Discuss the organization of medieval cycle plays - how were they staged, who staged them, the presentation of the whole cycles etc. Name four extant cycles.
Why were mystery plays called `mystery'?
Define the morality play
Explain the concept of prefiguration in medieval plays - why do some episodes from the Old Testament appear more often in mystery plays than others?
What were the earliest origins of medieval theatre (tropes)?
What was the role of the comical elements in medieval theatre?
Everyman as a morality play.
What did Elizabethan playhouse look like? What were the differences between it and the contemporary box-stage?
What is “hubris”? Explain, using examples.
How do parallel plots in King Lear complement or offset each other?
How do the tragic and comic plot in Doctor Faustus complement or offset each other?
What was the influence of the previous theatrical versions of Lear on the expectations of Shakespeare's audience?
What is the role of the Fool in King Lear?
In your opinion, is the overall moral message of King Lear Christian or nihilistic?
What medieval elements are present in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus?
The use of blank verse/prose in Doctor Faustus?
Psychomachia in Doctor Faustus.
Overreacher in Marlowe's works - what are its characteristic features, and which of them can we find in Doctor Faustus?
The conflict between the medieval and Renaissance values in Doctor Faustus
What attitudes toward women does Marlowe show in Doctor Faustus?
Could Doctor Faustus be considered a morality play? Why or why not?
What was masque and why can A Midsummer Night's Dream be considered to have some of its features?
In what role does Queen Elizabeth I appear in MND?
Discuss moon imagery in MND.
MND takes place in two places - Athens and the forest. What do these two places represent? In particular, why does courtship take place in the forest, but marriages back in Athens?
Explain the role of the play-within-the-play in MND, i.e. “Pyramus and Thysbe” - how is it relevant for the main plot, what does it say about the nature of theatre etc…
Define “the comedy of manners”.
Define “the well-made play”.
Explain the pun in the title of The Importance of Being Earnest
Discuss the theme of double life and “bunburyism” in TIOBE.
The role of appearances, identity, gender roles in Shaw and Wilde.
Explain the title of Pygmalion.
Explain the role of language in Pygmalion.
Both Lisa Doolittle and her father are thrust into middle-class. Why is neither of them comfortable with it?
What makes Lisa's situation at the end of the play so difficult? Why did Shaw make the play open-ended?
What are similarities and differences between Shaw's and Wilde's play?
Explain the term “comedy of menace” as applied to Pinter's plays
Define the theatre of the absurd, explain its origins and links with existentialism.
Existentialist philosophy in Pinter/Beckett
The elements of comedy/farce in Pinter/Beckett
The characteristic features of Pinter's (Pinteresque) dialogue.