Questions of the week! The Lady of May

Q1. Describe the character of the May Lady? In your answer please consider her lack of choice in the nuptials.

Q2. With the contemporary political context in mind, discuss Sidney's possible motivations in writing such an entertainment.

Q3. Discuss the Queen's decision. How does it fit in with the rhetorical debates that have just ceased?

Q4. Consider the significance of Master Rombus. Is education deemed important by characters in the text? Is there a wider significance to this point?

Questions of the Week! Morality Plays

Q1. Describe how in Mankind the playgoers are forced into "sin". How does this alter our interpretation of the play?

Q2. Discuss humour in Mankind or its absence in Everyman.

Q3. Does allegory aid our understanding or make finite meaning impossible?

Q4. How do morality plays reflect the cultural concerns of a late fifteenth/early sixteenth century audience? Can we understand these plays as entertainments, religious didacticism or both?

Hilary Term Schedule

Wk. 1. No tutorial

Wk. 2. Morality plays: Mankind & Everyman

Wk. 3. Classical influence: The Lady of May

Wk. 4. Language and signs: The Spanish Tragedy

Wk. 5. Reading Week

Wk. 6. Women's roles: The Duchess of Malfi

Wk. 7. King Lear

Wk. 8. Dr. Faustus

Wk. 9. No tutorial