Take this Quiz: A-Level English Literature: Shakespearean tragedy on the stage | Zestly

Question 1

In the opening scene of 'Macbeth' (1.1), the three Witches chant, 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air.' Before Macbeth himself appears, what does this scene primarily establish for the audience?

Accepted Answer

It establishes a pervasive atmosphere of moral ambiguity and the inversion of natural order.

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It provides a clear exposition of the political conflict between Scotland and Norway.

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It introduces the specific prophecy that will drive the protagonist to commit murder.

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It functions as a comic interlude to contrast with the gravity of the coming tragedy.

Question 2

In 'Hamlet' (3.2), Hamlet directs the players on how to perform 'The Mousetrap'. Why does he switch from his usual verse to prose when speaking to the actors?

Accepted Answer

To signal a shift from his internal philosophical state to a pragmatic, professional focus on the mechanics of the play.

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To demonstrate his madness to the court by abandoning the structure of iambic pentameter.

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To hide his true intentions from the King, who only understands the elevated language of verse.

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To mock the actors, who are considered lower-class and incapable of understanding verse.

Question 3

In 'Othello' (3.3), Iago tells Othello, 'O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on.' The audience knows Iago is lying. What does this dramatic irony achieve in performance?

Accepted Answer

It heightens the tension by forcing the audience to watch Othello's psychological destruction in real-time.

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It makes the audience sympathise with Iago's desire for revenge.

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It confirms to the audience that Othello is already aware of Iago's deceit.

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It provides a moment of comic relief to break the intensity of the scene.

Question 4

In 'King Lear' (1.4), the Fool answers Lear's questions with riddles and songs, and tells him: 'thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left nothing i' the middle.' What is the Fool doing in the tragedy?

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He is licensed to say what nobody else at court dares say, so the truth about Lear's error reaches him in a form he can still dismiss as joking.

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He exists to lighten the play, and his scenes could be cut without loss to the argument.

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He is a second villain, working quietly to turn Lear against Cordelia.

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He explains the plot to the audience, since the events of the first act are otherwise hard to follow.

Question 5

In 'Julius Caesar' (3.1) the conspirators stab Caesar in the Capitol. Critics call this scene the hinge of the tragedy. Why does that scene, rather than any earlier one, carry that name?

Answer

Because the audience's sympathy transfers wholly to the conspirators at that moment.

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Because it is the last event of the plot, leaving only the working-out of consequences.

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Because the killing cannot be undone: up to it the play asks whether the deed will be done, and after it the question is only what follows from it.

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Because it is the first scene in which the protagonist and the antagonist appear together.

Question 6

In 'Romeo and Juliet' (5.3) Romeo stands in the Capulet tomb over Juliet, who is drugged and appears dead, and says: 'Ah, dear Juliet, / Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe / That unsubstantial Death is amorous, / And that the lean abhorred monster keeps / Thee here in dark to be his paramour?' Shakespeare gives no direction for how long Romeo looks at her before he drinks, or where in the tomb she lies. What does that silence hand to a director?

Answer

The choice of whether the audience is told that Juliet is alive — a fact the play has already given them.

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The pacing of the last minutes, which decides how nearly Romeo comes to noticing that she is warm, and therefore how close the audience is held to a rescue that never arrives.

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The freedom to add a soliloquy of the director's own to explain Romeo's decision.

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The decision about whether Romeo or Juliet should die first, which Shakespeare leaves open.