Protestant Reformation: (church + reforms = Protestant [Lutheran, Calvanist])
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France and Spain have a revival of Catholicism
Henry VIII of England breaks from the Church
o Gave the King the power to sentence those (church members) guilty of committing
crimes
o Church of England founded
o Henry takes the property of Catholic church members and closes monasteries
Henry dies and Edward takes Throne
o Furthers Reformation
Edward dies and Mary (Bloody Mary) takes Throne
o England restored to a Catholic State
o Kills all supporters of Henry
Elizabeth takes Throne
o Rules for 50 years
o Takes England back to a Protestant country, but she does not go as far as Edward
Elizabethan Life and Times:
All commoner s were required to attend church
Noble people kept their faith private and were allowed to do so
Shakespeare’s father was questioned during his life because he didn’t attend the accepted church.
Catholic books were found in his house.
No set language in England
Great vowel shift in 1600s—movement of vowels from the end of words to the middle of words
Age of Discovery: voyage of discovery uncovers people who developed without Christianity.
 Great Question of the times: Do we leave them alone or colonize them and teach
them about Christ?
 They decide to take Christ to the savages
Boys were taken from families to travel in boys companies—the good news is: Elizabeth paid for the
education of any of the boys in the companies (Oxford, etc.)
Inns of the Court: Originally studied church law but were aloud to study Civil Law under Elizabeth
o Brought into question: What do you do with an education if you don’t become a priest?
 Many became playwrights, so more plays were produced and the Elizabethan stage
developed.
Common people did not wear color—only nobility were aloud, and seeing someone wear color was
a special event
People learned a trade at age 10 (apprenticed from age 10-17)
If one child dies, you use the same name for the next child
Shakespeare:
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Shakespeare left home at 19 (the lost years) when his wife was pregnant with twins.
He was a tutor in a house with an extensive library and had remarkable knowledge beyond grammar
school
He shows up later on the stage
History of Theater in England:
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Theater outlawed in colonies (Greeks had circus violence and burned people)
11th century: Church decides to focus more on the suffering of the Man-Christ.
13th century: Feast of Corpus Christi
o First short play
o Everything happens in God’s good time
o Three Mary’s seek Christ at tomb—angel says he is risen
o Very knowledgeable—certain of eternity
o C.C. play evolved into the mystery plays or pageants (ex: Abraham and Isaac)
o Tableau vivants: (people imitating a picture—representing a scene without moving or
speaking)
o They travelled in wagons across the country doing plays that told the story of Christ.
They started at creation and ended with God’s judgment. This taught the illiterate
about the Bible.
 In York, one play lasted from 4:00am to 11:00pm. It was performed by
professional players who would perform for cake and ale.
 Another example of this type of play is “Noah,” a comedy much like The Taming
of the Shrew.
o This type of play continued until the 1560’s, when these so-called Pageants transformed
into the Morality Play.
o Morality Plays
 Consists of three men and a boy
 Dinner Theater for Christians or they played at carnivals and fairs
 Used a curtain, stacked boxes, costumes, dancing, etc.
 Promoted honest recreation and good deeds
 Psychomachia: bottle for the soul (good vs. evil)
 Idea that God is not an interesting character because he always wins—the flaws
of people are what make them dynamic and interesting. Humanity can move in
and out of vice.
 Stage convention: because fire/fireworks were analogous to Satan or
demons, a player may jump out of a box and shoot off firecrackers. The
audience would automatically know that the player was a demon.
By 1560: Players played at the Red Bull Inn
1576: The Theater (James Burbage builds the first theater in London)
o
o
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Parts played by men and boys only
A Dandy was aloud to sit on stage and players would act around him/her. If the play
was a tragedy, however, women were not aloud to sit on stage due to the violence (also
called Black Bunting)
o Theater costs one penny and lasts four hours
o Cheapest seats are in the pit
o Greatest outputting of creativity ever known
o People were not concerned with seeing life—life was too ugly. They came to hear
poetry.
o Wil Hempe: famous clown who used large feet and interrupted the play to do his own
thing. Shakespeare did not like clowns as pre-show entertainment.
o Post-show entertainment consisted of singing and dancing.
Children’s companies: Played in private theaters and discussed things too controversial for
adults to say
1590: Children’s companies disbanded because a dramatist insulted the French. Elizabeth was
negotiating with the French at the time, and an insulting play was performed while the French
Ambassador was in England.
1594: The Chamberlain’s Men
o Composite of Pembroke’s Men, Lord Strange’s Men, Queen Elizabeth’s Men, etc.
o Consisted of both Shakespeare and Richard Burbage
o First Reference to Shakespeare as a player (Robert Green makes fun of him by using his
own words from Henry VIII)
1599: Globe Theater Built by Lord Chamberlain’s Men
o Successful enough to build a theater in only five years
 Because Burbage owned a theater, but another family owned the land, when
Burbage became angry with the family, he waited until they were out of town.
Once they were gone, he had the theater disassembled and moved to another
location. The wood and materials were then used to build the Globe.
o Julius Caesar is the first play performed
o Pembroke’s Men did “Shrew” but the company failed
o Actors were considered vagabonds, so they had to have patrons
o Theater set outside city limits so that Puritan city govt. could not interfere
o Common players did public and private performances
 Public Stage= large amphitheaters
 Private Stage= enclosed theaters in homes—done by candlelight;
more expensive
Henry VIII Ceased Churches and Monasteries all over England
o Black Friars Monastery was ceased, and James Burbage rented it out to children’s
companies
1600: Twelfth Night
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1601: Hamlet
o Lord Essex wants to take over the throne (Essex Rebellion), so he buys out the house if
Shakespeare will play Richard II and insert the deposition scene. Essex’s rebellion falls
through when no one shows the next day, and he is beheaded.
o Shakespeare’s company is tried, and Augustine Phillips claims that they only did it for
money to pay for the new theater. Rather than putting them in jail, Queen E sentences
them to one year of acting on the road (they cannot use their new theater).
o Queen allows children’s companies to return, and Ned Alleyn comes out of retirement
to join Lord Admiral’s Men.
o With no other choice and new competition, The Chamberlain’ s Men hit the road and
perform Hamlet
o Troilus and Cressida is played at the Inns of Court
1603: Elizabeth dies and King James IV of Scotland becomes King James I of England
o Chamberlain’s Men restored as King’s Men
1611: King James has playwrights translate the poetry of the Bible
1640: Theaters Close under Puritan Commonwealth
The Shakespearean (or Elizabethan) Stage:
Globe Theater: Built in 1596
Analogical
Top of Hut: Astrological Symbols
Balcony: Heaven
-Doors to tiring area
Stage: Earth (life itself)
Trap Door: Entrance to Hell
Pit: Hell
-Pit = costs one penny (pay
gatherer that is stationed at each
entrance)
Conventional:
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A convention is a short hand form of reality understood by the audience and players alike.
For example:
o A Soliloquy is a form of meditation
o Asides spoken aloud so that audience knows internal feelings of characters
o A woman with her hair down is crazy
o Boys play women because their voices have not changed and they do not have a manly
figure yet
o Adust: a character sighs or cannot stand up straight when he is in love (body language)
o Genre: the type of play—allows audience to anticipate the play (they expect different
things out of comedy and tragedy)
The Role of Players:
o
o
o
Make an analogy to life through conventions
People hear through imagery
 Imagery: any analogical unit of thought meant to convey a feeling or idea
 Examples: “Rain beats dark December in my soul”—conveys the idea of death
The audience is as important as the people on stage
The Theater in Context:
-There were laws against gathering together (crowds could spread the plague), so theaters were built
outside the city limits.
-The majority of the money was spent on costumes
- Everything based on hierarchy (Elizabeth is at the top of the Chain of Being)
-Players were judged by the number of lines they had
-Richard Burbage: famous actor/player of the time. Son of James Burbage
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Shakespeare wrote parts for the actors that he had; therefore, as Burbage and other actors
aged, so did the characters.
*Actors could double for different parts. They knew where to stand based on internal stage directions.
Also, because the stage is analogical, a tragedian would enter and exit on left due to impending tragedy.
Helped with thematic purposes, showcased actors’ skills, practical—no more than 12 players at a time
Dramatic Theory:
Prostasis: Introduction
Epistasis: Develops characters, setting, and conflict
Catastasis: complexity, intensity, and problem itself
Catastrophe: Conclusion [if it works out, the play is a comedy. If not, the play is a tragedy]
Thesis Scene: Usually occurs at the beginning of a play
Representative Scene: (Usually 3.1 or 3.2) one scene that has everything in the play in short form
Mirror Image Scene: a different view of the representative scene—has all the same material, but you
Find something new.
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(Hamlet) “to be or not to be” written in poetry
Gravedigger scene mirrors it, and it is written in prose
Chain of Being-
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**handout from Narey**
We move up and destroy the ring below
You can’t move backward—everyone moves toward the Divine
-Church adopts this based on Platonic Theory:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Gods
Angels
Humans
Demons
Satan
(This ladder becomes a microcosm of the universe—see handout)
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Everything is fixed
Each section can be broken down
Everything is as God wants it—you cannot change who you are (trying to do so is a sin of pride)
**Shakespeare questions the Chain of Being—are our destinies truly fixed?**
Example: Hamlet
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Ghosts come from purgatory (which they no longer believed in)
Although it is okay to use ghosts in reference to History, Shakespeare used ghosts in his plays to
make people nervous—should we be here? Will we be arrested?
Faculty Psychology:
Nous: Spirit or higher order of things (Spark of Divine God)—the good within us
Will: Our understanding/reason
Appetite: Our desires
** All must be balanced or everything is turned upside down
1. When Shakespeare’s protagonist enters the play, he is already out of balance. The point of the
play then becomes the quest to see what he is missing… what is his flaw? How did he bring
about his own dowfall?
Notes on Fate:
Wheel of Fortune: Based on Ursa Major (the Big Dipper)
o
o
Just as seasons/constellations change, so does life
Be careful if you are on top because in one turn of the
Wheel, you could end up on bottom
Moira: Your portion or share in life. If you fight hard and do well, you get a share of what you win in
battle. (What you bring to the table will determine your fate)
Anauke: Even gods themselves are subject to fate: Somewhere it is written, what will be will be.
o
Fate is governed by personality and choices—God’s hand is in the world, but he has
equipped us to make the right choices
Chain of Vice:
o
Based on desire: once you get a taste of it, you can’t stop. The last link is remorse for
what you have done.
History of Greek Theater:
Greeks always performed 4 plays: 3 tragedies and one Sarte, or comedy.
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Agon: struggle
Protagonist and Antagonist are not necessarily bad people. They simply oppose each other.
Comedies were often crude and dealt with sexuality
o Aristphophenic: reproves, satire, set against ideals, can be very harsh
Structure:
o Ritualistic Act – Separation – transition – re-integration
o Transition is the most important part because it determines the success of a character
o If the transition fails, the play is a tragedy
Shakespeare:
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Protagonist: hero
Antagonist: villain
Comedies came full circleo (death, burial, resurrection) or mimicked the fertile cycle ending in harmony (marriage)
o Good natured: makes fun of follies of humanity
o Character learns from mistakes
During the 1590s, comedies emphasized women and tragedies emphasized men
Lyric Plays: Richard II, Love’s Labor’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet
Problem Plays: Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Hamlet
The Taming of the Shrew
Genre: Comedy (knockabout farce)
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Begins In Medius Res (in the middle of things)
3 plot structure:
o Sly = frame to play
o Petruchio and Kate = meeting of wills
o Luciento and Bianca = love and romance
-Not to be confused with Taming of A Shrew
-Due to Memorial Reconstruction, or constructing plays from memory, a number of bad quartos and
foul papers exist. A Shrew is a corrupt version of Shakespeare’s The Shrew
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Induction: unusual
o Generally used in Spanish Tragedy
o Comes from medieval times—helps frame the plot
o How a play begins is very important.
o “Sleepers Awake” sets up the play by telling us to wake up (eternity is reality, life is but a
dream…) Also, it sets up the plot of the play because Christopher Sly is living in a dream
world.
o Sets up problem because an induction needs a conclusion, yet we never know what
becomes of Christopher Sly.
Plot: organizing the chaos of experience
Although this is a comedy, it does NOT end in marriage
Faculty Psychology:
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Petruchio: has appetite
Kate: Too much will/understanding what she wants in love
Comedy takes the two characters that are out of balance and puts them together
Major Images:
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Hawking
o “Hawks will soar above the morning lark”—training a bird of prey to do your bidding
(represents Petruchio and Kate)
Music = harmony and God’s order because it is mathematical and precise
o Example: Music of the spheres (the perfect order used to create the universe)
o Play begins with music and therefore must end with music
o Baptista wants Bianca to learn music and logic. Kate opposes music (symbolic of her
opposing hierarchy and harmony)
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Marriage as Warfare:
 1.2.190-200: warfare imagery/anaphora (Petruchio says that if he can
overcome actual warfare, he can certainly handle Kate)
Food:
o A shrew constantly searches for food (Petruchio is the hawk)
Topoi:
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Music= harmony
o “Hark… Apollo plays…” (Sly in first scene)
Horses= Unbridled Passion
Major Themes: (theme= an organizing principle of a work)
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Hierarchy
o 1.2.5: Sly does not want to be called “Lord”
o Injected so that the ending makes sense (woman should submit to man)
o 1.2.30: Hence comes…lunacy […]each in his office”
Appearance vs. Reality
o 1.1.57-58: “Is it your will to make a stale of me…” (Pun on stale mate or prostitute)
o 1.2.69: “I am lord indeed” (The sleeper is awake (questions what is real and what is
fake)
Transformation and Metamorphosis
o Kate undergoes the biggest change—Petruchio uses change to transform her (hot is
cold/ the sun is the moon, etc.)
Notes of Interest:
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Weak in poetry
Written in the tradition of Classical Italian Theatre (twins, disguising, etc.)
Play meant for fun
Displays Shakespeare’s interest in order and hierarchy
Uses frequent metatheater (theater about theater) to show the audience that this is all fiction—
do not get caught up in plot. Shakespeare frequently refers to players and games
o Ex of metatheater: Bells are an anachronism in Julius Caesar
o In JC, he refers to the golden sun just as the sun is setting over the theater (4:00)
o In Shrew, Sly and his wife would be doing something on balcony to break the suspension
of disbelief
Characteristics of the Italian Stage: (Comedia del Arts)
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Take a master and servant and have them change roles (Tranio and Lucentio)
Upper class = clever, Lower class= cunning
o A cunning lower class is funny in comedy and horrific in tragedy
Shakespearean Comedy is gentler than satire
Other Passages of Interest:
o
Anaphora: (beginning every speech with the same word or sound) A rhetorical device that helps the
audience anticipate what is coming. It also helps the players remember their lines and creates a
cadence for poetry.
 P.50: the servants begin their lines with the vocative “O” (Purpose is to build Sly up and
convince him that he is something great.
Plot Quotations Covered:
p.54: Baptista wants Kate married before Bianca
“three-legged stool” = fool (two legs and genitalia)
Adust: Lucentio sighs to show he is in love. He uses “Hark” a vocative.
P. 58-59: Descriptions of women help the audience see what they are supposed to see, since boys
actually played the part.
Blazon Conceit: [extended metaphor]
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(p.58) All the different ways that he describes his love through poetry
Stichomythia: Quick lines meant to hurry things along
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1.1.182: “I have it Tranio! …” (Interior Stage direction: they finish each other’s sentences in
order to show excitement [eureka moment!] and move the play along quickly.
P. 80: Petruchio treats Kate like a child—answers questions with questions (moves the plot
along and demonstrates a contest of wills)
1.2.60: “Twixt such fiends…” (their reasons for marriage could not be different)
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Hortensio wants to marry for love
Petruchio wants to marry for wealth
o Promotes the idea of upward mobility: the rising middle class
o Rules of language, status, and love are changing
o Counters the idea of courtly love (marriage as a sacrament)
o Makes fun of two extremes: Courtly love vs. lust
o
Direct Characterization—you get the essence of a character immediately
P.79, line 180+ Petruchio calls Katharina “Kate” to irritate her
3.2: Marriage Scene (Representative Scene)
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Petruchio means to out-do Kate, so he shows up late in rags, turns church upside down, makes
out with Kate, and even hits the priest and pours wine on his head
He agrees with everything she says but then does what he wants
4.5: Mirror Image Scene
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Changing moon (Petruchio still acts a fool, but Kate responds differently—she will be as
changeable as he wants her to be
Kate’s Final Monologue:
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The Shrew is tamed: Kate has found love through obedience?
Shows that the boy actor has skill in order to receive such a speech
Key Terms:
Topos
Memorial Reconstruction
Anaphora
Genre
Plot
Adust
In Medius Res
Induction
Blazon Conceit
Faculty Psychology
Metatheater
Direct Characterization
Stichomythia
Richard II:
Genre: History Play—lyrical Play
o
o
o
o
Has a more personal quality to it
Soaring, exaggerated poetry
Movement into a focus on characterization rather than character types
Internal stage directions are movements into Melancholy (reflective) protagonists/ set
in opposition to antagonists who show no reflection
 Bolingbroke is device to show Richard’s melancholy
Background Information:
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In 1589, the English defeated the Spanish Armada, and people began to wonder about England’s
past.
The Tudor Myth: the idea of the God-appointed King (ironic because it comes from the Tudor
Dynasty, who did not have a right to the throne to begin with)
o A King has 2 bodies:
 Spiritual body chosen for kingship
 Physical body that can be good or bad
 King is tolerated NO MATTER WHAT because God ordained the spiritual body of
the king
o Deposing a God anointed King was blasphemy, and people worried very much about
what would happen to Elizabeth—she was getting old and had no heir.
o Deposition scene was not aloud in Shakespeare’s day, but when Lord Essex paid them
extra to play it, Elizabeth shut down the theater and forced them to travel for one year.
Richard II
o Deals in emotions
o 4 phases:
 Lack of Wisdom
 Henry Bolingbroke assumes throne
 Richard’s Passion (deposition scene)
 Bolingbroke as King and pending civil war (War of Roses)
 Lancaster vs. York
 One Richard is deposed, the cousins fight over who should be king
st
1 Tetrology: Henry VI, Henry VI part 2, Henry VI part 3, Richard III (1580s)
2nd Tetrology: Richard II, Henry IV, Henry IV part 2, Henry V
See notes on fate***
Terms:
History Play: Conveys general idea of history but can venture off a bit (Richard II)
Chronicle Play: Faithful and exact rendering of history
Imagery:
o
o
Religious Imagery: Always elevates; gives a grand, glorious feel, but if you put religious
imagery in the mouth of a villain, it is horrific.
Water Imagery: Used to describe the burdens/blessings of kingship
Themes:
The Ceremony is Bankrupt
o
Tudor Myth
 Richard: Old, medieval, King by right, passive, poetic, and artistic
 Bolingbroke: Modern, politician, active, straightforward, prose
 Richard is more and more responsible for his own downfall—new /modern
concept of fate
 1.3.174+ Although Richard makes them swear to keep their holy oaths to obey
him, Bolingbroke will break the oath
1.1:
1.1.20: “Many years…” (irony in first words because just the opposite happens)
1.1.115: “Impartial are our eyes” (hyperbole—Richard’s overblown sense of his own justice, as if God
sits on his shoulder. He is actually partial to Bolingbroke (in the beginning).
1.1.152: Aphorisms (couplets) show that Richard is not deep
1.1.173: “Lions make leopards tame” (hyperbole—Richard’s overblown sense of self)
Thesis Scene: Play begins with a ceremony, yet the ceremony is interrupted
o
o
Tradition is bankrupt
One should not disturb order
Trial By Combat: God chooses the victor
o
o
Rather than relying on this tradition, Richard banishes them both
He doesn’t respect the rights and traditions of other people
1.3:
1.3.155+: Music Imagery
o
o
o
o
o
The English language is music to his ears (harmony), but he will be banished to another
country with a native tongue
Sky, stars, clouds: show that character is flighty and does not have his feet firmly on the
ground
Candy- dogs: someone who follows without thinking
Earth= demi-paradise / Green world equated with England
Garden Image: natural (nature) vs. well tended (nurture)—
 Garden = England and King is gardener
 Shakespeare believed in nurture—nature improved by art
1.3.200: Ironic because Mowbray is the most guilty, yet he tells Henry he knows his character, and
Richard will be sorry.
1.3.206: Richard is fickle—he changes his sentence from 10yrs to 6 just because his uncle is upset
1.3.289: Example of Anaphora
1.3.305: England = Mother Earth
1.4.59+ : Richard wants Gaunt to die so that he can have his money and property to fund war in Ireland
2.3.31+ Famous speech given in WWII to Spur British people in fight with Germany.
England is a demi-paradise:
o
o
o
o
o
Idea that the world is degenerative since the fall. If you go back far enough, you can go
back to Eden (go back to forest to get in touch with God’s perfect plan)
Pastoral Tradition: Green world divided into Biblical and Classical
Biblical = Eden, Classical = Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age
Iron Age= forging of weapons (introduction of warfare)
Uses Anaphora for rhetorical appeal
2.1.148: Music stops when Gaunt dies
2.1.163: Limit to York’s patience (aside)
2.1.285: Northumberland knows that a war is coming to invade England.
o
o
o
o
Invasion is planned even before Henry finds out that his inheritance has been taken
Henry has his eye on the throne the entire time
He lies when he says that he comes but for his own
Both characters are at fault—God must decide
3.2= Representative Scene:
3.2.35: Reinforces the Tudor Myth of God anointed King
3.2.75-6: Time imagery—Richard has wasted time
p.144: Heavenly imagery: one of Shakespeare’s greatest speeches of self-examination. Richard is finally
honest with himself.
o
Sophrosyne: “know thyself”—one must be honest in knowing his strengths and
weaknesses
4.1= Mirror Image Scene:
o
o
o
o
o
Mirrors representative scene and the first scene of the play
 Bolingbroke vs. Mowbray (scene 1)
 Bagot vs. Aumerle (act IV)
 Bolingbroke does not hesitate—his justice has purpose
Line 107: York tells Bolingbroke to ascend crown
135+ Earth imagery “blood will manure” vs. “demi-paradise”
 “We crucify our own” (equates England with Golgatha)
Carlisle arrested for treason because he spoke his mind—chaos has already begun
Richard offers to make Bolingbroke his heir, not just give him the crown. However when
Bolingbroke will not wait, Richard has no choice but to give up his crown.
 This ranks right behind the crucifixion of Christ because God ordains the king
 Richard says to “cease” the crown, connoting the idea of warfare
 Richard has an audience for deposition
Deposition Scene:
o
o
o
Water Bucket Imagery: Richard’s side is light and free, but Bolingbroke assumes the
burden of what he has done
Richard sarcastically says that he forgives all who betrayed him
Formality/Anaphora: Richard confuses Bolingbroke by not giving him a straight
answer—“aye no, no aye”
o
o
o
Northumberland wants to take away Richard’s honor by making him confess his faults—
even more insulting than losing the crown because if Richard reads his sins, it absolves
Bolingbroke’s men
Line 255: Baptism: Richard given his name
Line 260: sun has risen and melted the snow
Topos=Book is lover
o
o
Richard is lover of England/ mirror image is reversed—mirror will reveal what is really
inside him
Glory of face plays on the image of Helen of Troy
5.1.: Flint Bosom
Line 79: Set in couplets/aphorisms: used for speed and to show lack of depth
5.5: Echoes Henry II having Thomas of Beckett killed (murdered in Cathedral)
o
o
o
o
Bolingbroke said he wanted Richard dead, but he didn’t mean it
Bolingbroke will make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to make penance for Richard’s death.
While he never makes it there, he dies in the “Jerusalem” room of the castle
Richard’s Soliloquy: 5.5.1-41
 Topos is that the universe is in God’s hand
 “Still born” thoughts
 Only consolation is that others have endured it
 Hears music from tower (used in madhouses to help people keep their wits)
“I wasted time and now does time waste me” (possible moment of self-reflection)
**Ends in death and self recognition
-
Richard never achieves status of tragic hero due to self pity
-
Troilus and Cressida:
Genre:
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Debatable among critics—is it comedy, tragedy, satire?
o Time works against them
Satire “Satyre”: used elements of comedy to make strong points about society or
relationships
o Criticizes courtly love
**Problem Play
o Dark, cynical
o Deliberate scenes set at night
o Lack of morals
o Baroque quality/ no focal point
o Curious scuro—difference between light and dark (moral issues are grey)
o Repugnant scene
Background Information:
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Cult of Mary: (11th century) emphasized Jesus’s death rather than resurrection. Promoted the
idea that everything precedes the future—Christ repairs the fall of Adam, therefore Mary must
be the new Eve. (The Latin for Eve is “Eva”—reversed is “Ave” as in “Ave Maria”). People began
to worship Mary.
Hamartia: (an archery term) meaning missing the mark. Gods want commonality among
people. If there is something extraordinary about a person, then the person has committed
hamartia, and the gods will punish them. (ex: Helen of Troy was too beautiful)
Daimon: term describing a god possessing a person (the word “demon” is derived from it). The
god then becomes that person’s sylleptor or unwanted partner. The person has no control over
what the god does through him.
Trojan War: has been going on for seven years during the time of the play
Stage Convention: characters pass over stage to give the audience a look at the character types.
Poetry spoken by nobility and prose spoken by commoners.
Licensed Fool: intelligent and witty—therefore he is aloud to say things that no one else could
get away with
 Convention: if a person beats the fool, it is a sign that death is coming. The fool
tells the truth, so you can’t punish him.
Aubade: morning song in which two lovers mourn the daylight and long for night—it betokens
tragedy.
o Renaissance Painting: Contains two lovers, Eros or Aphrodite, a reference to time
because time is the enemy of love (usually a figure or hourglass), and a sleeping
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character (represents death). When you call on night, you awaken death (sleeping
character).
4.2: Troilus and Cressida call on night
4.2.100-106: Invoking the paintings of the lovers
Courtly Love:
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Capilanus: The Book of Courtly Love
Women were placed on pedistools
Men worshipped women from afar
Knights are humble and courteous
Marriage is a sacrament, therefore anything physical was done so in adultery except for the sake
of having children
Topoi:
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Game of Chess = love
Water, Merchant, Ship= Love
Music = harmony
o Ulysses: Speech about the chain of being (1.3) Mixture of topoi (degree=proper place
and order. Music=harmony) “degree untunes the instrument”
Degree = proper place and order
Lover as Book
o 4.5.55-65
Characters:
Troilus: Youngest of Priam’s sons (brother to Hector and Paris). Young, handsome, and inexperienced.
Cressida: Daughter of Calchas, a traitor to the Greeks. Cressida is set in a certain direction, and given
the chance, she moves in a bad direction.
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The chain of being is shaken a bit—a person can make their own fortune
Common players can become royalty for a few hours = metaphor for society/ fortunes wheel
can turn
Pandarus: (heart of play) works like chance—moving things in a particular direction. He wants Troilus
and Cressida together. He is easily distracted (demonstrates depth)
Ajax: Idiot/ wants to be the man of the hour. He is so prideful that the gods punish him and he goes
mad. He ends up slaughtering a bunch of cows (thinking that they are Trojans). When everyone sees
him, they laugh at him. Once he realizes what he has done, he is so ashamed that he does the “noble”
thing and falls on his sword.
Cassandra: great prophetess but cursed for no one to believe her
Duplicity:
Ajax
= Achilles with no brain
Cressida
= Helen
Calchas
= Cassandra (both prophets)
Imagery:
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Love described through war imagery
o 1.1.50: “Open ulcer of my heart” Words such as “knife” and “gash” show that love is
painful
War described through love imagery
o 4.5.220: Troy will fall
Time imagery
Animal imagery: degrades/pulls down a character. Naming the animal makes the image that
much more powerful. Animals are also swift—quicken things.
o 1.2.233: All nature is cyclical
o 1.3.48 : Continuous breeze on herd is more bothersome than a tiger—allusion to Zeus
having an affair and Hera turning her into a cow that is constantly bothered by flies.
Banqueting/Food Imagery:
o 4.5.290-295: love is subject to fortune
Prologue: Tells you what will happen in the play (a step up from the dumb show)
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Argument to play or plot summary
See something that will lead to fatal moment
When you know how something will end, you pay closer attention to the language and how the
character gets there
Serves as a thesis statement
Quotes of Interest:
1.1.21: “tickling skittish spirits” (teases the reader just as Cressida teases Troilus. The language moves
from war imagery to love/pleasure. [the good and bad of love and war])
Metonymy: Use a portion of a thing to stand for the thing itself—(ex: the crown represents the king).
1.1.7-11: All of these represent a woman/ rhythm appeals to people because of nature—best form of
rhetoric
1.1.12: Pandarus uses aphorisms
1.2.280: Cressida is good at games. She realizes that the chase is what keeps a man interested.
1.3 Opening: Demonstrates Metamorphosis
1.3: Nestor- Bombastic oratory style. “gentle Thetis” is metonymy
1.3.52: Alexandrian
1.3.113: Metatheater—the Globe Theater was open air, so it could be raining
1.3.150-157: “Strutting player’s conceit lies in his hamstring”
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The Globe is the” wooden O” actor bellows out to echo off of wooden theater
Scaffoldage is the edge of the stage
p.192, line 37: Troilus believes that reason and warfare oppose each other
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Shows youthfulness of Troilus because he believes that the two cannot go together. Ironically,
they are defeated by Odysseus’s cunning.
p.195, line 75+: Imagery suggests the coming betrayal
p.200: Hector is voice of reason—he can put things into perspective
Malcontent: type used to speak against kingdom (Thersites)
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P.207, ln68-72: Thersites speaks truth
4.4.24-40: Imagery defines character. Cut off before it’s even given a chance. Metonymy: thousand
ships stands for war, love, and Troy.
4.5: Men are jealous of everyone kissing Cressida
5.2.10: any man can “sing” her (mixed metaphor is a poetic device) [Cressida is a whore]
Pandaras ends play with everything left undone…
King Lear:
Genre: tragedy
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Cultural edition is a blending of the quarto and folio
Utter Pessimism or Christian Play?
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Optimism is a feeling, but pessimism is a philosophical construct—it is how we understand the
world, and it is the wellspring of creativity. We inject meaning when we try to understand.
2 Symbols of Human Thought:
One step at a time
Or
We all come from the same roots
Characters:
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Goneril and Regan: make up one evil person
Cordelia: truly good heart
Edmund and Edgar: names are interchangeable
o Bastard vs. legitimate
o Bad vs. good
Lear: has no soliloquys because he says what is on his mind no matter who is around
Thesis: (Argument) What is nature/natural? Can something develop on its own and become bad?
Nature vs. Nurture: Cordelia vs. sisters, Edmund vs. Edgar
Antithesis: If power and justice is in a balanced world and people grow up evil, who is to blame? Is evil
genetic? Learned?
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Focus on Edmund: Is he evil because he was born out of wedlock or because he was not
nurtured?
Christian view is that you must have the bad to see the good
Themes:
Deception
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Regan and Goneril deceive Lear
Edmund deceives Gloucester
Edmund deceives Edgar
Edgar deceives Gloucester
Kent deceives Lear
Regan and Goneril deceive husbands
Edmund deceives Regan and Goneril
Nature:
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1.1.166: Elements of nature are reflected in human nature
The physical grows more intense as a person comes closer to nature
Plot:
Act 1 = Climax
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The rest of the play is a response to Act 1
p.6: Cordelia has “nothing” to say to Lear
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Nothing is a Biblical word—one that separates Genesis from Enuma Leas of Babylon
o In Babylonian creation story, Tiamoc creates out of Chaos
o God creates out of NOTHING
1.1.195: Cordelia is a fallen creature (“little seeming”) outside body is nothing compared to soul
1.1.212: “Nature is ashamed”—she is a fallen creature
1.2: Edmund is Pagan
1.2.22: “now gods…:
Edmund scene parallels Cordelia scene
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Edmund is bad and Cordelia is good
Lear has a choice but Gloucester is fooled
Ln110-122: Everything is blamed on gods—no one has free will
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Duplicity and treacherous behavior is heightened by a soliloquy that reveals a truth
1.4.60-69: Does Cordelia double and also play the fool? They both disappear at the same
time/metatheater
Storm Scene = Representative Scene
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Returns to creation
“A man more sinned against than sinned…”
Gloucester: blind to truth until he is actually blinded
Lear: fears madness, yet only in madness does he find peace
A Winter’s Tale: