Shakespeare Midterm S25

How many lines make up a traditional sonnet?

14 lines

The basic Petrarchan sonnet is split into 2 sections, the octave and the sestet; the English sonnet is traditionally thought of as divided into four sections/ How many lines are in each section of an English sonnet?

1. Section 1: 4

2. Section 2: 4

3. Section 3: 4

4. Section 4: 2

In which language did Petrarch write his sonnets?

Italian

How many poetic feet are in a line of iambic pentameter?

5

Out of theses words which one is uniequivocally iambic word:

Anxious

Departed

Arrange

Amble

*uneqivocally = absolute*

Arrange

What is the extended metaphor/analogy in the second half of Shakespeare’s “rival poet’ Sonnet 80 (O’ How I faint when I of you do write)? 

The love’s worth is compared to the ocean and the speaker compares themselves to a fragile boat navigating the ocean while competing with stronger boats (better poets).

Complete the first line of Shakespeare’s first sonnet:

From Fairest creatures we desire increase.

What is Shakespeare’s main request to the young man in his early sonnets # 1-17? 

Shakespeare request the young man to bear children because they can’t waste their youth/beauty.

What happens to the name that the speaker writes in the sand in Spenser’s sonnet “One day I wrote her name upon the strand”? 

It washes away in the tides.

The speaker in Spenser’s sonnet tells his beloved that she will live forever “by fame.” What does he say will “eternize” her?

The speaker’s poetry/verses will enternize his beloved.

In which town was Shakespeare born?

Market town in Stratford-upon-Avon 

When was Shakespeare born and year of death?

Shakespeare was born in the year 1564 and died in the year 1616. 

Name of Shakespeare’s son

Hamnet

What are the titles of Shakespeare’s long, non-dramatic poems

Venus and Adonis and The Rap elf Lucrece

Name the Play company Shakespeare consistently worked for after 1594.

1. Chamberlain’s Men 

2. King’s Men

Shakespeare’s sonnets were probably mostly written in which decade?

1590s

Name one of the astronomers that your introduction mentions as an example of the Renaissance in scientific thinking during Shakespeare’s lifetime 

1. Galileo 

2. Copernicus

Name of authors other than Queen Elizabeth who is sometimes proposed by “anti-stratfordians” as the “real author” of Shakespeare’s lifetime

1. Christopher Marlowe 

2. Sir Fancis Bacon 

3. Edward de Vere (earl of Oxford)

Name of Performance location other than the public theater where Shakespeare's plays were performed

1. Royal Court 

2. Inns of Court (legal societies)

3. Other towns and universities

4. The Great Houses (on tour)

What was the name of the first London outdoor amphitheater, built in 1567?

The Theatre 

In which year was Shakespere’s theater, the Globe, built?

1599

What destroyed the Globe theater in 1613?

Fire

Name of London public amphitheater built in Shakespeare’s lifetime

1. Theatre (1576)

2. The Curtain (1577)

3. The Rose (1587)

4. The Swan (1595) 

5. The Globe (1599) 

6. The Fortune (1600)

How much was the cheapest entry into the public amphitheater?

1 penny

How much was the cheapest play in entry into the private/indoor theater? 

6 pence

What roles did women play in Shakepsre’s Play?

Women had no role. There were only male actors.

What major event in the 1640s led to the closing of the theaters?

English Civil War

Philip Henslowe owned the Rose theater outright and elapsed it to companies to play there. How was the arrangement of Shakespeare’s company led by Richard Burbage at the Globe theater, different from that?

1. Shaekspreare had shareholders in his company. 

2. He was involved in all aspects of the production. They had patrons to support their production.

In Act 1, how long does Egeon say he has been traveling in search of the lost Antipholus? 

5 summers (years) 

Name the palace being described here: “They say the palace is full of cozenage, /…/ Dark-working sorcerers that change the mind, / Soul-killing witches that deform the body.” 

Ephesus

Why do the Dromois refer to themselves as posts, asses, and footballs?

The Dromios are often beaten by Antipholus of Syracuse and Ephesus. 

Adriana tells Antipholus S. that if her husband is unfaithful, then she is an adulteress and has a “harlot brow.” What’s her reasoning for believing this?

Because of their marriage, Adriana claims that her and Antipholis S/ are one body. Anyhting that he does, it will infect her.

What is the character Angelo’s profession? 

Goldsmith

What is the name of the houses/inns in the play? 

1. Centaur 

2. Phoenix (Antipholus E House)

What is Luciana’s advice to Antipholus S. in Act 3 Scene 2 when she thinks he is cheating on Adriana?

Luciana advises Antipholus S to make sure that Adriana is still happy in their marriage/ Even if he doesn’t love her, he needs to FAKE it for Adriana’s happiness.

What happens between Antipholus S. and Luciana later in the same scene Act 3 Scene 2? 

Antipholus S claims he is falling in love with Luciana and Luciana is confused as to why he is telling her this instead to Adriana.

At the end of Act 3 Scene 2, Dromio S. describes the kitchen maid as a “mountain of mad flesh” that fancies him. He describes her as spherical, like a globe, so Antipholius S. asks Dromio where the world’s countries are on her. Where in/on her body is:

1. Ireland: buttocks 

2. Scotland: palm of hands 

3. France: forehead

4. England: chin 

5. Spain: breath 

6. America: nose

7. Belgia/Netherlands: “I didn’t look that low…” 

Why is Dromio E. sent to buy “a rope’s end” by Antipholus E. in Act 4 Scene 1?

Antipholus E wanted to beat Adriana with the rope end.

Who is speaking these lines to whom in the forest in Titus Andronicus Act 2 Scene 3? “Madam, though Venus governs your desires, / Saturn is dominator over mine. [...] Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hands, / Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.” 

1. Speaker: Aaron 

2. Listener: Tamora 

1. What is the “loathsome pit” used for in Act 2? 

It is used for Bassianus’s dead body

Who wrote the fake letter in Act 2 to frame Titus’s sons for the murder of Bassianus?

Aaron

In Act 2 Scene 4, who finds the mutilated Lavina and takes her to Titus?

Marcus

In Act 3, Titus sends his chopped-off hand to Saturninus to save his sons’ lives, What does Saturninus send back “in scorn.” 

Saturninus sends back Martius’ and Quintus Heads and Titus’ hand back.

Act 3 scene 2 is a famous “fly” scene that only appears in the Folio version of the play and not the early quarto. Marcus kills a fly. Titus responds angrily at first and then with thanks; why does he change his mind? 

The associated the black fly to Arron which is why he was quick to change his mind. 

How does Lavinia manage to reveal the identity of her attackers? 

Lavinia reveals her story through the tale of Philomel and uses Marcus’ staff to write her attackers have in the sand.

In Act 4 Scene 2, Chiron and Demetrius are angry with Aaron. Chiron tells him “Thou has undone out mother.” Aaron response “Villain, I have done thy mother.” Explain the “undone/done” joke. 

Chiron was implying that Aaron has made Tamaro un-pure/tainted her with his blackness. Whereas, Aaron made a sex joke saying he did “do” her. 

What has Arron just done when he mockling says to the nurse in Act 4 Scene 2 “Wheak, wheak! So cires a pig prepared to spit.” 

Aaron killed the nurse. 

To whom does the mad Titus get his family to shoot arrows in Act 4 Scene 3 (they are shooting them into the sky)? 

They shot arrows to the Gods/heavans which ends up on Saturninus’ property.

Recall the image reprinted in Sonnet edition

Image of woman made up of poetic metaphors based on Sonnet 130

• Sonnet 130: The Speaker compares their mistress to others (more ideal), but defends her uniqueness 

  • Hair: wrapped in black hair net 

    • fishing rods sticking out of it with hearts as fish 

  • Forehead: sitting in the middle is Cupid 

  • Eyebrows: cupid’s bow 

  • Eyes: sun 

  • Cheeks: Red and white roses 

  • Teeth: white pearls 

  • Lips: Coral 

  • Breast: Globes 

Remember these rough life dates:

• Petrarch – 14^th century

• Wyatt and Surrey – early 16^th century

• Spenser and Shakespeare – late 16^th c to early 17^th c

Review Sonnet 20

• Sonnet 20: The poet fantasizes that the young man’s beauty is the result of Nature’s changing her mind: she began to create a beautiful woman, fell in love with her creation, and turned it into a man. The poet, thus deprived of a female sexual partner, concedes that it is women who will receive pleasure and progeny from the young man, but the poet will nevertheless have the young man’s love.

  • Nature = she/her

  • hue = color complexion/ racializes individuals 

  • Nature fell in love with her creation, which made her turn it into “him”

Review Sonnet 55

• Sonnet 55: Continuing the idea of the beloved’s distillation into poetry (in the couplet of s. 54), the poet now claims that his verse will be a “living record” in which the beloved will “shine . . . bright” until Doomsday.

  • “You’ll live ling past destruction/war because you’re written in poetry and the eyes of loves who read it.” 

  • The power of verse leads to eternal living 

Prepare Shakespeare Sonnet #12 (know what every word means; understand the images and metaphors)

• Sonnet 12: As he observes the motion of the clock and the movement of all living things toward death and decay, the poet faces the fact that the young man’s beauty will be destroyed by Time. Nothing besides offspring, he argues, can defy Time’s scythe.

  • Seasons change from summer to fall 

    • Transitions to beauty: Beauty will wither away and new beauty will arise like the season 

    • By having children, will you defy time 

  • Time is inevitable death; nature preserves but is eventually out-done by time 

  • Less momentary, slow seasonal change to say “time is inevitable” 

    • speed in this sonnet is important 

Know the names (and numbers) or the two monarchs on the English throne in Shakespeare’s lifetime

• Queen Elizabeth I

  • Era: Elizabethan 

  • 1556-1603

  • Death: Richmond 1603 

• King James I

  • Era: Jacobean

  • 1603-1625

  • Death: Theobalds House, England 1625

Drawing of the Swan - What context does it provide?

• 1596: The only in person sketch (in archives) of the Swan 

• Drawing of a drawing by Arend van Buchell (no so reliable) 

  • will give us a sense of what the Globe might of looked like or was structured

• Pillars or curtains? 

• Stage set-up: 

  • Two doors in the back for entry and exits (can be interactive during play as well) 

  • balcony on top 

  • Open stage, no/barely any props 

  • Trapdoors with elevated stage 

Review images reprinted on Act 1 of The Comedy of Errors

• “Notable discovery of trickery” 

• Conney-catching: catching rabbits 

  • activity of professional criminals/ con-men 

• Rabbit holding a 5 of clubs and 3 of spades 

  • A goblet and a vase on each side with dice in front of it

Review the minor characters

• Luce the Kitchen Maid: 

  • Referred to Nell by Dromio S

  • In love with Dromio E (partner) 

  • Is compared to the globe and countries by Dromio of Syracus

• Pinch: a schoolmaster, engaged as an exorcist

  • Dr. Pinch tried to “cure” Antipholus of Ephesus for going mad 

• The Courtesan: hostess of Antipholus of Ephesus at dinner

  • Gave Antipholus of E a ring in exchange for the necklace 

  • Told Adriana about Antipholus E’s weird behavior (came looking for her ring) 

  • named as courtesan (prostitute) but is viewed as smart 

    • “good with her mouth” joke made by Antipholus E

• Abbess: Head of the priory in Ephesus 

  • Name: Emilia 

  • Wife of Egeon and sons of the Dromios and Antipholus

Review the opening story that Egeon tells

• Tells the story of how he lost his wife and infant son

  • The merchant describes how he was born in Syracuse, and a wife, and prospered through trade with the neighboring city of Epidamnum. Eventually, however, his representative in Epidamnum died, leaving the business in disarray, and Egeon was forced to travel there to set his affairs in order. His pregnant wife went with him and gave birth to identical twin sons. At the same time, a poor woman staying in the same inn also gave birth to identical boys, and Egeon bought her newborns, intending to bring them up as slaves for his sons.

  • Unfortunately, on their return journey to Ephesus, Egeon recounts, their ship was broken apart by a storm, and the sailors abandoned them on the wreckage. His wife tied herself, with one son and one slave, to one of the masts, and he tied himself, the other son, and the other slave to a mast at the other end of the wreck. They floated for a time, while the sea grew calm, and then they saw two ships coming toward them--one from Corinth and one from Epidaurus. Before the ships reached them, however, they ran into a rock that split the wreckage in two, carrying Egeon in one direction and his wife in the other. Eventually, the Corinthian ship rescued Egeon and the one twin whom he was with, but they were unable to catch up to the Epidaurian ship, which had picked up his wife and his other son and carried them away.

Review interactions between the Dromios in Acts 3 and 5

• Act 3

  • Dromio S is inside Antipholus E’s home and the ephesus’ has arrive outside their house 

  • The Dromios are talking to each other between close doors, claiming that they are Dromio not knowing that they are twins 

    • call eachother clowns for the way they addressed each other 

    • Dromio S is the porter 

    • Dromio E was calling for people to open the door, but Dromio S thought he was using magic to get women

      • “ why call for all of them when one is enough?”

• Act 5

  • See each other for the first time and claim that they are Dromio 

  • They can’t tell Baapart their own Antipholus 

  • Dromoio S brings up the incident with Luce 

  • Dromio E says that he is his reflection not brother 

    • Compliments his looks 

    • They don’t know how to enter the celebration so they go hand in hand as brothers. 

Basic Plot Elements of Titus Andronicus Act 1

• Titus returns from war and Titus kills Alarbus as sacrifice

• Saturninus is crowned emperor, marries Tamora, and Tamora vows her revenge 

• Lavinia marries Bassianus 

Basic Plot elements of Titus Andronicus Act 5

• Lucius and the Goths capture Aaron with his son

  • who reveals his role in the massive revenge plan 

  • Lucius is invited to the dinner which he accepts 

• Tamora and her sons visit Titus n disguise, thinking he’s mad

  • Titus tricks them into thinking that he’s mad and kills Chiron and Demetrius 

• BLOOD BANQUET: Titus serves Tamora’s sons as pie and kills Lavinia and Tamora 

  • Lucius kills Saturninus after stabbing Titus 

  • Lucuis takes the throne 

1. The main points of his analysis of the mutilation of Lavinia

1. Mutilation of Lavinia 

   1. “The Mutliation also figures eternally, the shame that attends a raped women in the play’s patriachal society. Lavinia is now ruined forever” 

   2. In our time, Lavinia’s rape would have made it to the headlines 

   3. “The parallel between Lavinia and Rome is strengthened when Saturninus and Bassianus turn from competing from the empire to completing for her” 

   4. “ The primary meaning of rape in our time is sexual assult, but it can also mean seizue and in that sense Lavinia is raped twice, once in Rome and once in the woods” 

   5. Lavinia also had no rights when it came to her marriage with Bassianus

      1. She was silent the whole time

      2. She was raped and silence in the woods as she was in Rome 

   6. Rome is control by male pride and possessiveness 

   7. When Lavinia returns from the woods does Titus finally break → presented with a sight he was not prepared for 

      1. Lead to Titus’ revenge 

2. Both Lavinia and Titus are living in a narrative of Philomela 

The main points of his analysis of the pit

1. Pit 

   1. The pit is a dark hole that swallows life → Tamora imitates it 

   2. Quintus described the mouth of the pit with stained with blood 

      1. foreshadows what happens at the banquet with the pie 

   3. Titus’ sons fall into the bloody pit vs Tamora’s sons entering her vengeful body

The main point of his reading of Titus’s revenge as “imaginatively so like the rape itself”

1. Titus’s revenge is an act of justice and horror 

   1. it is an endless cycle of violence/atrocities 

   2. Lavinia had to reenacted her rape through the tale of Philomel 

      1. Killed by her father; could have been her decision or not (performance varies) 

      2. “She is release from an intolerable life, but also absorbed into the patriarchal world the implicated her suffering” 

2. Sends us back to Act 1 → not the first revenge plan 

   1. Titus kills Alarbus → Tamora’s plan to kill everyone in his family 

   2. Tamora allowed for Lavinia to get raped sending Titus to kill everyone in her family 

      1. common ground of protecting family 

      2. they embrace each other of their act of revenge and victimization

3. “ Like rape itself” 

   1.  Seizes chiron and demetrius → torture and turn them into pie 

      1. just like Tamora and Lavinia 

4. Aaron’s laughter 

   1. Aaron thinks of his evil acts as a comedy 

   2. Titus laughters a long with him but as a way to clear his grief to turn into revenge 

   3. They see each other in their own game