Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

STUDY QUESTIONS

By ANNE THROOP CRAIG

1. When was the Second Part of Henry the Sixth first issued, according to Hudson, with that title, and in its present state? What is the title page of an earlier edition of which the later one is but an enlargement?

2. What was the substance of Greene's attack upon Shakespeare in his pamphlet? What was the apology and reply that Chettle made to the ill-feeling it aroused?

3. In what several passages throughout is Margaret's contempt and impatience at the weakness of her husband most apparent?

4. Outline the proceedings of the Second Part as they are developed consistently from the principles of action in the first. Trace with their counteraction and forecast, the scenes that carry these crescendo and descrescendo movements of the action throughout Parts I and II.

5. What constitutes the first practicable breach between the houses of York and Lancaster?

6. Of what early presage in the dramatic action is the battle of St. Albans the first ripe fulfilment?

7. In what respects is Part II an advance upon Part I? Characterize the differences in detail. What is one probable reason for this superiority?

8. The first part represents the introductory process, and deals with the initial spur of the action; what does the second part represent in its process?

9. What passages throughout this part indicate Henry's feeling towards Margaret? Describe the impression they make.

10. In the conduct of what important episodes does

Duke Humphrey show himself as negative in actual effectiveness as Henry himself?

11. Does history entirely justify the Shakespearean handling of the character of York?

12. What is the dramatic effect of Shakespeare's treatment of Margaret's character?

13. Who were the most powerful nobles in the factions of York and Lancaster, respectively?

14. Compare Richard Plantagenet's fitness for ruling with that of Henry.

ACT I

15. What is the general action of the first act? What passages in it foreshadow incidents in Act II?

16. In what passages does the disinterested spirit of Warwick and Salisbury show itself for the good of England?

17. To what family did the Earl of Salisbury belong, and with what one did he connect himself?

18. What constituted just causes for the discontent with Henry's alliance with Margaret of Anjou?

19. In what passages in scene i is the Duke of Gloucester's popularity with the common people specifically referred to? In what ones, as contrasted with Duke Humphrey's demeanor, is that of the Cardinal set forth as unbridled?

20. By what tie was York connected with the Earl of Salisbury? What is the discrepancy in point of time between the historic fact of York's French regency, and the mention of it in the play in scene i?

21. To what situation does York refer in lines 215, 216, scene i? Explain his classical allusion to "the fatal brand Althæa burn'd."

22. What passage in scene ii illustrates the people's realization that Suffolk was their enemy?

23. In what passage does Suffolk voice his consciousness that the power of Salisbury and Warwick is most to be dreaded? Before the cruelty and manifest un177

III-12

truth of the charges against Gloucester by the opposing faction of nobles, and especially those charges made by Suffolk, known as the latter was for being a main cause of England's latest grievance,-what can be said of the attitude of the King?

24. What was the issue of the deadly feud between York and Somerset?

ACT II

[ocr errors]

25. In scene i what is the undercurrent of the light talk, at first referring to the sport apparently, but continually reverting figuratively to other matters? What is the dramatic value of this in the general movement? 26. What is a special interest of the Simpcox passage, as likewise of the passages in Act I, scene iii, and Act II, scene iii, descriptive of the armorers' petition and duel? What and where are the stories upon which these passages are founded?

27. To what does Gloucester refer in lines 160, 161? 28. What is York's title to the crown of England?

29. Describe the customs of dealing with sorcerers and witches, so-called, in this period, as set forth in Act II, scene iii.

30. What was the dramatic reason for setting the crime and punishment of Eleanor in close connection with Humphrey's downfall?

31. Is the historic account of this circumstance substantially in keeping with the episode in the play?

32. What passage in scene ii sets forth the shameless vindictiveness of Margaret in the pursuit of her ends? 33. To what custom does Eleanor refer in line 31, scene iv?

34. By what passage in scene iv does Gloucester betray his misguided spirit of trust in others' just dealing?

ACT III

35. What saying from Holinshed voices just such a situation as that into which the downfall of Gloucester eventually brings the king?

[ocr errors]

36. What passage in scene i particularly demonstrates Henry's weakness in the hands of his nobles?

37. What confusion in the sequence of incidents occurs in line 329, scene i?

38. Is there any proof that York actually instigated the Cade rebellion? If not why is he accused in the play of doing so?

39. How do the current reports and records of the Duke of Gloucester's death tally with or vary from that explanation of it used in the play?

40. How does the Chronicle eulogize Gloucester's character? What is the Chronicle account of the popular feeling toward Suffolk following Duke Humphrey's death? 41. To what Folk-Myth does Suffolk refer in speaking of the "mandrake's groan"?

42. What is the distinctive dramatic quality in the parting scene between Suffolk and the Queen?

43. What do the Chronicles say of the Cardinal?

44. What is Shakespeare's characteristic treatment of the death of the guilty?

ACT IV

45. What is the most important episode in this act? What is its dramatic relation to the trend of the play? 46. What is the meaning of "my George" in line 29, scene i?

47. What is the cause of Suffolk's dismay at Walter Whitmore's mention of his name?

48. Was Suffolk of a degree to warrant his boast of his blood?

49. What dramatic purpose does the captain serve by his tirade against Suffolk in scene i?

50. What is the Chronicle account of Suffolk's end?

51. What previous communistic uprising does Shakespeare utilize in combination with the actual Cade episode and for what special dramatic effect?

52. What passage has the poet taken almost verbatim from Holinshed's Chronicle and put in the mouths of Cade and his followers? What outrages of the previous insurrection are recalled in the utilization in this Cade episode of denunciation of "ink horn men," lawyers, and all learned people?

53. What probably was the true nature of the Cade Rebellion?

54. How does the first part of scene x operate as a relief or dramatic pause?

ACT V

55. What is the dramatic quality of York's opening speech?

56. What is the historic account of York's return from Ireland, his withdrawal into Wales, and the several events of this part of the episode?

57. What was the original Bedlam to which Clifford refers in scene i?

58. For what in the play's action does the circumstance of Clifford's death at York's hands serve to prepare the way?

59. Compare the rhapsodic pathos of young Clifford's lament over his father's body, with that of Talbot's over his dead son, in Part I. Explain the mythological allusions in young Clifford's final lines.

60. To what has Richard reference in his lines over Somerset's dead body?

« ZurückWeiter »