.

Previous king of Thebes

Laius.

Creon's role in Oedipus Rex

Oedipus's brother-in-law.

Teiresias's revelation

Oedipus is the murderer of Laius.

Riddle of the Sphinx

What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?

Oedipus's answer to Sphinx

Man.

Jocasta

Oedipus's wife and mother.

Oedipus's prophecy

He will murder his father and marry his mother.

Oedipus's attempt to avoid prophecy

He leaves Corinth.

Where Oedipus kills Laius

At a crossroads.

Jocasta's death

She hangs herself upon realizing her relationship with Oedipus.

What Oedipus does to himself

He blinds himself with Jocasta's brooches.

Oedipus's request to Creon

To banish him and care for his daughters.

Central theme of Oedipus Rex

Fate versus free will.

Central figure in Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar.

Main conspirator against Caesar

Cassius.

Soothsayer's warning to Caesar

Beware the Ides of March.

Caesar's wife

Calpurnia.

Famous speech by Mark Antony

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

Brutus's motivation

To protect the Republic from Caesar's ambition.

Caesar's assassination location

At the Capitol.

Famous last words of Caesar

Et tu, Brute?

Outcome at Philippi

Brutus and Cassius are defeated.

Brutus's method of death

He runs onto his own sword.

Antony's description of Brutus

The noblest Roman of them all.

Political climate at the play's beginning

Caesar returned victorious, raising concerns of tyranny.

Second Triumvirate

Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Lepidus.

Portia's relationship to Brutus

She is his wife.

Central theme of Julius Caesar

The dangers of political ambition.

Shakespeare's birthplace

Stratford-upon-Avon.

Shakespeare's wife

Anne Hathaway.

Historical period of Shakespeare's life

Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.

Shakespeare's acting company

The Lord Chamberlain's Men.

Famous London theatre

The Globe Theatre.

Actors' gender roles

All roles played by male actors.

Audience experience in Shakespeare's time

Lively and interactive.

Three main genres of Shakespeare's plays

Comedies, Tragedies, and Histories.

Soliloquy definition

A long speech revealing character's thoughts.

Common verse form by Shakespeare

Iambic pentameter.