English 434 and 634
Dr. Desmet
Spring 1997

This examination consists of two essay questions. Do not write on any plays that you have previously written on (for the short paper, web project, or the long paper). Do not use the same play in both questions. In other words, I want you to write on a total of four plays that you have not discussed previously. Since English 634 read more plays than English 434 did, not all of the suggestions for plays to write on will be pertinent. Since this is a final exam, I can't insist on typed essays, but I would appreciate them very much!

ESSAY #1

Take a posting for one of plays that we have read this quarter and expand it into a short essay that develops further the central idea and supports that idea with textual evidence. You can use either one of your own postings or the posting of another person in one of these two classes. You may be answer directly the question I posed for the posting or develop the essay in a different direction. Just preface your essay with the exact question that your essay answers. (Suggested length: 3-5 pages)

ESSAY #2

For the second essay, I will ask you to use class materials that we have developed over the quarter to construct a coherent analysis of a group of three plays on a common topic. Choose one of the following topics. (Suggested length: 5 pages)

(Possible plays: Volpone, Arden of Feversham, The Spanish Tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, Fair Maid of the West, The Alchemist, Epicoene, Tragedy of Mariam, Love's Victory, The Tragedy of Antonie, The Changeling, The White Devil, The Roaring Girl, Everyman, Edward II, Roaring Girl, Masque of Blackness, Oberon, Tamburlaine Parts 1 and 2)

1. The Website for "Venice and Volpone" suggests that courtesans were sometimes so wealthy that they could not be distinguished from noblewomen. This suggests that Lady Politic-Would-Be is less foolish than she might seem for her interest in and attraction to the courtesans. Using three plays that we have read this quarter, discuss ways in which presumptions about women's sexual behavior, and particularly their chastity, are wrong or ways in which sexuality is not an accurate key to character. You might want to look at the site to see how courtesans are actually portrayed, although you are not limited to talking about courtesans per se.

2. In English 434's class discussion of monsters in Volpone, we distinguished between physical signs of monstrosity and less visible spritual, moral, or psychological monstrousness. In three plays that we have read this quarter, discuss how outward deformity does and does not provide evidence of inward deformity. (You may want to refer to the summary of our discussion and to the link about humours theory. You might also want to consult our rich cache of resources on that nastiest of human conditions, lycanthropy, in The Duchess of Malfi.)

3. In English 434's class discussion of "the alchemy of human relations," we talked about the ways in which characters either counterfeit or are transformed by their disguises. Using three plays that we have discussed this quarter, analyze the relation between disguise and human potential.

4. Cross-dressing represents a particular species of disguise. People disagreed, however, as to whether cross-dressed women were monstrous hermaphrodites or "true" women who dressed for other motives. Using three plays that we have read this quarter, discuss the motives for cross-dressing. (You may want to see the English 634 website on "Crossdressing in The Roaring Girl, which discusses specifically the reasons for crossdressing in culture as well as on-stage. And don't forget that in The Alchemist, Dapper is cross-dressed in anticipation of his meeting wtih the Fairy Queen!)

5. Throughout the quarter we have encountered some pretty obnoxious English Renaissance attitudes toward foreigners. Using three plays that we have read this quarter, analyze the way in which the drama defines the English by comparing and contrasting them with people of other nations as well as other races. (Don't write on this topic if you did the "Race and Fair Maid" question for your long paper.) Check out our excellent websites on "Racial Tension in Fair Maid of the West," on The Duchess of Malfi, and on "Venice and Volpone." Spaniards are another favorite subject. Finally, remember that even plays that seem rooted firmly in England, such as The Alchemist, implicitly compare class relations among the English to relations between the English and Spain.

6. Using three plays that we have discussed this quarter, discuss the relationship between revenge and justice in three plays. Be sure to look at our website on "Perverse Justice in Kyd's Spanish Tragedy, and remember that even a play like Doctor Faustus, which is certainly no revenge tragedy, has episodes of revenge. The Duchess of Malfi or Mariam might also be good plays for this question.

7. This year I seem unable to get away from hermaphrodites, at least in literature. Using our rich resources on the cultural meaning of the hermaphrodite for our period, discuss the symbolic significance of the hermaphrodite in three plays.

8. A number of the plays that we read this quarter use magic as both a literal plot device and a symbol. In our class website on magic in Doctor Faustus, the authors suggest that interest in magic in the period was linked to anxiety about God's beneficence and the power and pervasiveness of evil. Whenever we see magic depicted and discussed, we might expect to find discussion of and perhaps anxiety about the presence and protectiveness of God in human life. Discuss the relationship between magic and attitudes toward good and evil in human affairs in three plays. Remember that although only Faustus deals extensively with magic, there is alchemy in The Alchemist, minor forms of magic in Volpone, The Duchess of Malfi, and Arden of Feversham.

9. In many ways, marriage is the social institution our plays use to measure the relationship between social responsibility and personal desire. Discuss the way in which representations of marriage in three plays suggest a proper or perverse relation between desire and social stability. (The website on Duchess might be useful here, since it discusses Elizabeth as the virgin queen.

10. We started this quarter with a discussion of a late medieval morality play: Everyman. To what extent is this pattern repeated and changed in three other plays in English Renaissance drama. You can focus one one element of Everyman, such as the figure of Death, or you can talk more generally about themes. Be creative!

FOR ENGLISH 634 ONLY:

Since we have spent a goodly amount of time discussing criticism of individual plays as well as criticism generally about drama as a social institution in the period, here is another option for you. Use one of the articles that we have read to interpret three plays from our class. You can use, extend, qualify, or challenge the thesis of that article as you develop your interpretation.

Final Questions:

1. What is your favorite character name from this course? ________

2. What is your favorite method of death or killing? _______