M.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION
– ENGLISH LITERATURE
FOURTH SEMESTER
– April 2009
NM 44
EL 4811 - SHAKESPEARE - CONTEMPORARY INTERPRETATION
Date & Time: 18/04/2009 / 9:00 - 12:00 Dept. No. Max. : 100 Marks
PART – A
I. Interpret the following passages in about 30 words each. (10 x2 = 20 marks)
1.
For I never saw true beauty till this night.
2.
For saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch,
And palm to palm in holy palmers’ kiss.
3.
It is the east and Juliet is the sun
Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon.
4.
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such a prophetic greeting?
5.
Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme.
6.
Do you not hear him? You mar our labour – keep
Your cabins. You do assist the storm.
7.
We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
8.
…. …. … then you can speak
Of one who loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme;
9.
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For dews to peck at. I am not what I am.
10.
O beware, my lord, of jealousy:
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat I feeds on
1

PART – B
Answer any FIVE of the following in about 200 words each. (5 X 8 = 40 marks).
11.
How is the theme of ‘Nature vs. Nurture’ presented in The Tempest?
12.
Explain the features of the ‘last plays’ present in The Tempest.?
13.
Cite instances of usurpation in The Tempest.
14.
Comment on the roles of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse.
15.
Cordelia speaks the truth but it was the folly of Lear to understand her. Discuss.
16.
Write on the deserved torture of Lady Macbeth.
17.
Shakespeare’s humour plays demerit him. Explain.
PART – C
Answer any two of the following in about 500 words each, choosing one from each section.
18.
The tragic end of Othello is predetermined - Comment .
(or)
Attempt a neohistoricist criticism of the Tempest.
(2 x 20 =40 marks)
19.
To love God is to live and to love human beings and power is to commit suicide. Illustrate this view with reference to Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.
(or)
The world is filled with Macbeths and Lady Macbeths. Contemplate on the present scenario of the
world where people crave for posts and power. Analyse this with reference to Macbeth.
**********
2