DTP CLEP Humanities Study Guide and Practice Test

Humanities
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Table of Contents
Greek History Greek Drama Sophocles Oedipus Rex Oedipus at Colonus Antigone Greek Gods Aristotle Mythology Romans and War Hamlet Henry IV part 1 Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor Romeo and Juliet Shakespeares Poetry Gothic Age Architecture Practice Test Answer Key pg. 3 pg. 3-4 pg. 4-5 pg. 5-7 pg. 7 pg. 7 pg. 7-8 pg. 8-9 pg. 9-10 pg. 10-11 pg. 11-12 pg. 13-14 pg. 14-15 pg. 15-16 pg. 16-17 pg. 17-19 pg. 19-20 pg. 20-21 pg. 21 pg. 21 pg. 22-29 pg. 30
Greek History Excavations show that the first settlement dates from the Paleolithic era (11,000-3,000 BC). During the second millennium BC, Greece gave birth to the great civilization of the Minoans (2600-1500 BC), the Mycenaeans (1500-1150 BC) and the Cycladic civilization. The Classical Period of the Greek history (6th-4th centuries BC) is the most famous worldwide. The peak of the classical period is the 5th century BC, when the foundations of western civilization were put in Athens. This city-state became the greatest naval power of Greece that time and developed all domains of culture, including philosophy, music, drama, rhetoric and a new regime, democracy. Then, the history of Greece is a succession of various invasions and dominations. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire and his army conquered all the way till India. However, in 323 BC, the great general dies in Babylon and his Macedonian empire is torn apart and governed by his heirs. In 168 BC onwards, the Romans conquer Greece and a new period starts for the Greek history. In the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire is cut in two pieces, the Eastern and the Western Roman Empire. While the Western Roman Empire was gradually invaded by barbaric NorthEuropean tribes, the Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople as capital developed and became the Byzantine Empire that lasted for about 1,000 years. In 1453 BC, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and gradually the rest of Greece, which had already been dominated by the Venetians. The country suffered a lot under the Ottoman occupation and people tried to rebel many times. However, all rebels were suspended, until March 1821 when the Greek War of Independence started . The country finally got its freedom in 1829, when the first independent Greek state was formed and Ioannis Kapodistrias was set as governor. After Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831, prince Otto from Bavaria became the first king of Greece, followed by George I from Denmark in 1863. That time, the Ionian Islands were given to Greece by Britain, and then Thessaly was attached to the Greek state by the Turks. In the early 20th century, Macedonia, Crete and the Eastern Aegean islands were also attached to the Greek state. This was the time when the figure of an important Greek politician raised, Eleftherios Venizelos. Greece resisted a lot of the Axis forces during the Second World War, but it eventually lost the war. Most of the Greek territory was conquered by the Germans and some parts by the Italians. After the Second World War, the Dodecanese islands also became part of the Greek state. Three decades of political turmoil followed, including a military junta from 1967 till 1974. Since 1975, the regime of Greece is Parliamentary Republic. (http://www.greeka.com/greece-history.htm) Greek Drama The art of drama developed in the ancient Greek city-state of Athens in the late sixth century B.C. From the religious chants honoring Dionysus arose the first tragedies, which centered on the gods and Greeces mythical past. In the fifth century, Greek audiences enjoyed the works of four master playwrights; of these, threeAeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripideswere tragedians. The early works focused on the good and evil that existed simultaneously in the world as well as the other contradictory forces of human nature and the outside world.
All three tragic playwrights drew their material from Greek myths and legends; they each brought new developments to the art form. Aeschylus, whose Oresteia trilogy examines the common tragic themes of vengeance and justice, brought tragedy to the level of serious literature. Sophocles wrote perhaps the greatest tragic work of all time, Oedipus the King. Euripides, questioned traditional values and the ultimate power of the gods. In plays such as Medea and Antigone, Euripides explores the choices that humans make under difficult situations. Sophocles Oedipus the King expresses a truly sorrowful course of events and how one man, though his life is devastated, forges a new identity and learns to live with himself. The myth of Orestes, as seen in Aeschyluss Oresteia trilogy and Euripides Orestes introduces other major themes in Greek tragedy, namely justice (divine, personal, and communal) and vengeance. Comedy most likely also developed out of the same religious rituals as tragedy. Aristophanes was the greatest writer of comedies in the early period known as Old Comedy. He used biting satire in plays such as Birds and Lysistrata to ridicule prominent Athenian figures and current events. Later comedy relied less on satire and mythology and more on human relations among the Greek common people. Greek drama created an entirely new art form, and over the centuries, the works of these ancient Greek writers have influenced and inspired countless writers, philosophers, musicians, and other artists and thinkers. Greek drama, with its universal themes and situations, continues to hold relevance for modern audiences. http://www.enotes.com/greekdrama-fs Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone
Sophocles One of the most influential writers of Ancient Greece, was most likely born in 497/6 B.C., a few years before the Battle of Marathon. In 490 B.C. probably, his place of birth is in Attica. www.sophocles.net Like many good Athenian citizens, he was also a politician, priest and military leader. Sophocles was born in Colonus, not far from Athens, the city whose culture would shape the dramatist. His father Sophillus, owned a business, which probably manufactured armor. Sophocless musical education led to his recognition as a master of song In 443 or 442 BCE, Sophocles became a treasurer of Athena. In this role, Sophocles was responsible for the collection of tribute from Athenss subjected territories. Within a couple of years of holding that post, Sophocles was also elected a general in the suppression of the revolt on Samos. In this role, he served under Pericles in 413, he would return to military service as one of the generals selected to fight against Syracuse. The respect from the Athenian people also placed him in a position to be given one of the special commission implemented to deal with the state of emergency after the military failure in Syracuse.
Sophocles died before the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War. Aeschylus is said to have helped train the young Sophocles in the arts of tragedy. Sophocles most famous surviving work includes the Theban plays: Oedipus Rex (sometimes called Oedipus Tyrannus) Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. Although these plays deal with the similar subjects, it has been conjectured that they in fact come from different collections of works and the three plays should not be seen as a trilogy.
Oedipus Rex When the play opens, Thebes is suffering a plague which leaves its fields and women barren. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, has sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the house of Apollo to ask the oracle how to end the plague. Creon returns, bearing good news: once the killer of the previous king, Laius, is found, Thebes will be cured of the plague (Laius was Jocasta's husband before she married Oedipus). Hearing this, Oedipus swears he will find the murderer and banish him. The Chorus (representing the people of Thebes) suggests that Oedipus consult Teiresias, the blind prophet. Oedipus tells them that he has already sent for Teiresias. When Teiresias arrives, he seems reluctant to answer Oedipus's questions, warning him that he does not want to know the answers. Oedipus threatens him with death, and finally Teiresias tells him that Oedipus himself is the killer, and that his marriage is a sinful union. Oedipus takes this as an insult and jumps to the conclusion that Creon paid Teiresias to say these things. Furious, Oedipus dismisses him, and Teiresias goes, repeating as he does, that Laius's killer is right here before him - a man who is his father's killer and his mother's husband, a man who came seeing but will leave in blindness. Creon enters, asking the people around him if it is true that Oedipus slanderously accused him. The Chorus tries to mediate, but Oedipus appears and charges Creon with treason. Jocasta and the Chorus beg Oedipus to be open-minded: Oedipus unwillingly relents and allows Creon to go. Jocasta asks Oedipus why he is so upset and he tells her what Teiresias prophesied. Jocasta comforts him by telling him that there is no truth in oracles or prophets, and she has proof. Long ago an oracle told Laius that his own son would kill him, and as a result he and Jocasta gave their infant son to a shepherd to leave out on a hillside to die with a pin through its ankles. Yet Laius was killed by robbers, not by his own son, proof that the oracle was wrong. But something about her story troubles Oedipus; she said that Laius was killed at a place where three roads meet, and this reminds Oedipus of an incident from his past, when he killed a stranger at a place where three roads met. He asks her to describe Laius, and her description matches his memory. Yet Jocasta tells him that the only eyewitness to Laius's death, a herdsman, swore that five robbers killed him. Oedipus summons this witness. While they wait for the man to arrive, Jocasta asks Oedipus why he seems so troubled. Oedipus tells her the story of his past. Once when he was young, a man he met told him that he was not his father's son. He asked his parents about it, and they denied it.
Still it troubled him, and he eventually went to an oracle to determine his true lineage. The oracle then told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. This prophecy so frightened Oedipus that he left his hometown and never returned. On his journey, he encountered a haughty man at a crossroads - and killed the man after suffering an insult. Oedipus is afraid that the stranger he killed might have been King Laius, his father. If this is the case, Oedipus will be forever banished both from Thebes (the punishment he swore for the killer of Laius) and from Corinth, his hometown. If this eyewitness will swear that robbers killed Laius, then Oedipus is exonerated. He prays for the witness to deliver him from guilt and from banishment. Oedipus and Jocasta enter the palace to wait for him. Jocasta comes back out of the palace, on her way to the holy temples to pray for Oedipus. A messenger arrives from Corinth with the news that Oedipus's father Polybus is dead. Overjoyed, Jocasta sends for Oedipus, glad that she has even more proof in the uselessness of oracles. Oedipus rejoices, but then states that he is still afraid of the rest of the oracle's prophecy: that he will marry his mother. The messenger assures him that he need not fear approaching Corinth - since Merope, his mother, is not really his mother, and moreover, Polybus wasn't his father either. Stunned, Oedipus asks him how he came to know this. The messenger replies that years ago a man gave a baby to him and he delivered this baby to the king and queen of Corinth - a baby that would grow up to be Oedipus the King. The injury to Oedipus's ankles is a testament to the truth of his tale, because the baby's feet had been pierced through the ankles. Oedipus asks the messenger who gave the baby to him, and he replies that it was one of Laius's servants. Oedipus sends his men out to find this servant. The messenger suggests that Jocasta should be able to help identify the servant and help unveil the true story of Oedipus's birth. Suddenly understanding the terrible truth, Jocasta begs Oedipus not to carry through with his investigation. Oedipus replies that he swore to unravel this mystery, and he will follow through on his word. Jocasta exits into the palace. Oedipus again swears that he will figure out this secret, no matter how vile the answer is. The Chorus senses that something bad is about to happen and join Jocasta's cry in begging the mystery to be left unresolved. Oedipus's men lead in an old shepherd, who is afraid to answer Oedipus's questions. But finally he tells Oedipus the truth. He did in fact give the messenger a baby boy, and that baby boy was Laius's son - the same son that Jocasta and Laius left on a hillside to die because of the oracle's prophecy. Finally the truth is clear, Oedipus killed the stranger who happened to be his father King Laius and then married his mother Jocasta. Oedipus exits into the palace. A messenger reveals that he grabbed a sword and searched for Jocasta with the intent to kill her. Upon entering her chamber, however, he finds that she has hanged herself. He takes the gold brooches from her dress and gouges his eyes out. He appears onstage again, blood streaming from his now blind eyes.
He cries out that he, who has seen and done such vile things, shall never see again. He begs to be killed and Creon comes in after hearing him. Oedipus begs to let him leave the city, but Creon wants to consult Apollo first. Oedipus tells him that banishment was the punishment he declared for Laius's killer, and Creon agrees with him. Before he leaves forever, however, Oedipus asks to see his daughters and begs Creon to take care of them. Oedipus is then led away, while Creon and the girls go back in the palace. The Chorus, alone, laments Oedipus' tragic fate and his doomed lineage. (http://www.gradesaver.com/oedipus-rex-or-oedipus-the-king/study-guide/short-summary/) Oedipus is the protagonist of both Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Antigone is the protagonist of Antigone. Antigones major conflict is between Creon and Antigone. Creon has declared that the body of Polynices may not be given a proper burial because he led the forces that invaded Thebes, but Antigone wishes to give her brother a proper burial nevertheless. The major conflict of Oedipus the King arises when Tiresias tells Oedipus that Oedipus is responsible for the plague and Oedipus refuses to believe him. The major conflict of Oedipus at Colonus is between Oedipus and Creon. Creon has been told by the oracle that only Oedipuss return can bring an end to the civil strife in ThebesOedipuss two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, are at war over the throne. Oedipus, furious at Creon for exiling him, has no desire to return. The rising action of Oedipus the King occurs when Creon returns from the oracle with the news that the plague in Thebes will end when the murderer of Laius, the king before Oedipus, is discovered and driven out. The rising action of Oedipus at Colonus occurs when Creon demands that Oedipus return to Thebes and tries to force him to do so. The rising action of Antigone is Antigones decision to defy Creons orders and bury her brother. The climax of Oedipus the King occurs when Oedipus learns, quite contrary to his expectations, that he is the man responsible for the plague that has stricken Thebeshe is the man who killed his father and slept with his mother. The climax of Oedipus at Colonus happens when we hear of Oedipuss death. The climax of Antigone is when Creon, too late to avert tragedy, decides to pardon Antigone for defying his orders and burying her brother. http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/facts.html
Greek Gods Aphrodite - Goddess of love and beauty. Her son was Eros, the god of love. She is also believed to have kept a watchful eye over sailors. Apollo - Beautiful god of the light, medicine and music. Apollo represents order, harmony, and civilization Ares - God of war. He had an affair with Aphrodite, and was father to many children. Artemis - Goddess moon, forest, childbirth and the hunt. Although she was associated with childbirth and children, Artemis was a virgin. Athena - (Athene) Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and war and the patron goddess of Athens. Like Artemis, she was a virgin goddess too. Hades - God of the Underworld. Hephaestus - God of fire and the forge. Mated to Aphrodite. Hera - Queen of the Gods, wife of Zeus, protector of marriage.
Hermes - The messenger of the gods, god of business. He was a very smart child, inventing the lyre by using a tortoise's shell when he was only a newborn baby. Hestia - Goddess of home, symbolized by the hearth which holds the ever-burning flame. Poseidon - God of the sea and earthquakes. As god of the seas Poseidon held great power, and could calm the waves or create terrible storms. He had an unreliable temper, and used his powers to generate fear and punishment on people as revenge. Zeus - King of the Gods, god of the sky, symbolized by the thunderbolt. As the ruler of the Olympian gods, Zeus held enormous power and almost absolute authority. His role was primarily to watch over the activities of the other gods, and make sure they weren't exceeding their powers. The Titans, also known as the elder gods, ruled the earth before the Olympians overthrew them. The ruler of the Titans was Cronus who was de-throned by his son Zeus. Prometheus - He stole the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods. Atlas - Zeus punished him to forever bear the heavens upon his shoulders. Dione - The mother of Aphrodite. Gaea - was the Earth goddess. She mated with her son Uranus and gave birth to the remaining Titans. Often misspelled "Ghea." Uranus - was the sky god and first ruler, the son of Ghea. Cronus - Son of Uranus. His wife was Rhea (his sister). He was the father of Zeus. Rhea - was the wife of Cronus. Oceanus - is the unending stream of water encircling the world. Mnemosyne - was the goddess of memory and the inventor of words. Tethys - was the wife of Oceanus. Themis - was the god of justice and order. Iapetus - was the father of Epimetheus, Menoetius, Prometheus and Atlas. Coeus - was the Titan of Intelligence. Phoebe - the Titan of the Moon. Crius - He represented the tremendous power of the sea. Hyperion - means "he who goes before the sun." Thea - Hyperion's wife and sister. Epimetheus - means "afterthought" is the opposite of his brother Prometheus ("forethought"). Metis - was the first wife of Zeus. She ruled over all wisdom and knowledge.
Aristotle Aristotle (384322 B.C.E.) numbers among the greatest philosophers of all time. Judged solely in terms of his philosophical influence, only Plato is his peer: Aristotle's works shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue to be studied with keen, non-antiquarian interest. A prodigious researcher and writer, Aristotle left a great body of work, perhaps numbering as many as two-hundred treatises, from which approximately thirty-one survive. His extant writings span a wide range of disciplines, from logic, metaphysics and philosophy of mind, through ethics, political theory, aesthetics and rhetoric, and into such primarily non8 www.DantesTestPrep.com Pass or Dont Pay! Call us to register @ 888-995-7737
philosophical fields as empirical biology, where he excelled at detailed plant and animal observation and taxonomy. In all these areas, Aristotle's theories have provided illumination, met with resistance, sparked debate, and generally stimulated the sustained interest of an abiding readership. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/)
Mythology The first purpose of mythology was to explain the unexplainable. Since the beginning of humankind's existence, myths have functioned as rationalizations for the fundamental mysteries of life, questions such as: Who made the world? How will it end? Where do we come from? Who was the first human? What happens when we die? Why does the sun travel across the sky each day? Why does the moon wax and wane? Why do we have annual agricultural cycles and seasonal changes? Who controls our world, and how can we influence those beings so our lives are easier? A Universal Need In the absence of scientific information, long ago societies all over the world devised creation myths, resurrection myths, and complex systems of supernatural beings, each with specific powers, and stories about their actions. Since people were often isolated from each other, most myths evolved independently, but the various myths are surprisingly similar, in particular creation myths. So the need for myth is a universal need. Over time, one version of a myth would become the accepted standard that was passed down to succeeding generations, first through storytelling, and then, much later, set down in written form. Inevitably myths became part of systems of religion, and were integrated into rituals and ceremonies, which included music, dancing and magic. The second function of myth is to justify an existing social system and to account for its rites and customs. One constant rule of mythology is whatever happens among the gods reflects events on earth. In this way, events such as invasions and radical social changes became incorporated into myths. Some myths, especially those from the Greco-Roman and medieval periods, also serve to illustrate moral principles, frequently through feats of heroism performed by mortals. The most detailed account of Greek Myth Creation comes from Theogony, a poem composed by Hesiod, a Greek poet. Greek Mythology starts with the Creation of the universe and the human race. To the Greeks, everything in the world began with Chaos, a primordial void of darkness. After Chaos came Gaia, the Earth which was born from Chaos or appearing on its own. After Chaos and Gaia, came Tartarus, which is deep inside the Earth and the lowest level of the Underworld. Then came Eros, the most beautiful of all immortals. All else came into being after these four have emerged. Chaos gives birth to Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night). While sleeping, Gaia gave birth to Uranus (God of the Sky and Sky himself) and Pontus (God of the Sea and Sea). Uranus was the first son of Gaia and later became her husband. After the emergence of Erebus, Nyx, Uranus and Pontus, all the rest of Creation came from mating. Uranus, the sky, grew as huge as Gaia and enveloped her. Fertile rain fell to the earth and Gaia then gave birth to the rest of the physical world, mountains, oceans, flowers and
trees. Their children included 12 children - the Titans, three Cyclops and three hundred handed Giants. This is how the world came about in Greek Mythology. There were many tales of where the first humans came from. One of the most convincing tales credited one of the elder Greek Gods (a Titan), Prometheus, who created humans out of mud in the image of the gods. In the early history of man, an argument emerged on which portion of a sacrificial bull must be given to the gods. The Olympians asked Prometheus to arbitrate. Prometheus then created two piles of meat, one pile had the choicest flesh, but with the unappetizing looking stomach on top and the other pile had only bones and was covered with a layer of juicy fat. Prometheus then asked the supreme Greek God Zeus to choose which portion should go to the gods. Zeus saw through the deception, but still chose the fat-covered bones in order to create an eternal enmity between gods and humans. Zeus was furious that Prometheus tried to trick him and therefore decided to withdraw the gift of fire to humankind. Man can get the best part of the meat, but will have to eat it raw. However, Prometheus stole the fire away from the flaming chariot of Helius (the Sun) and hid in the hollow stalk of a plant. He then happily sped to man with this heavenly gift of fire. Zeus rage shook the heavens when he found out that Prometheus stole the fire. To punish Prometheus and mankind, he instructed Hephaestus (God of fire, artisans, smiths) to create a woman of stunning beauty from clay and water. Pandora, the first woman was thus created. She was then given a final gift, a jar which she must not open. Hermes then swiftly brought her down to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Though Prometheus had foreseen that Zeus will retaliate and warned his brother against accepting the gift. Epimetheus did not heed the warning as he was attracted to the great beauty of Pandora. Pandora stayed on earth for a while before she became curious about the jar the gods gave her. When she opened it, all the misfortune of the world overflowed to the earth. The gifts were in fact labor, old age, evil, plague - brought only trouble to mankind. Panicked, she then quickly replaced the jar lid just before Hope could come out. The rest of the evils and disease were already out causing humans much pain and hurt thereafter. According to Hesiod, not only did the first woman Pandora, release the evils upon the world, she also became the mother of all wicked women. (http://www.greek-mythologygods.com/origin.html)
Romans and War (http://www.heritage-history.com/www/sample/sample_battles.pdf) The Roman Army was extremely important in explaining the success of the Romans and the expansion of the Roman Empire. The Roman Army, at the peak of its power, conquered what we now call England/Wales, Spain, France, most of Germany, the northern coast of Africa, the Middle East and Greece. The Roman Army is recognized by historians as an extremely effective fighting machine. Ironically, its success also led to its downfall. The lowest level of soldier in the Roman Army was the legionnaire. Between 5000 and 6000 legionaries made up a legion that was commanded by a legatus. Legionnaires were trained to fight in a disciplined and coordinated manner. A whole legion could be punished for failing to fight well in battle - even if the Romans did win the battle itself! Training was brutal and tough, but it paid huge dividends for the Romans.
A legionnaire went into battle equipped with three main weapons, the pilum, gladius, and pugio. The Pilum was similar to a javelin today . The legionaries would throw it at the enemy as they ran at them. It was not for hand-to-hand fighting. The main purpose of the pilum was to disrupt the defense of the enemy. They would be too concerned worrying about avoiding the incoming weapons to focus on what the legionnaires themselves were doing. By the time the enemy had re-organized itself, the Romans were upon them. If a pilum did hit you, it could do serious damage as the thinner top section would crumble into you on impact and removing it would be very painful. The wooden stock of the pilum was also re-useable as the Romans only had to add another spear head to it. The gladius was the main weapon for the Roman soldier when he got into close quarter fighting. This was a sword which was kept razor sharp. Anyone on the receiving end of a blow from a gladius would suffer severe injuries. The pugio was a small dagger used in combat if all else had been lost. Along with these weapons, the legionnaire carried a curved shield called a scutum. This gave the Roman soldier a great deal of protection as it curved around his body. It was also used by the Romans when they used what was known as a tortoise formation to move forward to a target that was well defended. A 'tortoise' was when the soldiers lifted the scutums flat above their heads so that they effectively interlocked and protected them from any missiles thrown at them from on high.
Hamlet On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited the throne and married the kings widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him, declaring ominously that it is indeed his fathers spirit, and that he was murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the dawn. Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his fathers death, but, because he is contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep melancholy and even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about the princes erratic behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They employ a pair of Hamlets friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius, the pompous Lord Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia, Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though Hamlet certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages. A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to test his uncles guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling the sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the room.
Hamlet and Horatio agree that this proves his guilt . Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. Since he believes that killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudiuss soul to heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to wait. Claudius, now frightened of Hamlets madness and fearing for his own safety, orders that Hamlet be sent to England at once. Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is hiding there. He draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately dispatched to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. However, Claudiuss plan for Hamlet includes more than banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed orders for the King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death. In the aftermath of her fathers death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in the river. Poloniuss son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to Denmark in a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his fathers and sisters deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked his ship en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan to use Laertes desire for revenge to secure Hamlets death. Laertes will fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but Claudius will poison Laertes blade so that if he draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a backup plan, the king decides to poison a goblet, which he will give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet score the first or second hits of the match. Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelias funeral is taking place. Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact always loved Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes one must be prepared to die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish courtier named Osric arrives on Claudiuss orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes. The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but declines to drink from the kings proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink from it and is swiftly killed by the poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet, though Hamlet does not die of the poison immediately. First, Laertes is cut by his own swords blade, and, after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the queens death, he dies from the blades poison. Hamlet then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately after achieving his revenge. At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras, who has led an army to Denmark and attacked Poland earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from England, who report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is stunned by the gruesome sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead. He moves to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlets last request, tells him Hamlets tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried away in a manner befitting a fallen soldier.
Henry IV, Part 1 The play opens with military news interrupting the aging King Henrys plans to lead a crusade. The Welsh rebel Glyndwr has defeated King Henrys army in the South, and the young Harry Percy (nicknamed Hotspur), who is supposedly loyal to King Henry, is refusing to send to the King the soldiers whom he has captured in the North. King Henry summons Hotspur back to the royal court so that he can explain his actions. Meanwhile, Prince Harry, King Henrys son is a disappointment because his behavior consisting of hanging in bars and associating with criminals and vagrants is unbefitting to royalty. His closest friend, Falstaff, a fat lying thief who is a sort of substitute father for Harry is witty and lives with great gusto. Harry claims that his spending time with these men is actually part of a scheme on his part to impress the public when he eventually changes his ways and adopts a more noble personality. Falstaffs friend Poins arrives at the inn and announces that he has plotted the robbery of a group of wealthy travelers. Although Harry initially refuses to participate, Poins explains to him in private that he is actually playing a practical joke on Falstaff. Poins plan is to hide before the robbery occurs, pretending to ditch Falstaff. After the robbery, Poins and Harry will rob Falstaff and then make fun of him when he tells the story of being robbed, which he will almost certainly fabricate. Hotspur arrives at King Henrys court and details the reasons that his family is frustrated with the King: the Percys were instrumental in helping Henry overthrow his predecessor, but Henry has failed to repay the favor. After King Henry leaves, Hotspurs family members explain to Hotspur their plan to build an alliance to overthrow the King. Harry and Poins, meanwhile, successfully carry out their plan to dupe Falstaff and have a great deal of fun at his expense. As they are all drinking back at the tavern, however, a messenger arrives for Harry. Harrys father has received news of the civil war that is brewing and has sent for his son; Harry is to return to the royal court the next day. Although the Percys have gathered a formidable group of allies around themleaders of large rebel armies from Scotland and Wales as well as powerful English nobles and clergymen who have grievances against King Henrythe alliance has begun to falter. Several key figures announce that they will not join in the effort to overthrow the King, and the danger that these defectors might alert King Henry of the rebellion necessitates going to war at once. Heeding his fathers request, Harry returns to the palace. King Henry expresses his deep sorrow and anger at his sons behavior and implies that Hotspurs valor might actually give him more right to the throne than Prince Harrys royal birth. Harry decides that it is time to reform, and he vows that he will abandon his wild ways and vanquish Hotspur in battle in order to reclaim his good name. Drafting his tavern friends to fight in King Henrys army, Harry accompanies his father to the battlefront. The civil war is decided in a great battle at Shrewsbury. Harry boldly saves his fathers life in battle and finally wins back his fathers approval and affection. Harry also challenges and defeats Hotspur in single combat. King Henrys forces win, and most of the leaders of the Percy family are put to death. Falstaff manages to survive the battle by avoiding any actual fighting. Powerful rebel forces remain in Britain, however, so King Henry must send his sons and his forces to the far reaches of his Kingdom to deal with them. When the play ends, the ultimate
outcome of the war has not yet been determined; one battle has been won, but another remains to be fought (Shakespeares sequel to this play, 2 Henry IV, begins where 1 Henry IV leaves off). Julius Caesar The action begins in February 44 BC. Julius Caesar has just entered Rome in triumph after a victory in Spain over the sons of his old enemy, Pompey the Great. A spontaneous celebration has interrupted and been broken up by Flavius and Marullus, two political enemies of Caesar. It soon becomes apparent from their words that powerful and secret forces are working against Caesar. Caesar appears, attended by a train of friends and supporters, and is warned by a soothsayer to "beware the ides of March," but he ignores the warning and leaves for the games and races marking the celebration of the feast of Lupercal. After Caesar's departure, only two men remain behind Marcus Brutus, a close friend of Caesar, and Cassius, a long time political foe of Caesar's. Both men are of aristocratic origin and see the end of their ancient privilege in Caesar's political reforms and conquests. Envious of Caesar's power and prestige, Cassius cleverly probes to discover where Brutus' deepest sympathies lie. As a man of highest personal integrity, Brutus opposes Caesar on principle, despite his friendship with him. Cassius cautiously inquires about Brutus' feelings if a conspiracy were to unseat Caesar; he finds Brutus not altogether against the notion; that is, Brutus shares "some aim" with Cassius but does not wish "to be any further moved." The two men part, promising to meet again for further discussions. In the next scene, it is revealed that the conspiracy Cassius spoke of in veiled terms is already a reality. He has gathered together a group of disgruntled and discredited aristocrats who are only too willing to assassinate Caesar. Partly to gain the support of the respectable element of Roman society, Cassius persuades Brutus to head the conspiracy, and Brutus agrees to do so. Shortly afterward, plans are made at a secret meeting in Brutus' orchard. The date is set: It will be on the day known as the ides of March, the fifteenth day of the month. Caesar is to be murdered in the Senate chambers by the concealed daggers and swords of the assembled conspirators. After the meeting is ended, Brutus' wife, Portia, suspecting something and fearing for her husband's safety, questions him. Touched by her love and devotion, Brutus promises to reveal his secret to her later. The next scene takes place in Caesar's house. The time is the early morning; the date, the fateful ides of March. The preceding night has been a strange one wild, stormy, and full of strange and unexplainable sights and happenings throughout the city of Rome. Caesar's wife, Calphurnia, terrified by horrible nightmares, persuades Caesar not to go to the Capitol, convinced that her dreams are portents of disaster. By prearrangement, Brutus and the other conspirators arrive to accompany Caesar, hoping to fend off any possible warnings until they have him totally in their power at the Senate. Unaware that he is surrounded by assassins and shrugging off Calphurnia's exhortations, Caesar goes with them. Despite the conspirators' best efforts, a warning is pressed into Caesar's hand on the very steps of the Capitol, but he refuses to read it. Wasting no further time, the conspirators move into action. Purposely asking Caesar for a favor they know he will refuse, they move closer,
as if begging a favor, and then, reaching for their hidden weapons, they kill him before the shocked eyes of the senators and spectators. Hearing of Caesar's murder, Mark Antony, Caesar's closest friend, begs permission to speak at Caesar's funeral. Brutus grants this permission over the objections of Cassius and delivers his own speech first, confident that his words will convince the populace of the necessity for Caesar's death. After Brutus leaves, Antony begins to speak. The crowd has been swayed by Brutus' words, and it is an unsympathetic crowd that Antony addresses. Using every oratorical device known, however, Antony turns the audience into a howling mob, screaming for the blood of Caesar's murderers. Alarmed by the furor caused by Antony's speech, the conspirators and their supporters are forced to flee from Rome and finally, from Italy. At this point, Antony, together with Caesar's young grandnephew and adopted son, Octavius, and a wealthy banker, Lepidus, gathers an army to pursue and destroy Caesar's killers. These three men, known as triumvirs, have formed a group called the Second Triumvirate to pursue the common goal of gaining control of the Roman Empire. Months pass, during which the conspirators and their armies are pursued relentlessly into the far reaches of Asia Minor. When finally they decide to stop at the town of Sardis, Cassius and Brutus quarrel bitterly over finances. Their differences are resolved, however, and plans are made to meet the forces of Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus in one final battle. Against his own better judgment, Cassius allows Brutus to overrule him: Instead of holding to their wellprepared defensive positions, Brutus orders an attack on Antony's camp on the plains of Philippi. Just before the battle, Brutus is visited by the ghost of Caesar. "I shall see thee at Philippi," the spirit warns him, but Brutus' courage is unshaken and he goes on. The battle rages hotly. At first, the conspirators appear to have the advantage, but in the confusion, Cassius is mistakenly convinced that all is lost, and he kills himself. Leaderless, his forces are quickly defeated, and Brutus finds himself fighting a hopeless battle. Unable to face the prospect of humiliation and shame as a captive (who would be chained to the wheels of Antony's chariot and dragged through the streets of Rome), he too takes his own life. As the play ends, Antony delivers a eulogy over Brutus' body, calling him "the noblest Roman of them all." Caesar's murder has been avenged, order has been restored, and, most important, the Roman Empire has been preserved.
King Lear Lear, the aging King of Britain, decides to step down from the throne and divide his Kingdom evenly among his three daughters. First, however, he puts his daughters through a test. He wants each to tell him how much she loves him. Goneril and Regan, Lears older daughters, give their father flattering answers. Cordelia, Lears youngest and favorite daughter, remains silent, saying that she has no words to describe how much she loves her father. Lear flies into a rage and disowns Cordelia. The King of France, who has courted Cordelia, says that he still wants to marry her even without her land, and she accompanies him to France without her fathers blessing. Lear quickly learns that he made a bad decision. Goneril and Regan swiftly begin to undermine the little authority that Lear still holds. Unable to believe that his beloved daughters are betraying him, Lear slowly goes insane. He flees his daughters houses to wander on a heath during a great thunderstorm, accompanied by his Fool and by Kent, a loyal noble man in disguise.
Meanwhile, an elderly noble man named Gloucester also experiences family problems . His illegitimate son, Edmund, tricks him into believing that his legitimate son, Edgar, is trying to kill him. Fleeing the manhunt that his father has set for him, Edgar disguises himself as a crazy beggar and calls himself Poor Tom. Like Lear, he heads out onto the heath. When the loyal Gloucester realizes that Lears daughters have turned against their father, he decides to help Lear in spite of the danger. Regan and her husband, Cornwall, discover him helping Lear, accuse him of treason, blind him, and turn him out to wander the countryside. He ends up being led by his disguised son, Edgar, toward the city of Dover, where Lear has also been brought. In Dover, a French army lands as part of an invasion led by Cordelia in an effort to save her father. Edmund apparently becomes romantically entangled with both Regan and Goneril, whose husband, Albany, is increasingly sympathetic to Lears cause. Goneril and Edmund conspire to kill Albany. The despairing Gloucester tries to commit suicide, but Edgar saves him by pulling the strange trick of leading him off an imaginary cliff. Meanwhile, the English troops reach Dover, and the English, led by Edmund, defeat the Cordelia-led French. Lear and Cordelia are captured. In the climactic scene, Edgar duels with and kills Edmund; we learn of the death of Gloucester; Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy over Edmund and then kills herself when her treachery is revealed to Albany; Edmunds betrayal of Cordelia leads to her needless execution in prison; and Lear finally dies out of grief at Cordelias passing. Albany, Edgar, and the elderly Kent are left to take care of the country under a cloud of sorrow and regret.
Macbeth Set in medieval Scotland and partly based on a true historical account, Macbeth charts the bloody rise to power and tragic downfall of the warrior Macbeth. Already a successful soldier in the army of King Duncan, Macbeth is informed by Three Witches that he is to become King. As part of the same prophecy, the Witches predict that future Scottish Kings will be descended not from Macbeth but from his fellow army captain, Banquo. Although initially prepared to wait for Fate to take its course, Macbeth is stung by ambition and confusion when King Duncan nominates his son Malcolm as his heir. Returning to his castle, Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded and directed by his ambitious wife, who realizes that regicide the murder of the King is the quickest way to achieve the destiny that her husband has been promised. A perfect opportunity presents itself when King Duncan pays a royal visit to Macbeth's castle. At first Macbeth is loathe to commit a crime that he knows will invite judgment, if not on earth then in heaven. Once more, however, his wife prevails upon him. Following an evening of revelry, Lady Macbeth drugs the guards of the King's bedchamber; then, at a given signal, Macbeth, although filled with misgivings, ascends to the King's room and murders him while he sleeps. Haunted by what he has done, Macbeth is once more reprimanded by his wife, whose inner strength seems only to have been increased by the treacherous killing. Suddenly, both are alarmed by a loud knocking at the castle door. A drunken porter of Macbeth's castle opens the door to Macduff, a loyal follower of the King, who has been asked to awake Duncan in preparation for the return journey. Macbeth indicates the location of the King's room, and Macduff discovers the body . When the
murder is revealed, Macbeth swiftly kills the prime witnesses, the sleepy guards of the King's bedchamber, and Lady Macbeth faints. The assembled lords of Scotland, including Macbeth, swear to avenge the murder. With suspicion heavy in the air, the King's two sons flee the country: Donalbain to Ireland and Malcolm to raise an army in England. Macbeth is duly proclaimed the new King of Scotland, but recalling the Witches' second prophecy, he arranges the murder of his fellow soldier Banquo and his son Fleance, both of whom represent a threat to his Kingship according to the Witches' prophecy. The hired murderers kill Banquo but mistakenly allow Fleance to escape. At a celebratory banquet that night, Macbeth is thrown into a state of horror when the ghost of the murdered Banquo appears at the dining table. Again, his wife tries to strengthen Macbeth, but the strain is clearly beginning to show. The following day, Macbeth returns to the same Witches who initially foretold his destiny. This time, the Witches not only confirm that the sons of Banquo will rule in Scotland, but they also add a new prophecy: Macbeth will be invincible in battle until the time when the forest of Birnam moves towards his stronghold at Dunsinane and until he meets an enemy "not born of woman." Dismissing both of these predictions as nonsense, Macbeth prepares for invasion. When he is told that Macduff has deserted him, Macbeth begins the final stage of his tragic descent. His first move is the destruction of Macduff's wife and children. In England, Macduff receives the news at the very moment that he swears his allegiance to the young Malcolm. Malcolm persuades him that the murder of his family should act as the spur to revenge. Meanwhile, in Scotland, Lady Macbeth has been taken ill: she walks in her sleep and seems to recall, in fragmentary memories, the details of the murder. Now, in a series of alternating scenes, the action of the play moves rapidly between the advancing army of Malcolm and the defensive preparations of Macbeth. When Malcolm's army disguise themselves with sawnoff branches, Macbeth sees what appears to be a wood moving towards his stronghold at Dunsinane. And when he finally meets Macduff in single combat, his sworn enemy reveals that he came into the world by cesarean section; he was not, precisely speaking, "born of woman." On hearing this news, Macbeth rejects one final time the Witches' prophecy. With a loud cry, he launches himself at Macduff and is slain. In the final scene, Malcolm is crowned as the new King of Scotland, to the acclaim of all.
Merchant of Venice Antonio, a leading merchant of Venice, is a wealthy, respected, and popular man. Among his many friends is a young man named Bassanio, who owes Antonio a good deal of money. Bassanio would like to repay his friend, but so far he has been unable to do so. However, he now feels that he may have found a way but he will again need a loan from Antonio. In Belmont, Bassanio tells Antonio, there lives a beautiful, young and wealthy heiress, Portia. Bassanio feels sure that he can win her hand in marriage, but he cannot go courting "handshanging." If he is to make a good impression, he has to appear at least as well off as her other wealthy suitors. Antonio tells his young friend that he would gladly lend him whatever amount of money he needs, but at the present time he himself is short of cash. All of his money is tied up in his merchant ships, which are still at sea. However, Antonio will not
disappoint Bassanio. He knows of a moneylender who will probably lend him the necessary amount, and Bassanio can use Antonio's good name as security for the loan. At Belmont, Portia speaks to Nerissa, her confidante, telling her how tired she is of the constant stream of suitors, and how she wishes to be free of the perverse obligation of her father's will: Portia cannot choose her own husband; she can marry only the man who chooses the correct one of three caskets one gold, one silver, and one lead; one contains her portrait and that one is the lucky casket. So far, none of her suitors has decided to risk choosing one of the caskets, which is all for the good, because Portia has no liking for any of them. However, when Nerissa mentions the name of Bassanio, a possible suitor, Portia's mood brightens. He was once a visitor at Belmont, and Portia was impressed with him. Meanwhile in Venice, Shylock, a rich Jewish moneylender who harbors a secret hatred for Antonio, has agreed to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats for three months, on Antonio's bond. Foregoing his usual high interest rate, Shylock demands instead that if the day for payment falls due and the money is not returned, he may cut off one pound of flesh from Antonio's body. Antonio agrees because all of his ships are due back in Venice a full month before the bond falls due. A romantic subplot develops when Lorenzo, a close friend of Antonio and Bassanio, falls in love with Shylock's daughter, Jessica. He manages to elope with her by disguising her as a boy, and she manages to take with her a goodly amount of her father's ducats. Of course, this infuriates Shylock, and he vows revenge. Shortly thereafter, Bassanio and Gratiano leave for Belmont, where the "fair Portia" has just sent away the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon, two more disappointed, unsuccessful suitors. When Bassanio asks to choose one of the caskets, Portia falls immediately in love with him, and she begs him to wait a few days before choosing one of the caskets. He has fallen in love with Portia and insists on taking his chances. He rejects the gold one, then the silver one; he chooses, finally, the lead casket, and on opening it, he finds a portrait of Portia. Both he and Portia are overjoyed, and they make plans to be married at once, along with Nerissa and Gratiano, who have also fallen in love. Happiness reigns in Belmont until Bassanio is brought a letter from Antonio bidding him farewell since his ships have been lost at sea and since it is impossible that he will live after Shylock collects his pound of flesh. Horrified, Bassanio leaves instantly for Venice with money which Portia gives him to pay the bond. In Venice, Shylock is no longer interested in the mere payment of the money due him. He wants revenge. A Christian stole his daughter (and she took his money), and nothing will satisfy Shylock except the legal fulfillment of the bond. In the court of justice, presided over by the Duke of Venice, Shylock faces his enemy, Antonio. Antonio is surrounded by his friends and is quietly resigned to death. On all sides, Shylock is surrounded by enemies. Bassanio pleads with Shylock to accept double the money due him, but Shylock refuses. At this point, Portia, disguised as a lawyer, and Nerissa, dressed as her law clerk, enter the court and tell the Duke that they have been sent from Padua by a learned attorney, Doctor Bellario, to plead the defendant's case. Portia entreats Shylock to be merciful, but he will not listen. She offers the moneylender triple the amount owed him, but again Shylock will have none of it. She then solemnly informs the court that Shylock is entirely within his lawful rights. She then informs Shylock that he must be very careful. He must cut off exactly one pound of flesh, and he must not spill one drop of Antonio's blood. If he fails, all of Shylock's lands and goods will be confiscated. Shylock hastily decides that he will accept the triple
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payment of the bond, but Portia says no; Shylock then offers to take only the original three thousand ducats, but again Portia refuses, reminding him that it was he himself who demanded the strict interpretation of the law. Furthermore, she says, the law has another hold on him. Since he is an alien in Venice and since he tried to "seek the life" of a Venetian citizen, all his wealth can be divided between the citizens whom he attempted to destroy and the public treasury; in addition, Shylock's own life is in peril because of what he attempted to do. The Duke decides to spare Shylock's life, but he does give half of Shylock's money to Antonio, and he gives the rest of it to the state. Antonio says that he will not accept the money if Shylock will agree to become a Christian and if, in his will, he will agree to leave his money to his daughter, Jessica, and her new husband, Lorenzo. Shylock, broken and defeated, agrees to all these conditions and leaves the court. Overjoyed, Antonio and his friends offer to pay the young lawyer whatever they can, but, oddly enough, the lawyer wishes only a certain ring which Bassanio is wearing. Bassanio is embarrassed because his wife gave this ring to him and asked him to wear it always. But the lawyer insists and, finally, Bassanio reluctantly gives away Portia's ring. Nerissa likewise cleverly manages to get from Gratiano a ring she gave him. The two ladies then hasten back to Belmont to tease their husbands about the rings. When Bassanio and Gratiano, along with Antonio, return to Belmont, their wives inquire about the missing rings. Portia and Nerissa insist that the men no doubt gave the rings away to two other women. The husbands swear that it is not true, and it is not until Portia and Nerissa have put their husbands through some long, comically agonizing moments of discomfort that they confess that they themselves were the "learned doctor" and the "clerk" to whom the rings were given. Thus all ends happily, as Portia gives Antonio a letter informing him that three of his ships have arrived safely in port.
The Merry Wives of Windsor The Merry Wives of Windsor is the most purely farcical of all of Shakespeare's plays. It depends on lightning-quick timing between the actors and the carefully choreographed actions. The "meaning" cannot be separated from the "performance." The incidents themselves are as follows: There is a main plot in which Sir John Falstaff conspires to seduce Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ford, the wives of two prominent Windsor citizens. The women play along with him in order to expose him as a preposterous lecher . Then, to complicate matters, the insanely jealous Mr. Ford disguises himself as one "Mr. Brook" and hires Falstaff to procure Mrs. Ford for him in order to (so he plans) reveal her suspected infidelity. But Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page dupe both Falstaff and Mr. Ford. On one occasion, Falstaff is tricked into hiding in a basket of dirty clothes, then dropped into the river ("I have a kind of alacrity in sinking," he says); on another occasion, he must disguise himself as a fat old woman, a "witch" much hated by Mr. Ford, who summarily pummels "her"/him. Finally, both husbands join their "merry wives" in an elaborate masque-like entertainment, the high point of which is the humiliation of Falstaff, who has this time disguised himself as the ghostly "Herne the Hunter," complete with a massive set of horns on his head. The secondary plot concerns the comical antics of a pair of would-be suitors for the hand of the lovely Anne Page. Doctor Caius, a quick-tempered French doctor, and Slender, the stupid
nephew of Justice Shallow, vie for Anne's favor, while she finds both of them abhorrent. Sir Hugh Evans, a friend to Shallow and a supporter of Slender's cause, comes into conflict with Doctor Caius, and because the Welshman Evans and the Frenchman Caius persistently garble the English language, their meetings and arguments give special pleasure to all present. In the end, Anne Page marries her true-love, a poor young gentleman named Fenton. Mr. Ford promises to desist from being jealous of his wife, Falstaff is made a laughing stock, and then he is reconciled to the group. The spirit of the comedy is best summed up in Mrs. Page's last lines: Master Fenton Heaven give you many, many merry days! Good husband, let us every one go home, And laugh this sport o'er by a country fire; Sir John and all. (253-57)
Romeo and Juliet A long-standing feud between the Montague and Capulet families continues to disrupt the peace of Verona, a city in northern Italy. A brawl between the servants of the feuding households prompts the Prince to threaten both sides to keep the peace on pain of death. Benvolio advises his lovesick friend Romeo, (son of Montague), to abandon his unrequited love for Rosaline and seek another. That night, Capulet holds a masked ball to encourage a courtship between his daughter, Juliet, and Paris, a relative of the Prince. Concealing their identities behind masks, Romeo and Benvolio go to the ball, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight, but at the end of the evening discover their identities as members of the opposed families. On his way home from the feast, Romeo climbs into Capulet's orchard to glimpse Juliet again. Juliet appears at her balcony, and the couple exchange vows of love, agreeing to marry the next day. Romeo asks Friar Laurence to perform the marriage ceremony. Though initially reluctant, he finally agrees, hoping to reconcile the families, and marries Romeo and Juliet that afternoon. Meanwhile, Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, sends Romeo a challenge to a duel. Romeo refuses to fight when Tybalt confronts him because they're now related. However, Mercutio, Romeo's quick-tempered friend, intervenes and accepts the challenge. Romeo tries to part the other two as they fight, but Mercutio is fatally wounded under Romeo's arm. To avenge Mercutio's death, Romeo kills Tybalt and then flees. The Prince announces Romeo's banishment for Tybalt's murder. Romeo, in hiding at the Friar's cell, becomes hysterical at the news of his sentence and tries to kill himself, but the Friar promises to make Romeo's marriage to Juliet public and gain the Prince's pardon. Romeo and Juliet celebrate their wedding night before he leaves at dawn for Mantua. That morning, Juliet discovers that her father has arranged for her to marry Paris on Thursday. The Capulets, unaware that Juliet is grieving for Romeo's exile rather than Tybalt's death, believe the wedding will distract her from mourning. Distressed at the prospect of a false marriage and isolated from her family, Juliet seeks advice from Friar Laurence, who offers her a sleeping potion to make her appear dead for 42 hours. During this time, the Friar will send a message to Romeo in Mantua so that Romeo can return to Verona in time for Juliet to awake.
Juliet returns home and agrees to marry Paris. In a moment of euphoria, Capulet brings the wedding forward from Thursday to Wednesday, thereby forcing Juliet to take the potion that night and reducing the time for the message to reach Romeo. Wednesday morning, Juliet's seemingly lifeless body is discovered and placed in the family tomb. Due to an outbreak of the plague the Friar's messenger is prevented from leaving Verona and Romeo receives news of Juliet's death instead. Desperate, Romeo buys poison from an apothecary and returns to Verona. Late that night, Romeo enters the Capulet tomb, but is confronted by Paris, whom he fights and kills. Still unaware that Juliet is in fact alive, Romeo takes the poison and dies. The Friar, arriving too late, discovers the bodies as Juliet begins to stir. He begs her to leave with him, but Juliet refuses, and then stabs herself with Romeo's dagger. As dawn breaks, the Watch arrives, closely followed by the Prince, who demands a full inquiry into what has happened. The two families then arrive, and the Friar comes forward to explain the tragic sequence of events. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet finally bring the feud to an end as Montague and Capulet join hands in peace.
Shakespeares Poetry Shakespeare's sonnets comprise 154 poems in sonnet form that were published in 1609 but likely written over the course of several years. The sonnets deal with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality, first published in a 1609 quarto entitled SHAKESPEARES SONNETS. The quarto ends with "A Lover's Complaint", a narrative poem of 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal. The first 17 poems, traditionally called the procreation sonnets, are addressed to a young man urging him to marry and have children in order to immortalize his beauty by passing it to the next generation. Other sonnets express the speaker's love for a young man; brood upon loneliness, death, and the transience of life; seem to criticize the young man for preferring a rival poet; express ambiguous feelings for the speaker's mistress; and pun on the poet's name. The final two sonnets are allegorical treatments of Greek epigrams referring to the "little love-god" Cupid. Gothic Age Architecture Middle Ages Gothic architecture and decoration originally emerged in France. It was initially called "The French Style". The name Gothic which is used to describe this style of Middle Ages architecture was a derisive term alluding to the Barbaric Goths who sacked Rome in 410AD. The name Gothic architecture was coined by people who were appalled at the abandonment of classical Romanesque lines and proportions. The History of Gothic architecture evolved over a period of 300 years. The results were bright and airy interiors with soaring spaces, a focus on the vertical using pointed arches, spires and pinnacles. More emphasis was placed on decorative ornaments and stone work carvings. Gothic architecture spread throughout Europe although the history of English Gothic architecture moved more slowly retaining heavy walls and tall windows. The earliest and most famous applications of Gothic architecture in England are at Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
Dantes Test Prep Humanities Practice Test

1. The most famous period of Greek history is (pg. 3). a. The Paleolithic Era b. The Classical Period c. When Alexander the great invaded the Persian Empire d. Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and gradually the rest of Greece, which had already been dominated by the Venetians. 2. The Greek War of Independence started in (pg. 3). a. 1453 BC b. 2600 BC c. March 1821 d. 1829 3. In the fifth century, Greek plays were focused on (pg. 3). a. Drama b. Comedy c. Tragedy d. Magic 4. Greek playwrights drew their material from (pg. 4). a. Things happening in their community b. Things happening in their lives c. Greek myths and legends d. Comedy 5. Greek plays based on comedy developed out (pg. 4). a. Religious rituals b. Politics c. War d. All of the above 6. Sophocles one is most know for his play (pg. 5). a. Oedipus Rex b. Oedipus at Colonus c. Antigone d. All of the above 7. In the play Oedipus Rex, Thebes is suffering a plague which leaves its fields and women barren. An oracle claims that the only way Thebes can be cured of the plague is (pg. 5). a. Laius the king of Thebes will be killed by his son b. The killer of the previous King Laius is found c. Oedipus must gouge out his eyes d. Oedipus must kill his mother
8. Oedipus, in search of the previous King Lauis killer realizes (pg. 6). a. Oedipus was the son of King Lauis b. Oedipus killed his father c. Oedipus married his mother d. All of the above 9. In the play the character Jocasta is (pg. 6). a. Oedipus maid b. Oedipus mother and wife c. Oedipus daughter d. Oedipus niece 10. At the end of the play, Oedipus Rex (pg. 6). a. Jacosta kills Oedipus and rules Thebes b. Oedipus kills Jacosta and commits suicide c. Jacosta commits suicide by hanging herself and Oedipus gouges out his eyes and blinds himself d. Oedipus is killed by robbers 11. The goddess of love and beauty is (pg. 7). a. Ares b. Apollo c. Aphrodite d. Athena 12. The god of the sea and earthquakes is (pg. 8). a. Zeus b. Poseidon c. Artemis d. Hestia 13. The king of the Gods, god of the sky, symbolized by the thunderbolt is (pg. 8). a. Atlas b. Zeus c. Hyperion d. Iapetus 14. Hyperion means (pg. 8). a. God of War b. God of justice and order c. He who goes before the sun d. The sky of god and the first ruler
15. The son of Uranus and the father of Zeus is (pg. 8). a. Oceanus b. Themis c. Cronus d. Epimetheus 16. The first wife of Zeus, she ruled over all wisdom and knowledge (pg. 8). a. Aphrodite b. Athena c. Thea d. Metis 17. One of the greatest philosophers of all time (pg. 8). a. Antigone b. Aeschylus c. Euripides d. Aristotle 18. What is true about mythology (pg. 9)? a. It is based on the history of the Greeks b. The first purpose was to explain the unexplainable c. Functioned as rationalizations for the fundamental mysteries of life. d. b and c 19. One constant rule of mythology is _____ (pg. 9). a. whatever happens among the gods reflect events on earth b. They always included singing and dancing c. Someone always died d. Many myths were not similar to one another 20. To the Greeks, everything in the world began with _____ (pg. 9). a. Adam and Eve b. The creation of the world by Zeus c. Chaos d. Darkness 21. The Roman Army is recognized by historians as _____ which also led to its downfall (pg. 10). a. One of the weakest armies b. Having the lowest level of soldiers c. An extremely effective fighting machine d. Not very successful
22. The three main weapons for soldiers in the Roman Army included (pg. 11). a. Sword, pilum, and a pugio b. A Knife, gladius, and helmet c. A knife, helmet and dagger d. A pilum, gladius, and a pugio 23. In the play Hamlet, Prince Hamlet seeks to avenge the death of his _____ (pg. 11). a. Son b. Uncle c. Father d. Mother 24. Prince Hamlet finds out who killed his father from _____ (pg. 11). a. The watchmen b. The scholar Horatio c. A ghost who resembles his father d. Claudius 25. The killer of King Hamlet is revealed to be _____ (pg. 11). a. Prince Hamlet, his own son b. Queen Gertrude, his wife c. Claudius, his brother d. Polonius 26. Who is King Henrys son (pg. 13)? a. Hotspur b. Poins c. Harry d. Fallstaff 27. Which character plots to rob wealthy travelers (pg. 13)? a. Poins b. Prince Harry c. Fallstaff d. King Henry 28. Hotspurs family members plan to _____ (pg. 13). a. throw the King a party b. overthrow the King c. steal from the King d. kidnap the Kings son
29. ___ persuades Marcus Brutus to lead the crusade in assassinating Caesar (pg. 14). a. Calphurnia b. Cassius c. Mark Antony d. Portia 30. He delivers a eulogy over Brutus body claiming him to be the noblest Roman of them all (pg. 15). a. Cassius b. Octavius c. Mark Antony d. Ledipus 31. This child of King Lear says there are no words to describe the love for her father, thus enraging him and causing him to disown her (pg. 15). a. Cordelia b. Regan c. Goneril d. Edgar 32. ___ is the illegitimate son of Gloucester convinces him that his legitimate son is trying to kill him (pg. 16). a. Edmund b. Edgar c. Regan d. Goneril 33. Macbeth takes place in _____ (pg. 16). a. London b. France c. Germany d. Scotland 34. Who discovers King Duncans dead body (pg. 16)? a. Macbeth b. Lady Macbeth c. Macduff d. Banquo 35. After Macbeth is slain, who is crowned King of Scotland (pg. 17)? a. Banquo b. Malcom c. Fleance d. Donalbain
36. _____ is a beautiful and wealthy heiress whom Bassanio wants to court (pg. 17). a. Nerissa b. Portia c. Antonia d. Bethina 37. Shylock agrees to lend Bassanio money, but if he is not repaid, he is allowed to (pg. 18). a. take Antonios merchant ships b. cut off one pound of flesh from Antonios body c. triple his interest rate until the money is paid off d. kill Bassanio 38. Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page plan on revealing ______ to be a preposterous lecher (pg. 19). a. Sir John Falstaff b. Fenton c. Shallow d. Mr. Ford 39. Sir John Falstaff is tricked into hiding in a _____ (pg. 19). a. closet b. cave c. basket of dirty laundry d. horse stables 40. Anne page marries _____ , her true love, a young, poor gentleman (pg. 20). a. Fenton b. Shallow c. John Falstaff d. Slender 41. Romeo asks ______ to perform the marriage ceremony for him and Juliet (pg. 20). a. Tybalt b. Friar Laurence c. Benvolio d. Paris 42. Romeo kills Tybalt in order to avenge this characters death (pg. 20). a. Mercutio b. Benvolio c. Rosaline d. Paris
43. What does Romeo do when he finds Juliets lifeless body (pg. 21)? a. stabs himself b. shoots himself c. poisons himself d. jumps off Juliets balcony 44. Shakespeares sonnets comprise of _____ poems (pg. 21). a. 82 b. 514 c. 154 d. 541 45. The final two sonnets refer to allegorical treatments of _____ epigrams (pg. 21). a. French b. English c. German d. Greek 46. The quarto ends with the poem _____ (pg. 21). a. The Rape of Lucrece b. Venus and Adonis c. Phoenix and the Turtle d. A Lovers Complaint 47. Middle Ages Gothic architecture and decoration originally emerged in (pg. 21). a. London b. France c. Italy d. Greece 48. The name Gothic which is used to describe this style of Middle Ages architecture was a derisive term alluding to the _____ (pg. 21). a. Barbaric Goths b. Renaissance Age c. Golden Age d. painter Giorgio Vasari 49. The earliest and most famous applications of Gothic architecture in England are at _____(pg. 21). a. Windsor Castle b. Kings College, Cambridge c. Westminster Abbey d. Tower of London
50. Middle Ages Gothic architecture and decoration was initially called _____ (pg. 21). a. The French Style b. The Romanesque Style c. The Renaissance Style d. The Eastern Style
Answer Key
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. B) The Classical Period C) March 1821 C) Tragedy C) Greek myths and Legends A) Religious Rituals D) All of the Above B) The killer of the previous King Laius is found 8. D) All of the above 9. B) Oedipus mother and wife 10. C) Jacosta commits suicide by hanging herself and Oedipus gouges out his eyes and blinds himself 11. C) Aphrodite 12. B) Poseidon 13. B) Zeus 14. C) He who goes before the Sun 15. C) Cronus 16. D) Metis 17. D) Aristotle 18. D) b and c 19. A) Is whatever happens among the gods reflect events on earth 20. C) Chaos 21. C) An extremely effective fighting machine 22. D) A pilum, gladius, and a pugio 23. C) Father 24. C) A ghost who resembles his father 25. C) Claudius, his brother 26. C) Harry 27. A) Poins 28. B) Overthrow the King 29. B) Cassius 30. C) Mark Anthony 31. A) Cordelia 32. A) Edmund 33. D) Scotland 34. C) Macduff 35. B) Malcom 36. B) Portia 37. B) Cut off one pound of flesh from Antonios body 38. A) Sir John Falstaff 39. C) Basket of dirty laundry 40. A) Fenton 41. B) Friar Laurence 42. A) Mercutio 43. C) Poisons himself 44. C) 154 45. D) Greek 46. D) A Lovers Complaint 47. B) France 48. A) Barbaric Goths 49. C) Westminster Abbey 50. A) The French Style
References
http://www.enotes.com/greek-drama-fs http://www.gradesaver.com/oedipus-rex-or-oedipus-the-king/study-guide/short-summary/ http://www.greek-mythology-gods.com/origin.html http://www.greeka.com/greece-history.htm http://www.heritage-history.com/www/sample/sample_battles.pdf http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/ http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/facts.html http://www.sophocles.net

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