SHAKESPEARE MIDTERM

How many plays did Shakespeare write on the 85 year civil war (War of the roses)

Eight:

-Richard II

-Henry IV Part I and II

-Henry V

-Henry VI Part I, II, and III

-Richard III

What was the War of Roses

The civil war between the House of York (Heraldic symbol: White Rose) and the House of Lancaster (eventually Tudor) (Heraldic symbol: Red Rose)

What is Henry IV mainly about?

Henry IV and how his son, Prince Hal will be heroic and step up to be king. The main theme of the play is timing as portrayed by the characters Percy (lives in the moment for honor and hyper morals) and Falstaff (lives in the moment for fun). Hal must learn from these characters to be a good king, he has to get rid of the two extremes. He has to be calculated like his father, but still have a sense of humor. He has to know when his time to rise up will be.

What is act II of Henry IV?

A relevant satiric point. The stealing of the crown being thwarted by Hal is foreshadowing to the end of the play and reveals Hal’s gift of timeliness

What is Richard III about?

How Richard III is a Senecan Tyrant. He plots and succeeds at stealing the crown from his brother king Edward IV. He manipulates Edward to imprison their brother Clarence to then have him later murdered in the tower. Richard then succeeds at wooing and marrying Lady Anne even though he killed her father in law (Henry VI) and husband. Once King Edward dies, his son Prince Edward is next in line so Richard houses him and King Edward’s other son also in the Tower. He then spreads rumors his nephews are illegitimate to become next in line instead and eventually has them killed after his own coronation. He then has Lady Anne (his wife) killed so he can marry his niece, Elizabeth of York. However, a rebellion begins lead by Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond. He kills Richard and marries Elizabeth instead, ending the 85 year civil war and starting the Tudor period for 160 years (aka the Feudal Age).

What are the ways Shakespeare wrote Richard to make audiences characterize him?

1. Richard is a morality ‘Vice’ → communicates directly to the audience and trusts them. Associated with the snake (Richard hisses his entire opening speech)

2. He is a Senecan Tyrant → no dignity = no Christian morality as measured in bravery and ambition

3. His character has parallels to that of Machiavelli → no morality so he uses force and brutality to achieve power, his rule goes against Divine rule, at the time Machiavelle’s were sneaky and traitorous Italians with a power obsession (the audience would have understood the reference)

What was the point of Richard III?

To show how someone who is evil and charming has fun, like Richard III did. The character was not meant to be psychoanalyzed because of his hunch back birth defect, but instead just read as an evil person. Audiences are meant to admire and be entertained by his evil and question their own ethics, not feel bad for him.

What is common between all three plays?

We know all the character goals and how the play will go all in the first act. Ie Hal says he is not really only a drunk and he will rise up, Percy says he will attempt revenge, Richard says he will try to steal the crown, Oberon will try to keep the baby, etc.

What is Midsummer Night’s Dream about?

It is a comedy play. Residents of Athens mix with fairies from a local forest. Theseus (Duke of Athens) is set to marry Hippolyta (queen of the Amazons) and the fairies Bottom and his friends rehearse a play in the woods to preform at their wedding.

The love square: Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia, but she loves Lysander and her friend Helena loves Demetrius. Hermia is set to marry Demetrius by order of her father, Egues, with support from Theseus. Once in the woods, fairy king Oberon orders the servant Robin Goodfellow to puts a love potion on Lysander and Demetrius causing them both to love Helena instead. Tatiana, Oberon’s wife, is in a fight with Oberon and also ends up using the flower juice love potion, making her fall in love with Bottom (who is wearing the head of a donkey). Robin reverses Lysandeer’s love for Hermia so now each woman is matched with who they love. Oberon disenchants Tatiana and removes bottom’s donkey head after getting the baby. The young couple rejoins the royal couple in getting married, and bottom rejoins his friends to preform the play.

Why is aristotles definition of comedy relevant to Shakespeares comedy plays?

Aristotle defines comedy as lower class common folk acting foolishly so that audiences feel superior to actors. It is where people can screw up and not get hurt. Shakespeares comdies exercise this in that his comedies show how common people are better off being foolish. they also take inspiration from Greek comedies and are relevant and subversive. This is because within the comedy foolishness, Shakespeares wraps up spiritual wisdom in them so audiences will learn to accept themselves for who they are. It reminds ALL social classes they are foolish in the Christian world so they should have fun, thus offering audiences humility.