QUESTION BANK on SHAKESPEARE S OTHELLO and AS YOU LIKE Itand DR. FAUSTUS

QUESTION BANK ON SHAKESPEARE’S OTHELLO AND AS YOU LIKE ITand DR. FAUSTUS

OTHELLO

1.Dr. Johnson said thatOthellowould have been better if the first act had been omitted. What is the relevance of the first act ofOthello, and what purpose does it serve?

2.OTHELLO AS A TRAGIC PLAY.

3.Is the play Othello, a tragedy of character or chance?

4.Who, in your view is the true tragic hero/heroine; Othello or Desdemona? And why? Give a reasoned answer.

5.What is the moral enigma of the play Othello?

6.Write a critical note on Iago, with special reference to his power over Othello.

7.Write a critical note on Shakespeare and race, in the light of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship.

8.Explore the issue of racism inOthelloand relate it to the problems of racial hatred in Elizabethan England.

9.Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote that Iago's soliloquies are the "motive-hunting of motiveless malignity." Is this an accurate observation? Does Iago have a motive or motives for his hatred of Othello?

10.Explore the character of Desdemona. What does she represent in the play?

11.Write a long critical note on Shakespearean tragedy.

12.Comment on the use of soliloquy in Othello.

13.Comment on the use of irony in Othello.

14.A tragedy concerns the fall of a great man due to some flaw in his character. What is Othello's flaw, and explain how he is truly a tragic hero.

15.What are possible motives for Iago's hatred of Othello? Consider both the motives he states and the motives implied in his speech and behavior.

AS YOU LIKE IT

16.As You Like It as a romantic comedy.

17.As You Like It as a pastoral comedy

18.The element of pastoral in As You Like It.

19.The theme of country and court in As You Like It

20.It is said that Shakespear’s comedies do not have a hero or heroine. In the light of this comment write a note on the character of Rosalind.

21.Write a detailed character sketch of Orlando.

22.Write a note on Shakespeare’s fools with special reference to Touchstone.

23.As You Like Itis one of Shakespeare's gender-bending comedies. Discusshow Rosalind's "Ganymede" disguise challenges traditional attitudes about gender

24.Comment on the theme of gender and politics in As You Like IT.

25.Discuss the theme of love and marriage in As You like It.

DR. FAUSTUS

26.Write a note on the Dr. Faustus as a tragedy.

27.Dr. Faustus as a renaissance play. Discuss.

28.Write on the themes of sin, redemption and damnation in Dr. Faustus.

29.Write a critical note on Mephistopheles.

30.Analyse the character and tragedy of dr. Faustus. Is it a tragedy of character or fate.

31.Compare and contrast Marlowe and Shakespeare as tragic dramatists.

32.Write on the symbolic significance of the good angel and the evil angle.

33.Is Dr. Faustus a tragedy of the conflict between medieval values and renaissance values?

34.In Marlowe's play is Faustus'fall from grace is his own fault or whether he is fated to be damned?

35.Is Dr. Faustus a tragedy of free will or fate or character?

36.Dr. Faustus a renaissance morality play. Do you agree?

37.Discuss Dr. Faustus as a morality play.

38.Write a note on the comic scenes in Dr. Faustus.

39.Write a critical note on the minor characters in Dr. Faustus.

40.Discuss the role of Helen of Troy in Dr. Faustus.