Edexcel AS English Literature

Edexcel English Literature

Part 3: Exploring drama
Sue Dymoke Ian McMechan Mike Royston Jennifer Smith
Edexcel English Literature Consultant: Jen Greatrex

STUDENT BOOK

STUDENT BOOK
STUDENT BOOK

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Edexcel English Literature
Part 3: Exploring Drama
Sue Dymoke Ian McMechan Mike Royston Jennifer Smith

STUDENT BOOK

Consultant: Jen Greatrex

Part 3 Exploring Drama
Contents
Section A: Responding to drama 4
1 Viewing drama: the audience’s perspective 4
2 Performing drama: the actor’s and director’s
perspectives 7
Section B: Analysing key elements of drama 9
1 Introduction 9
2 How dramatists set the scene 9
3 How dramatists develop the characters 13
4 How dramatists use language and verse form 17
5 How dramatists advance the plot 20
6 How dramatists construct an ending 24
7 Identifying contexts for your plays 30
Section C: Comparing plays in their contexts 31
1 Relating your plays to their context: an example 31
2 Building material on context into your response 33
3 The history of English drama, 1300–1800 34

2 Exploring prose
Contents 3

2 Exploring prose
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A Responding to drama

1Content
Viewing drama: the audience’s perspective

Activity 1
1 Choose one TV or film drama and one stage drama to give your opinion about. Then fill in a
copy of the chart below.

Myself as an audience: stage and screen

Drama on screen Drama on stage

Title of the drama seen: Title of the drama seen:

Liked/disliked it because: Liked/disliked it because:

• •

• •

• •

Rating 5: (excellent) to 1 (bad): Rating 5: (excellent) to 1 (bad):

2 Compare your choices and your opinions with a partner’s. Are there any patterns of similarity

3 Share your responses with the class. Then examine your class profile as an audience for
drama. What do you conclude about:
• your preferences for stage or screen
• your preferences for dramatic genres (eg comedy, sitcoms, musicals, mysteries etc)
•
of drama on film or TV?

A Responding to drama

A Responding to drama 4
1 Read aloud the extract below from the TV series Blackadder Goes Forth.
Activity 2

During World War I, Blackadder and Baldrick have crashed their plane over Germany and are being held in prison by Baron von
Richthoven. They find it more comfortable than the trenches and do not want to be rescued. However, Lieutenant George and Lord
Flashheart, the British flying legend, are determined to free them.
BALDRICK: Is it really true, sir? Is the war FLASHHEART hits BALDRICK.
really over for us?
FLASHHEART: God’s potatoes, George! You said
The question finds BLACKADDER in the best noble brother flyers were in the
mood of his life. lurch. If I’d known it was only
50 Slack Bladder and the mound of the
5 BLACKADDER: Yup! For us, the Great War is
hound of the Baskervilles, I’d
finito, a war which would be a damn
have let them stew in their own
sight simpler if we just stayed
juice. And let me tell you, if
in England and shot fifty thousand
I ever tried that, I’d probably
of our men in a week! No more mud,
55 drown!
10 death, rats, bombs, shrapnel, whiz
bangs, barbed wire and bloody BALDRICK is up again and laughing.
awful songs that have the word FLASHHEART hits him again.
‘Whoops!’ in the title. Damn,
Still, since I’m here, I might as
they’ve left the door open.
well doo-o-o it! As the bishop
15 BALDRICK: Oh, good, we can escape. 60 said to the netball team. Come on,
chums!
BLACKADDER: Are you mad, Baldrick? I’ll go and
find someone to lock it for us. They run away – then look back through the
door. BLACKADDER has stayed behind. He
There is a knock on the door. BLACKADDER
sinks to the ground and starts moaning.
sweeps it open. It is George, also in flying
20 gear. 65 Come on.
GEORGE: Shhh! Mum’s the word! Not half or BLACKADDER: Uhm, look, sorry chaps, but I’ve
what! splintered my pancreas and I’ve
got this awful cough.
BLACKADDER slams the door on him in horror.
He coughs. The coughs sound suspiciously
BALDRICK: Why did you slam the door on
70 like: Guards! Guards!
25 Lieutenant George?
FLASHHEART: Wait a minute! I may be packing
BLACKADDER: I can’t believe it. (He calls out
the kind of tackle you’d normally
through the door.) Go away!
expect to find between the hind
GEORGE: It’s me – it’s me! (He re-opens legs of a Grand National winner,
the door. GEORGE stands there, 75 but I’m not totally stupid – and
30 grinning.) I’ve got a feeling you’d rather we
hadn’t come.
BLACKADDER: What the hell are you doing here?
BLACKADDER: No, no, no. I’m really grateful
GEORGE: (very pleased with himself) Oh,
but I’d slow you up.
never mind the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’.
And the ‘do you mind if I don’ts’. 80 FLASHHEART: I think I’m beginning to
understand.
35 BLACKADDER: But it would take a superman to
get in here. BLACKADDER: Are you?
GEORGE: Well, funny you should say that, FLASHHEART: Just because I can give multiple
because I did, in fact, have some orgasms to the furniture by
help from a spiffing fellow. He’s 85 sitting on it doesn’t mean I’m not
40 taken a break from some top-level sick of this damn war. The blood,
shagging. the noise, the endless poetry.
BLACKADDER: Oh, God. FLASHHEART gets out a gun and points it at
BLACKADDER.
FLASHHEART swings in through the door on a
rope. 90 BLACKADDER: Is that what you really think,
Flashheart?
45 FLASHHEART: It’s me. Hurray!
FLASHHEART: Of course … it’s not what I think!
BALDRICK: Hurray!
Now get out that door before I

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redecorate this room in an exciting new colour called
95 Hint of Brain.
BLACKADDER: Excellent – nice and clear. In that case, let’s get back
to that lovely war …
FLASHHEART: Woof!
GEORGE: Woof!
100BALDRICK: Bark!
But too late! RICHTHOVEN melodramatically appears at the doorway.
RICHTHOVEN: Not so fast, Blackadder!
BLACKADDER: (with massive relief) Damn – foiled again – what bad
luck!
105RICHTHOVEN: Ah, and Lord Flashheart, this is indeed an honour.

meet. Two men of honour who have jousted together in

the cloud-strewn glory of the skies are face to face at
last. How often have I rehearsed this moment of destiny
110 in my dreams. The valour we two encapsulate, the unspoken
nobility of our comradeship, the …
And FLASHHEART shoots him – ‘bang’. He’s dead now.
FLASHHEART: What a poof! Let’s go!
ALL: Hurray!

2 With a partner, explore the comedy of this scene by filling in a copy of the chart below. Justify
to one another your entries in column 3.

Blackadder Goes Forth

Comic device Example

Physical comedy/slapstick

Character comedy: caricatures/stereotype figures

Situation comedy: dramatic irony of Blackadder and

Baldrick being safer in prison

Verbal comedy: puns, jokes, innuendo/double entendre

Satirical comedy: mild mockery of aspects of World War I

3 Watch an episode from the Blackadder series on DVD or an episode from any comedy drama
series you enjoy. Then note down and/or discuss:
a how the comedy works, being as specific as you can
b why you think the show has become popular with TV audiences
c whether it would transfer successfully to the stage, saying why or why not.
Key terms
innuendo
satirical (satire)

A Responding to drama 6
2 Performing drama: the actor’s and director’s
perspectives
1 Read aloud the opening of Alan Bennett’s play, Habeas Corpus, below. The main characters are
Activity 3 listed as:

ARTHUR WICKSTEED: a general practitioner

MURIEL WICKSTEED: his wife
DENNIS WICKSTEED: their son
CONSTANCE WICKSTEED: the doctor’s sister
MRS SWABB: a cleaning lady.
There are no notes for the actors and only one
stage direction.

Habeas Corpus (1973)

ACT ONE
WICKSTEED: Look at him. Just look at that look on his face. Do you know what that means? He wants me to tell
him he’s not going to die. You’re not going to die. He is going to die. Not now, of course, but some
time … ten, fifteen years, who knows? I don’t. We don’t want to lose you, do we? And off he goes.
Sentence suspended. Another ten years. Another ten years showing the slides. (‘That’s Malcolm,
5 Pauline and Baby Jason.’) Another ten years for little runs in the car. (‘That’s us at the Safari Park.’)
‘So what did the doctor say, dear?’ ‘Nothing, oh, nothing. It was all imagination.’ But it’s not all
imagination. Sometimes I’m afraid, it actually happens.
MRS WICKSTEED’S
VOICE: Arthur! Arthur!
MRS SWABB: It’s all in the mind. Me, I‘ve never had a day’s illness in my life. No. I tell a lie. I once had my
10 tonsils out. I went in on the Monday; I had it done on the Tuesday; I was putting wallpaper up on the
Wednesday. My name is Mrs Swabb (hoover, hoover, hoover) someone who comes in; and in all that
passes, I represent ye working classes. Hoover, hoover, hoover. Hoover, hoover, hoover. Now then,
let’s have a little more light on the proceedings and meet our contestants, the wonderful, wonderful
Wicksteed family. Eyes down first for tonight’s hero, Dr Arthur Wicksteed, a general practitioner in
15 Brighton’s plush, silk stocking district of Hove. Is that right, Doctor?
WICKSTEED: Hove, that’s right, yes.
MRS SWABB: And you are fifty-three years of age.
WICKSTEED: Dear God, am I?
MRS SWABB: I’m afraid that’s what I’ve got down here.
20 WICKSTEED: Fifty-three!
MRS SWABB: Any hobbies?
WICKSTEED: No. No. Our friends, the ladies, of course, but nothing much else.
MRS SWABB: Do you mind telling us what your ambition is?
WICKSTEED: Ambition? No, never had any. Partly the trouble, you see. When you’ve gone through life stopping at
25 every lamp-post, no time.
MRS SWABB: Next we have …

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MRS WICKSTEED: I can manage thank you. Elocution was always my strong point. Speak clearly, speak firmly, speak
now. Name: Wicksteed, Muriel Jane. Age? Well, if you said fifty you’d be in the target area. Wife to
the said Arthur Wicksteed and golly, don’t I know it. Still potty about him though, the dirty dog. Oh,
30 shut up, Muriel.
MRS SWABB: And now … this is Dennis, only son of Arthur and Muriel Wicksteed. And what do you do, Dennis?
DENNIS: Nothing very much. I think I’ve got lockjaw.
MRS SWABB: Really? Whereabouts?
DENNIS: All over.
35 MRS SWABB: Are you interested in girls at all?
DENNIS: If they’re clean.
MRS SWABB: That goes without saying. You don’t want a dirty girl, do you?
DENNIS: In a way, I do, yes.
MRS WICKSTEED: Dennis!
40 MRS SWABB: And now we have the doctor’s sister, Miss Constance Wicksteed. Connie is a thirty-three-year-old
spinster …
CONNIE: I am not a spinster. I am unmarried.
MRS SWABB: And to go with her mud-coloured cardigan Connie has chosen a fetching number in form-fitting
cretonne. Have you any boyfriends, dear?
45 CONNIE: No.
MRS SWABB: Connie, you big story! What about Canon Throbbing, our thrusting young vicar? Why! That sounds
like his Biretta now.
THROBBING crosses on his power-assisted bicycle.
Now, Connie, would you like to tell the audience what your ambition is? Go on, just whisper.
50 CONNIE: I’d like a big bust.
MRS SWABB: And what would you do with it when you’d got it?
CONNIE: Flaunt it.
MRS WICKSTEED: Connie!

2 In a group, plan a performance of this opening. Share the task between you. You need to
decide about:
a The staging – Should there be a bare stage, a setting defi ned by scenery, moves and
interaction between characters, costumes and props?
b The genre (the kind of play) – Should it be light comedy, a thriller, a farce, a murder
mystery?
c The production style – Should it be realistic (as in soaps), comedy routine (as in Blackadder),
documentary (as in ce, for example), a skit (or parody)?
3 Then EITHER give your own performance, rehearsing it to the point where you need the book
only as a prompt, OR write rehearsal notes from the director about aspects of this scene that
would be important in performance.
4 Evaluate the performances OR compare your rehearsal notes. Can you agree on and justify an
acting style that suits this drama best?

Independent research Key terms

thriller
Find a selection of contemporary plays from libraries, bookshops and the internet. Read
farce
them yourself, then bring some into class to read extracts as you proceed with your course.
Try these publishers’ lists: Faber & Faber, Nick Hearn Books, Longman, Eyre/Methuen, Samuel murder mystery
French. Playwrights might include: Caryl Churchill, David Hare, Alan Bennett, Timberlake
Wertenbaker, Tom Stoppard.

A Responding to drama 8

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B Analysing key elements of drama
1 Introduction
This section introduces you to the basic elements of stage drama. Whatever drama text you study,
these will be central to it.

As you work through this section, continue thinking of drama as a live medium written for the
stage rather than for the page.

The activities below are designed to support you during your study of your play.

2 How dramatists set the scene

1 Read aloud the opening of the play below (Teechers). It was
Activity 14 written by John Godber for the Hull Truck Theatre Company
in 1988. There are three characters, Salty (male), Gail and
Hobby (female).

A comprehensive school hall.

A wooden stage. There are two double desks upstage. Upstage right is an old locker with a school broom
leaning against it. Downstage centre is a chair; left and right two single desks and chairs angled downstage,
and three bags. A satchel, plastic bags and sports bags are near the chairs and desks. They belong to SALTY,
GAIL and HOBBY respectively.
Some music plays and SALTY, GAIL and HOBBY enter, recline on the chairs and desks and look at the
audience for a moment before speaking.
SALTY: No more school for us, so you can knackers!
GAIL: Salty, you nutter.
SALTY: What?
GAIL: Swearing.
5 HOBBY: Shurrup.
SALTY: So what?
HOBBY: You daft gett.
SALTY: It’s true.
GAIL: Just get on with it.
10 SALTY: Nobody can do us.
HOBBY: We’ve not left yet.
SALTY: (shouts loudly) Knackers!
GAIL: Oh God, he’s cracked.
HOBBY: Shurrup.
15 SALTY: I’ve always wanted to be on this stage. I’ve always wanted to come up here and say ‘knackers’.
bet you all have. Whenever I see Mrs Hudson come up on this stage to talk about litter or being a
good samaritan or corn dollies or sit down first year stand up second year I think about that word.
Cos really Mrs Hudson would like to come up here and say, ‘knackers school’. She would.

B Anal
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GAIL: Are we doing this play or what?
20 SALTY: It’s like when she gets you in her office, all neat and smelling of perfume, and she says, ‘You don’t
come to school to fool around, Ian, to waste your time. We treat you like young adults and we
expect you to behave accordingly. I don’t think that writing on a wall is a mature thing to do.’
GAIL: Let’s start, Salty.
HOBBY: I never thought I’d be doing this. I hated drama, only took it for a doss about.
25 SALTY: Right, don’t forget to keep in character, and, Hobby, always face the front.
HOBBY: I will do.
SALTY: A lot of the stuff in the play was told to us by our drama teacher, Mr Harrison –
GAIL: And even though you might not believe it, everything what happens in this play is based on truth.
HOBBY: But the names and the faces have been changed.
30 SALTY: To protect the innocent.
GAIL: We’re going to take you to Whitewall High School. It’s a comprehensive school somewhere in
England … And they’re expecting a new teacher to arrive.
HOBBY: There’s fifteen hundred kids at Whitewall and it’s a Special Priority Area which means that it’s got
its fair share of problems …
35 SALTY: All we want you to do is use your imagination because there’s only three of us, and we all have to
play different characters …
HOBBY: And narrators …
SALTY: And narrators.
HOBBY: So you’ll have to concentrate …
40 SALTY: Oh, yeh, you’ll have to concentrate …
GAIL: Title …
SALTY: Oh, shit, yeh … And it’s called Teechers.
A sudden burst of music. They become teachers, with briefcases and files, walking about a number of corridors.

2 Discuss with a partner:

Key terms a whether this is an effective opening to a play in the theatre. Why or why not?
plot
b how well it meets the needs of an audience. What are these needs?
exposition
3 Copy and complete the chart below. It will record your own ideas about how a dramatist
writing for the theatre can set the scene.

Setting the scene for a play in the theatre: my suggestions on how to …

Establish the setting, mood Introduce characters Get the plot under way Let the audience know what kind
and atmosphere of play this is, eg whodunit, farce,
serious social drama.

4 Read the opening scene or two of the play you are studying.
Use the chart you created above to make three or four diff erent points about how the
dramatist stages the exposition and how well you think it works.

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Activity 15
1 Read the following extract. It is the Prologue to Shakespeare’s Henry V. The play dramatises the
war between England and France in the fifteenth century. The action moves between the two
countries and reaches a climax at the Battle of Agincourt.

Enter CHORUS.
CHORUS:
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend Muse: poetic inspiration
The brightest heaven of invention, invention: imagination
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
5 Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Harry: King Henry V
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, Mars: Roman god of war
Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire,
Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all, gentles: men and women in the audience
The flat unraisèd spirits that hath dar’d unraisèd spirits: humble actors
10 On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth scaffold: stage
So great an object. Can this cockpit hold cockpit: theatre
The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques wooden O: Globe Theatre
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
15 O, pardon! Since a crooked figure may
Attest in little space a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt, ciphers: small figures accompt: account
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
20 Are now confin’d two mighty monarchies,
Whose high uprearèd and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder.
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts: imperfections: bad acting
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
25 And make imaginary puissance; puissance: prancing horses
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hooves i’ th’ receiving earth;
For ‘tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, deck: dress, costume
Carry them here and there, jumping o’er times,
30 Turning th’ accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass; for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like, your humble patience pray
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

Henry V was first performed in 1599. Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre had a bare stage and an
open roof. No scenery was used, although props were. Performances took place in daylight.
All the actors were male.
2 Look carefully at what the Chorus says to the audience. With a partner, talk about what part
Shakespeare asks them to play in the performance and the reasons why he may have chosen
to begin the play in this way.
3 Is the idea that members of the audience are part of the performance one you have
considered before? Why is this not true of television and film drama? Share your ideas with
the class.

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1 Compare the opening of Henry V with the extract from Teechers (pages 131–132) and your
Activity 16 play. Fill in a copy of the chart below as you make your responses.

Comparing openings
Key considerations Henry V Teechers My play

Setting
How it is created?

Characters
What do we find out
about them?

Plot development
How far does the
action progress?

Dialogue/
Key term monologue
monologue
What does this
achieve?
Language
How does this signal
the play’s period and
social context?
Genre
What kind of play is
this going to be? How
can we tell?
Role of the audience
What relationship
is created between
audience and play?

2 Use the headings on the chart to write an account of the way your play
opens. This will prove valuable in getting to grips with the text and in becoming familiar
with the terms and concepts used in studying drama.

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3 How dramatists develop the characters
The activities below help you to understand characterisation in stage drama. Characterisation
means the way a dramatist creates and presents characters, not what their personalities are like.

Activity 17
1 Read aloud the extract below from Willy Russell’s play, Educating Rita, first performed in 1980.

A room on the first floor of a Victorian-built university in the north of England. There is a large bay window with
a desk placed in front of it and another desk covered with various papers and books. The walls are lined with
books and on one wall hangs a good print of a nude religious scene.
FRANK who is in his early fifties, is standing holding an empty mug. He goes to the bookcases and starts taking
5 books from the shelves, hurriedly replacing them before moving on to another section.
FRANK: (looking along the shelves) Where the hell ...? Eliot? (He pulls out some books and looks into
the bookshelf). ‘E’ (He thinks for a moment). ‘E’, ‘e’, ‘e’ … (Suddenly he remembers.) Dickens.
(Jubilantly he moves to the Dickens section and pulls out a pile of books to reveal a bottle of whisky.
He takes the bottle from the shelf and goes to the small table by the door and pours himself a large
10 slug into the mug in his hand.)
The telephone rings and startles him slightly. He manages a gulp at the whisky before he picks up the receiver
and, although his speech is not slurred, we should recognise the voice of a man who shifts a lot of booze.
FRANK: Yes? … Of course I’m still here … Because I’ve got this Open University woman coming, haven’t
I? … Tch … Of course I told you … But darling, you shouldn’t have prepared dinner should you?
15 Because I said, I distinctly remember saying that I would be late … Yes. Yes, I probably shall go to
the pub afterwards, I shall need to go to the pub afterwards, I shall need to wash away the memory
of some silly woman’s attempts to get into the mind of Henry James or whoever it is we’re supposed
to study on this course … Oh God, why did I take this on? … Yes … Yes I suppose I did take it on
to pay for the drink … Oh, for God’s sake, what is it? … Yes, well – erm – leave it in the oven …
20 Look if you’re trying to induce some feeling of guilt in me over the prospect of a burned dinner, you
should have prepared something other than lamb and ratatouille … Because, darling, I like my lamb
done to the point of abuse and even I know that ratatouille cannot be burned … Darling, you could
incinerate ratatouille and still it wouldn’t burn … What do you mean am I determined to go to the
pub? I don’t need determination to get me into a pub …
25 There is a knock at the door.
Look, I’ll have to go … There’s someone at the door … Yes, yes, I promise … Just a couple of pints
… Four …
There is another knock at the door.
FRANK: (calling in the direction of the door) Come in! (He continues on the telephone.) Yes … All right …
30 yes … Bye, bye … (He replaces the receiver.) Yes, that’s it, you just pop off and put your head in the
oven. (shouting) Come in! Come in!
The door swings open revealing RITA.
RITA: (from the doorway) I’m comin’ in, aren’t I? It’s that stupid bleedin’ handle on the door. You wanna
get it fixed!
35 She comes into the room.
FRANK: (staring, slightly confused) Erm – yes, I suppose I always mean to …
RITA: (going to the chair by the desk and dumping her bag) Well, that’s no good always meanin’ to, is it?
Y’should get on with it; one of these days you’ll be shoutin’ ‘Come in’ an’ it’ll go on forever because
the poor sod on the other side won’t be able to get in. An’ you won’t be able to get out.
40 FRANK stares at RITA who stands by the desk.

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2 With a partner, talk about how the dramatist characterises Frank. Use the chart below to
focus your discussion. Fill in a copy of it as you make your decisions.
3 Share your findings with the class.

Willy Russell’s characterisation of Frank: how is it achieved?

Dramatic technique Example How this helps establish
Frank’s character
Dramatist’s notes to the
director/actors

Stage directions

Monologue

Dialogue on the telephone

Dialogue with Rita

Actions on stage

Choice of language

4 Look carefully at what you have noted down about Frank’s choice of language or diction.
Make suggestions about:
a why he calls his wife ‘darling’ when he really wants her to ‘put your head in the oven’
b what his language shows about his attitude to teaching
c his vocabular y in ‘I like my lamb done to the point of abuse’ and ‘you could incinerate
ratatouille’
d his joke about determination and going to the pub.
5 Compare Rita’s diction with Frank’s. How much can you tell about her from her five lines of
dialogue?
6 Continue this dialogue for the next 20 lines or so. Rita, who has never been inside a university
before, but is not overawed, inspects Frank’s room. Frank searches his papers for Rita’s details;
he is not sure she really is the Open University student he has been expecting. See how
closely you can reproduce the two characters’ speech styles or idiolects. If you use stage
directions, keep them brief.

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Activity 18
1 Read aloud the extract below from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, written about 1594.

Doctor Faustus is about a university teacher who sells himself to the devil, called Lucifer in
the play. The bargain is that Lucifer, a fallen angel with supernatural powers, will give Faustus
24 years of boundless ‘pleasure and delight’ on earth in return for his soul. Faustus is also
promised knowledge of heaven, hell and the secrets of the universe.
In this extract, Mephostophilis, the servant Lucifer has assigned to Faustus, comes from hell to
seal the bargain with ‘a deed of gift’. This is to be signed in blood.
Enter MEPHOSTOPHILIS.
FAUSTUS: Now tell me: what saieth Lucifer thy lord?
MEPHOSTOPHILIS: That I shall wait on Faustus whilst he lives,
So he will buy my service with his soul.
FAUSTUS: Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee.
5 MEPHOSTOPHILIS: But now thou must bequeath it solemnly
And write a deed of gift with thine own blood,
For that security craves Lucifer.
If thou deny it, I must back to hell.
FAUSTUS: Stay, Mephostophilis, and tell me what good
10 Will my soul do thy lord?
MEPHOSTOPHILIS: Enlarge his kingdom.
FAUSTUS: Is that the reason why he tempts us thus?
MEPHOSTOPHILIS: Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris. Solamen miseris socios habuisse
FAUSTUS: Why, have you any pain that torture others? doloris: the unhappy find
comfort in others’ misfortunes
15 MEPHOSTOPHILIS: As great as have the human souls of men.
But tell me, Faustus, shall I have thy soul?
And I will be thy slave and wait on thee
And give thee more than thou hast wit to ask.
FAUSTUS: Ay, Mephostophilis, I’ll give it him.
20 MEPHOSTOPHILIS: Then, Faustus, stab thy arm courageously,
And bind thy soul, that at some certain day
Great Lucifer may claim it as his own;
And then be thou as great as Lucifer.
FAUSTUS: Lo, Mephostophilis, for love of thee
25 Faustus hath cut his arm, and with his proper blood proper: own
Assures his soul to be great Lucifer’s,
Chief lord and regent of perpetual night.
View here this blood that trickles from mine arm,
And let it be propitious for my wish.
30 MEPHOSTOPHILIS: But, Faustus,
Write it in manner of a deed of gift.
FAUSTUS: Ay, so I do. But, Mephostophilis,
My blood congeals, and I can write no more.
MEPHOSTOPHILIS: I’ll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight. (Exit)
35 FAUSTUS: What might the staying of my blood portend? portend: signify
Is it unwilling I should write this bill?
Why streams it not, that I may write afresh?
‘Faustus gives to thee his soul’: O, there it stay’d.
Why shouldst thou not? is not thy soul thine own?
40 Then write again: ‘Faustus gives to thee his soul’.
Enter MEPHOSTOPHILIS with the chafer of fire. chafer: cauldron

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MEPHOSTOPHILIS: See, Faustus, here is fire; set it on.
Take it further
FAUSTUS: So, now the blood begins to clear again
Read the first and last Now will I make an end immediately.
scenes of Dr Faustus. 45 [Aside] What will not I do to obtain his soul!
MEPHOSTOPHILIS:
Use the knowledge of
the play you already
have to speculate about
2 With a partner, talk about understanding the dialogue. How well could you follow it? Where
what happens in the
there were difficulties, what caused them?
course of it.
3 With your partner, talk about the dramatic appeal of the dialogue. Do you think it would work
well on stage? Why, or why not?

1 In a group, look carefully at the diagram below.

Activity 19
What the dialogue shows about how each character sees himself

A daring A heroic figure A servant A fallen

risk-taker greater than with a job to angel in
other men do torment

Faustus Mephostophilis

A man on a In control of A In control of

level with the situation subordinate to the situation
Lucifer Lucifer

2 Find quotations in the dialogue to illustrate each point in the diagram. Then discuss how
each character sees the other. What is the effect of showing two characters who perceive the
situation here in totally different ways?
3 Share your findings with the class. Then, looking closely at the passage, discuss:
a the frequent use of the words ‘soul’ and ‘blood’ in the dialogue. What do you think
Marlowe’s purpose is in creating this verbal patterning?
Key terms
verbal patterning b how Marlowe’s choice of blank verse for this dialogue (a lot of the play is in prose) helps the
soliloquy characterisation. Think about the seriousness and formality of the situation and about the
way the line structure and the rhythm emphasise key words and phrases
c thes hort soliloquy Faustus speaks in lines 35–40. What do you think Marlowe’s purpose is
in taking us inside Faustus’s mind here? Does it affect your attitude towards him?

1 Choose a passage of dialogue from your play which you think illustrates the
Activity 20 characters and the dramatist’s techniques of characterising them particularly well. It is best to
choose a passage with only two speakers.
2 Write two or three paragaphs on the following topic, using close textual reference and
drawing on all the work you have done in this sub-section.

How does this passage illustrate the characters of the speakers? Comment in detail on the
dramatist’s techniques of characterisation.

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4 How dramatists use language and verse form
Many pre-1900 plays were written partly or mainly in blank verse.

The activities below provide you with a toolkit for reading the language and verse of plays from
the past.

Activity 21
1 Read the opening lines of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Antonio, a wealthy
businessman, is telling two friends that he feels unaccountably depressed.

ANTONIO: In sooth, I know not why I am so sad,

It wearies me, you say it wearies you;
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff ‘tis made of, whereof ‘tis born,
5 I am to learn:
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me,
That I have much ado to know myself.

2 This speech was written to be spoken, not read silently. Now read it aloud to a partner.

Rules for reading blank verse

1 Read it aloud or aloud inside your head.
2 Don’t pause at the end of every line. Do pause for about one second when you reach a semi-colon, colon, full stop or
other strong punctuation mark, wherever it comes.
3 Get used to following the basic rhythm of a blank verse line. This is called an iambic pentameter and usually has five
stresses or strong beats:
di Dum / di Dum /di Dum /di Dum /di Dum /di Dum.

The Merchant of Venice (RSC, 1981)

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1 Read aloud to a partner the following blank verse speech from The Merchant of Venice. It is
Activity 22 spoken to Antonio by one of his friends, Bassanio. Bassanio is attracted to a rich heiress, Portia.

BASSANIO: In Belmont is a lady richly left,

And she is fair, and (fairer than that word),
Of wondrous virtues. Sometimes from her eyes
I did receive fair speechless messages:
5 Her name is Portia, nothing undervalu’d
To Cato’s daughter, Brutus’ Portia,
Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth,
For the four winds blow in from every coast
Renowned suitors, and her sunny locks
10 Hang on her temples like a golden fleece,
Which makes her seat of Belmont Colcho’s strond,
And many Jasons come in quest of her.

2 On a copy of the extract, put a vertical stroke | just after each strong pause.

Of wondrous virtues. | Sometimes from her eyes

I did receive fair speechless messages: |
Her name is Portia …

3 Read the speech aloud again. Where there is no strong pause or ‘end-stop’ at the end of a line,
read straight on. Base your reading on the di Dum, di Dum, di Dum, di Dum, di Dum rhythm.

Rules for reading blank verse

4 ‘Feeling’ the iambic pentametre beat of blank verse as you read helps you understand the gist of what is being said.
5 Because blank verse is a form of poetry, the full meaning is often quite compressed. So be content to get the general gist
at first, then fill in the details later. Don’t give up.

4 With your partner, look at the second half of Bassanio’s speech (from line 8). It is full of
comparisons – similes and metaphors. You have got the idea that Bassanio thinks Portia is
beautiful and rich. Use the information below, from a footnote in the text, to work out the
details of what he is saying about her.
The Roman hero, Brutus, had a wife named Portia. She was celebrated for her virtue and her
devotion to her husband.
In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts searched for the Golden Fleece. They found it at Colchos.
Talk about why you think Bassanio uses these two comparisons to describe Portia in Belmont.
Does he seem to want her for her money, her beauty, her suitablity as a wife – or for all of these?

Rules for reading blank verse

6 Use footnotes to fill in the gaps in your understanding. Even the most knowledgeable readers find footnotes useful.
7 When you have filled in the gaps, read the speech again. You will be struck by how much of the meaning depends on
imagery (i.e. simile and metaphor) and how much more sense it makes now. Imagery, along with the blank verse form, is
the most distinctive feature of the language of older plays.
8 Ask questions about what the imagery is telling you, now you have understood it. You will almost always be able to come
up with your own answers. For example:
• Why do you think Bassanio describes Portia’s hair as ‘sunny’?
• What impression does he give of her by saying her hair is ‘like a golden fleece’?
• Why do you think he says her hair ‘hangs on her temples’? (He might have said ‘shoulders’).

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Activity 23
1 Read the extract below from later on in The Merchant of Venice.

Antonio has provided Bassanio with money to travel to Belmont to win Portia. This money was borrowed in the form of a ‘bond’ from
Shylock, a Jewish money-lender. The bond stated that, if Antonio could not repay him by a set date, Shylock could claim a pound of
his flesh as a forfeit.
Antonio’s merchant ships are all lost at sea. He cannot repay Shylock and is imprisoned pending trial. Deaf to pleas to show mercy, here
Shylock meets Antonio on his way from prison to the court. (There is long-standing hatred in Venice between Christians and Jews.)
Enter SHYLOCK, ANTONIO in chains and the GAOLER.
SHYLOCK: Gaoler, look to him – tell me not of mercy, –
This is the fool that lent out money gratis. gratis: without charging interest
Gaoler, look to him.
ANTONIO: Hear me yet, good Shylock.
5 SHYLOCK: I’ll have my bond, speak not against my bond,
I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond:
Thou call’dst me dog before thou hadst a cause,
But since I am a dog, beware my fangs, –
The duke shall grant me justice. duke: head of the judiciary
10 ANTONIO: I pray thee hear me speak.
SHYLOCK: I’ll have my bond. I will not hear thee speak,
I’ll have my bond, and therefore speak no more.
I’ll not be made a soft and dull-ey’d fool,
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
15 To Christian intercessors: follow not, – intercessors: pleaders
I’ll have no speaking, I will have my bond.

2 With a partner, read through this dialogue as if you were a theatre director preparing notes
for the actors on how to speak the verse. On a copy of the extract, underline the words and
phrases you want them to emphasise. Make brief notes on the tone of voice you want them
to use and on any patterns of speech you want to stand out in performance, (eg Shylock’s
repetition of ‘I’ll have my bond’ and his pounding emphasis on ‘I’.)
3 Now read the dialogue aloud following your own instructions.

Rules for reading blank verse

9 Read it as if you are an actor or a director, for the stage rather than on the page.
10 Look for patterns in the verse, for example repetitions, contrasts, balanced phrases, pauses, climaxes.
11 Verse patterns will often be built up through the sound of words. These sounds are an important part of the meaning.
Identify them and think about their effect in performance. For example:
•
How many of Shylock’s words in this extract sound harsh and fierce, as if he is spitting them out?
•
How many of these words are given extra emphasis by coming immediately before a heavy stop and/or at the end
of a line?
• How would you describe the rhythms of Shylock’s speeches here? (A good definition of rhythm is ‘a pattern of sounds’).
12 Try to identify the pace or speed of the lines in a blank verse speech. Is the pace fast (if so, why)? Is the pace slow and
drawn out (if so, why)? Is the pace uneven and irregular (if so, why)? The answers you come up with will reflect the
characters’ mood and feelings as they speak.
This sub-section has given you basic guidance on how to read blank verse and make it comprehensible. Apply what you have
learned to your coursework plays, but bear in mind that:
• the meaning of many words and expressions has changed over time – there is no substitute for looking them up
in footnotes
• meaning depends strongly on context – as you become familiar with the whole verbal, social and cultural context of
your plays, understanding will come more quickly and naturally.

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5 How dramatists advance the plot
Most plays have an episode where events reach a critical turning point or crisis. This means that
from there on the action is set on a new or changed course which leads directly, and often
swiftly, to the play’s dénouement (closing sequence).

1 Read the extract below from The Revenger’s Tragedy, written by either Thomas Middleton or
Activity 24 Cyril Tourneur (scholars have not yet made up their minds). It was first performed in 1607.

Vindice (Vin-deechée: the Italian name means ‘revenger’) wants to murder the Duke. Now an old man, the Duke
raped and poisoned Vindice’s fiancée, Gloriana, nine years before. Vindice carries around her skull to focus his mind
on revenge. He has disguised himself as Piato, a pimp who supplies young girls to the Duke for sexual pleasure.
In this scene, Vindice has attached Gloriana’s skull to a broomstick and dressed her up as a country girl. The Duke
believes he is coming to have sex with her in a private place outside the palace. The extract begins with Vindice
showing his brother, Hippolito, how he has planned the Duke’s murder.
Look you, brother,
I have not fashioned this only for show
And useless property; no, it shall bear a part
Even in its own revenge. This very skull,
5 Whose mistress the Duke poisoned, with this drug, drug: arsenic
The mortal curse of the earth, shall be revenged mortal: deadly
In the like strain, and kiss his lips to death.
HIPPOLITO: Brother, I do applaud thy constant vengeance.
VINDICE puts poison on the lips of the skull.
10 VINDICE: So, ’tis laid on. Now come, and welcome, Duke.
VINDICE puts a mask on the skull.
Hide thy face now, for shame, thou hadst need have a mask now;
’Tis vain when beauty flows, but when it fleets fleets: withers
This would become graves better than streets. become: suit
15 HIPPOLITO: You have my voice in that. Hark, the Duke’s come.
VINDICE: Peace, let’s observe what company he brings,
And how he does absent ’em, for you know absent: send away
He’ll wish all private. Brother, fall you back
A little with the bony lady.
20 HIPPOLITO: That I will.
VINDICE: So, so –
Now nine years’ vengeance crowds into a minute!
They step aside as the DUKE enters, with some GENTLEMEN.
DUKE: You shall have leave to leave us, with this charge, charge: command
25 Upon your lives: if we be missed by th’ Duchess,
Or any of the nobles, to give out
We’re privately rid forth.
VINDICE: aside O happiness!
DUKE: With some few honourable gentlemen, you may say;
30 You may name those that are away from court.
GENTLEMEN: Your will and pleasure shall be done, my lord.
[Exit GENTLEMEN.]
VINDICE: [aside] ‘Privately rid forth’;
He strives to make sure work of it!
35 [to the DUKE] Your good grace.
DUKE: Piato, well done. Hast brought her? What lady is’t?

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VINDICE: Faith, my lord, a country lady, a little bashful at first, as most
of them are; but after the first kiss, my lord, the worst is past
with them. Your grace knows now what you have to do. She has
somewhat a grave look with her, but –
40 DUKE: I love that best; conduct her. conduct: bring
VINDICE: [aside] Have at all!
Back with the torch; brother, raise the perfumes. raise: waft about
DUKE: How sweet can a Duke breathe? Age has no fault.
Pleasure should meet in a perfumèd mist.
45 The DUKE approaches the skull.
Lady, sweetly encountered; I came from court,
I must be bold with you.
[The DUKE kisses the skull.] O, what’s this? O!
VINDICE: Royal villain, white devil!
50 DUKE: O!
VINDICE: Brother –
Place the torch here, that his affrighted eyeballs
May start into those hollows. Duke, dost know hollows: eye-sockets
Yon dreadful vizard? View it well; ’tis the skull vizard: mask
55 Of Gloriana, whom thou poisonedst last.
DUKE: O, it has poisoned me. What are you two?
VINDICE: Villains, all three! The very ragged bone
Has been sufficiently revenged,
DUKE: O, Hippolito! Call treason.
60 HIPPOLITO: Yes, my good lord; treason, treason, treason [stamping on him]
DUKE: Then I’m betrayed … Is it thou, villain?
Nay, then –
VINDICE: ’Tis I, ’tis Vindice, ’tis I.

2 In a small group, act out this scene, books in hands. Appoint one person to direct it. They
should plan the moves carefully and pay particular attention to where characters speak ‘aside’.
3 As a class, discuss what you learned from your performances about the dramatist’s:
a stagecraft
b characterisation of Vindice and the Duke
c use of language in a play that is 400 years old.
What do you think would be the effect of this scene on a modern audience in the
professional theatre?
4 With a partner, examine the aspects of diction and verse form listed below.
a The five uses of the word ‘revenge’ or ‘vengeance’. This establishes a verbal pattern in the
passage. What do you think is the dramatist’s purpose?
b Images of poisoning and kissing, bones and body parts, and beauty and masks/disguises.
These establish a pattern of imagery in the passage. What do you think is the dramatist’s
purpose?
c The blank verse. Compare it with the blank verse in Doctor Faustus (pages 137 and 138).
How are its rhythms much closer to natural live speech than Marlowe’s? What do you think
is the dramatist’s purpose?

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1 Choose a passage from your play where events reach a crisis which
Activity 25 advances the plot. Analyse its dramatic and linguistic effects by focusing on:
a stagecraft: how does the staging direct the audience’s response to character?
b diction and imagery: how do these underline key themes?
c verse form (or prose style): how does this work to express character and create
ESBNBUJDtension?

1 Read aloud the extract below from Shakespeare’s Othello, first performed in 1604.
Activity 26

Othello, an army general in Venice, has begun to suspect that his wife, Desdemona has been
‘disloyal’ to him with Michael Cassio. His ensign, Iago, has deliberately planted this suspicion in
Othello’s mind while outwardly playing the part of his devoted friend.
In this extract, Iago continues to poison Othello’s mind.
OTHELLO: Give me a living reason that she’s disloyal. living: convincing
IAGO: I do not like the office, office: task
But sith I am enter’d into this cause so far, sith: since
Prick’d to’t by foolish honesty and love, prick’d: prompted
5 I will go on: I lay with Cassio lately,
And being troubled with a raging tooth,
I could not sleep.
There are a kind of men so loose of soul
That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs,
10 One of this kind is Cassio:
In sleep I heard him say ‘Sweet Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our loves’.
And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand,
Cry out, ‘Sweet creature!’ and then kiss me hard,
15 As if he pluck’d up kisses by the roots,
That grew upon my lips, then laid his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh’d, and kiss’d, and then
Cried ‘Cursed fate, that gave thee to the Moor!’ the Moor: Othello
OTHELLO: O monstrous, monstrous!
20 IAGO: Nay, this was but his dream.
OTHELLO: But this denoted a foregone conclusion. foregone conclusion: previous liaison
IAGO: ’Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream,
And this may help to thicken other proofs thicken: stengthen
That do demonstrate thinly.
25 OTHELLO: I’ll tear her all in pieces.
IAGO: Nay, but be wise, yet we see nothing done,
She may be honest yet; tell me but this,
Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief,
Spotted with strawberries, in your wife’s hand.
30 OTHELLO: I gave her such a one, ’twas my first gift.
IAGO: I know not that, but such a handkerchief –
I am sure it was your wife’s – did I today
See Cassio wipe his beard with.
OTHELLO: If’t be that –

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35 IAGO: If it be that, or any that was hers,
It speaks against her, with the other proofs,
OTHELLO: O that the slave had forty thousand lives!
One is too poor, too weak for my revenge:
Now do I see ’tis true; look here, Iago,
40 All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven –
’Tis gone.
Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell,
Yield up, O love, thy crown, and hearted throne,
To tyrannous hate; swell, bosom, with thy fraught,
45 For ’tis of aspics’ tongues! [He kneels.] aspics: snakes
IAGO: Pray be content.
OTHELLO: O blood, Iago, blood!
IAGO: Patience, I say, your mind perhaps may change.
OTHELLO: Never, Iago. My bloody thoughts, with violent pace
50 Shall ne’er look back, ne’er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Swallow them up. Now by yond marble heaven,
In the due reverence of a sacred vow,
I here engage my words. engage: pledge
55 IAGO: Do not rise yet. IAGO [kneels.]
Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
You elements that clip us round about,
Witness that here Iago doth give up
The excellency of his wit, hand, heart,
60 To wrong’d Othello’s service: let him command,
And to obey shall be in me remorse,
What bloody work so ever. [They rise.]
OTHELLO: I greet thy love;
Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous,
65 And will upon the instant put thee to’t: put thee to’t: set you a task
Within these three days, let me hear thee say
That Cassio’s not alive.
IAGO: My friend is dead: dead: as good as dead already
’Tis done as you request; but let her live.
70 OTHELLO: Damn her, lewd minx: O damn her!
Come go with me apart, I will withdraw
To furnish me with some swift means of death,
For the fair devil: now art thou my lieutenant.
IAGO: I am your own for ever. [Exeunt.]

2 With a partner, discuss how Iago makes Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair
and that he, Iago, has Othello’s best interests at heart. Focus on the way Iago presents:
a his account of Cassio talking in his sleep
b his story about the handkerchief Take it further
c himself as an embodiment of ‘honesty and love’. Watch a performance
of Othello on DVD. Write
Look carefully at Iago’s language. How does the dramatist make you aware of both its text
your personal response
(to Othello: ‘I’m telling you this in all honesty for your own good’) and its sub-text (to the
to his tragedy. Do you
audience: ‘I’m leading him by the nose to his destruction’)? Share your ideas with the class.
feel any sympathy
3 Then look carefully at Othello’s lines in this passage. Fill in a copy of the chart on the following for him?
page to show how his language reveals his character.

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Examples of Othello’s language Comment on his language What this shows about him
choice
‘I’ll tear her all in pieces’
‘All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven –/’Tis gone’
‘Arise, black vengeance’
‘some swift means of death/For the fair devil’

4 Why do you think Othello ‘kneels’ half-way through this passage and Iago kneels shortly after?
stage emblem?

Key terms
crisis
dénouement
stagecraft
verse form
stage emblem

6 How dramatists construct an ending

The dénouement of a play shows the outcome of the plot and the situation in which the main
characters end up. In comedy, the dénouement centres on events that signal personal happiness
and social harmony: reunion, forgiveness, reconciliation, celebration, marriage. In tragedy, the
dénouement dramatises the consequences of the main character’s actions in the course of the
play. It is sometimes termed the catastrophe because these consequences invariably prove fatal.

society in which the hero lived is left in a state of fracture or total ruin.
Both exemplar plays in this section are tragedies. The activities below help you to explore this
dramatic genre, particularly common from 1580 to 1620, by focusing on its most striking aspect:
the tragic resolution.

Activity 28
1 Read aloud the extract below from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, first performed in 1954.

The play is set in a puritan community in Salem, New England in 1692. Accused of witchcraft
and devil worship, a group of girls try to pass the blame to adults in the village. A court is set
up by Judge Danforth to try them. John Proctor is among the accused. He has, wrongly, been
found guilty, but Danforth rules that if he makes a public confession he will be spared hanging.
At the end of the play, Proctor has a difficult choice. He can lie and have his life, or he can
continue to speak the truth and die. He has a wife, Elizabeth, and three young children. He has
already ‘confessed’ verbally. Now Danforth demands ‘good and legal proof’ in writing.

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DANFORTH: Mr Proctor, I must have good and legal proof that you –
PROCTOR: You are the high court, your word is good enough! Tell them I confessed myself; say Proctor broke
his knees and wept like a woman; say what you will, but my name cannot –
DANFORTH: [with suspicion]: It is the same, is it not? If I report it or if you sign it?
5 PROCTOR: No, it is not the same! What others say and what I sign to is not the same!
DANFORTH: Why? Do you mean to deny this confession when you are free?
PROCTOR: I mean to deny nothing!
DANFORTH: Then explain to me, Mr Proctor, why you will not let –
PROCTOR: [with a cry of his soul] Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I
10 lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may
I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!
DANFORTH: [pointing at the confession in Proctor’s hand] Is that document a lie? If it is a lie, I will not accept
it! What say you? I will not deal in lies, Mister! [PROCTOR is motionless]. You will give me your
honest confession in my hand, or I cannot keep you from the rope. [PROCTOR does not reply].
15 Which way do you go, Mister?
His breast heaving, his eyes staring, PROCTOR tears the paper and crumples it, and he is weeping in fury, but erect.
DANFORTH: Marshal!
REVEREND HALE: Man, you will hang! You cannot!
PROCTOR: [his eyes full of tears] I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now,
20 for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with,
but white enough to keep it from such dogs.
ELIZABETH, in a burst of terror, rushes to him and weeps against his hand.
Give them no tears! Tears pleasure them! Show honour now, show a stony heart and sink them with
it. [He has lifted her, and kisses her now with great passion].
25 DANFORTH: Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption. [He sweeps out past
them.]
MARSHAL HERRICK: Come, man …
HERRICK escorts them out. ELIZABETH stands staring at the empty doorway.
REVEREND HALE: Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is vanity.
30 She avoids his eyes and moves to the window. He drops to his knees.
Be his helper! – What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his
truth? Go to him, take his shame away!
ELIZABETH: [grips the bars of the window, and with a cry] He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from
him!
35 The final drumroll crashes, then heightens violently. HALE weeps in frantic prayer, and the new sun is pouring in upon
her face, and the drums rattle like bones in the morning air.

2 With a partner, talk about how the dramatist presents John Proctor, the play’s tragic hero in
this passage, which ends the play. Focus on:
a why he is so concerned about his ‘name’
b how the dramatist arouses our sympathy and admiration for him (look at the
characterisation of Danforth and Elizabeth as well as Proctor)
c how the stage directions guide the actor playing him.
Share your ideas with the class.

B Analysing key elements of drama 25

3 Look carefully at the language of the passage. Compare Proctor’s idiolect with Danforth’s.
Fill in a copy of the chart below to help you reach your conclusions.

Danforth’s idiolect Proctor’s idiolect

Language feature Example Language feature Example
Repeated questions (interrogatives) in Repeated exclamations and declarative statements in
first half first half
Imperative sentences in second half Sentences structured around ‘Because’, ‘name’ and ‘I’
Inflexible legal language throughout Mixture of colloquial speech and figurative language
Stern, aggressive tone throughout Varied tone: anguished at first, then quietly assured,
then defiant/triumphant

4 The key moment in this passage is enacted, not spoken. What is it, and why is it key?
5 Use the work you have done above to write a commentary on the dramatist’s presentation of
the tragic hero in this passage.

Re-read the ending of your play and the comments introducing this sub-section (page 146). Use
Activity 29 the comments as a starting point to examine in detail how your dramatist constructs the
resolution to the play whether it is a tragedy or a comedy.

1 Read the extract from near the end of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, first performed
Activity 30 in 1608.

Mark Antony, a consul of Rome, has died, bringing to an end his love affair with Queen
Cleopatra of Egypt, which has plunged two empires into turmoil. The Roman army
under Octavius Caesar has invaded Egypt. Cleopatra knows that, if she lives, she will be
overthrown and taken captive. In this passage, she arranges her own death. Her servants
are Charmian and Iras. The setting is Cleopatra’s palace.
Enter CHARMIAN
CLEOPATRA: Now Charmian.
Show me, my women, like a Queen. Go fetch
My best attires. I am again for Cydnus, Cydnus: where Anthony and Cleopatra first met
To meet Mark Antony. Sirrah Iras, go. sirrah: servant of either sex
5 Now, noble Charmian, we’ll dispatch indeed, dispatch: die
And when thou hast done this chare, I’ll give thee leave chare: task
To play till doomsday. Bring our crown and all.
Exit IRAS. A noise within.
Wherefore’s this noise?
10 Enter a GUARDSMAN.
GUARDSMAN: Here is a rural fellow
That will not be denied your highness’ presence.
He brings you figs.

26 Part 3 Exploring Drama

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CLEOPATRA: Let him come in. [Exit GUARDSMAN.]
15 What poor an instrument
May do a noble deed! He brings me liberty.
My resolution’s placed, and I have nothing
Of woman in me. Now from head to foot
I am marble-constant; now the fleeting moon
20 No planet is of mine.
Enter CLOWN.
Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there, worm: snake, asp Nilus: River Nile
That kills and pains not?
CLOWN: Truly I have him; but I would not be the party that
25 should desire you to touch him, for his biting is
immortal; those that do die of it seldom or never recover.
CLEOPATRA: Remember’st thou any that have died on’t?
CLOWN: Very many, men and women too. I heard of one of them
no longer than yesterday, a very honest woman, but
30 something given to lie, as women should not do, but
in the way of honesty, how she died of the biting of it,
what pain she felt. Truly, she makes a very good report
o’th’worm. But he that will believe all that they say shall
never be saved by half they that do. But this is most
35 fallible, the worm’s an odd worm.
CLEOPATRA: Get thee hence, farewell …
CLOWN: I wish you all joy of the worm.
CLEOPATRA: Farewell. [Exit CLOWN.]
Enter CHARMIAN and IRAS with a robe and a crown.
40 CLEOPATRA: Give me my robe, put on my crown, I have
Immortal longings in me. Now no more
The juice of Egypt’s grape shall moist this lip.
Yare, yare, good Iras; quick. Methinks I hear yare: make haste
Antony call; I see him rouse himself
45 To praise my noble act, I hear him mock
The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men
To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come.
Now to that name my courage prove my title.
I am fire and air; my other elements
50 I give to baser life. So, have you done?
Come, then, and take the last warmth of my lips.
Farewell kind Charmian; Iras, long farewell.
She kisses them. IRAS falls and dies.
Have I the aspic in my lips? Dost fall? aspic: snake’s venom
55 If thou and nature can so gently part,
The stroke of death is as a lover’s pinch,
Which hurts, and is desired. Dost thou lie still?
If thus thou vanishest, thou tell’st the world
It is not worth leave-taking.
60 CHARMIAN: Dissolve, thick cloud and rain, that I may say
The gods themselves do weep.

B Analysing key elements of drama 27

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CLEOPATRA: This proves me base.
If she first meet the curlèd Antony, curlèd: curly-haired
He’ll make demand of her, and spend that kiss
65 Which is my heaven to have. Come thou mortal wretch mortal: deadly
She applies the asp to her breast.
With thy sharp teeth this knot instrinsicate instrinsicate: inmost
Of life at once untie. Poor venemous fool,
Be angry and dispatch. O couldst thou speak,
70 That I may hear thee call great Caesar ‘Ass,
Unpolicied!’ unpolicied: disempowered
CHARMIAN: O eastern star!
CLEOPATRA: Peace, peace!
Dost thou not see my baby at my breast,
75 That sucks the nurse asleep?
CHARMIAN: O break! O break!
CLEOPATRA: As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle –
O Antony! Nay, I will take thee too.
Applies another asp to her arm.
80 What should I stay. [She dies].
CHARMIAN: In this vile world? So fare thee well.
Now boast thee death, in thy possession lies
A lass unparalled. Downy windows, close;
And golden Phoebus never be beheld Phoebus: the sun
85 Of eyes so royal! Your crown’s awry,
I’ll mend it, and then play –

2 Fill in a copy of the chart below. Work with a partner or in a group.

Examples of Cleopatra’s use of language in this passage

Sounds poetic Sounds down-to- Sounds like an Sounds sad
earth actress

3 Share your responses with the class. Then talk about:

Key terms a anything that surprises you about how the play’s tragic heroine faces death
catastrophe
b why you think Shakespeare chose to include three minor characters (two serving women
resolution and a clown) at this point in the play
imperative
c whether this death scene strikes you as ‘tragic’.
declarative

Take it further
Read accounts by actors
in Playersof Shakespeare
of performing in
Othelloand Antony
and Cleopatra. What
impressions of the plays
do they give?

28 Part 3 Exploring Drama

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Activity 31
1 Read the following comments about this scene by Frances de la Tour, an actress who played
Cleopatra for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The death-scene itself begins with the audience anticipating something solemn: ‘Now from
head to foot/I am marble constant’, she says, and this is where we expect the aria, the big
speech that is going to make her a legend, an icon. And just as the handkerchiefs are coming
out in preparation, Shakespeare wrong-foots us all again, and on comes the clown to take
5 over the scene with his smutty jokes … Even after this, and after the solemn dressing-up for
death, we aren’t allowed to settle into an anticipated moment of solemnity, for Iras’s death
sends Cleopatra off into a fit of jealous anxiety: ‘If she first meet the curlèd Antony/He’ll
make demand of her, and spend that kiss/Which is my heaven to have’. Our laughter (and it’s
inevitable) at this moment is even more extraordinary than our earlier laughter at the clown;
10 and then, just ten lines later, we are again invited to laugh – and at her rather than with her
– as she desperately grabs the asp to catch up with Iras: ‘Come, thou mortal wretch/With thy
sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate/Of life at once untie’. This is brilliant writing. Of course,
Shakespeare could have conducted the audience through a vale of tears to a predictable
conclusion; but the manipulation is much cleverer than that with the audience, wrong-footed,
15 being swung between emotional extremes all the way to the end.

With a partner, discuss whether you agree with her. Read aloud particular passages in the text
to help you make up your mind.
2 Look at Cleopatra’s speech beginning ‘Give me my robe’ down to ‘my other elements/I give to
baser life’. Write out the speech as one prose paragraph, keeping Shakespeare’s sentences and
punctuation. Read this aloud to a partner. Discuss what has been lost. Focus on:
a pauses and emphases
b the pace and rhythms of the lines
c patterns of language.

Activity 32
1 Choose a key speech from the dénouement of your play that is written
in blank verse. Write a commentary on what the dramatist achieves that would have been
achieved less effectively in prose.
2 Read the dénouement of your play. Use the work you have
done in this sub-section to:
a analyse the way they reach a resolution
b comment on how the hero, or heroine, is presented at the end of the play compared with
how they were presented at the beginning
c describe the contribution to their effectiveness made by the dramatist’s stagecraft and use
a blank verse, or prose.

B Analysing key elements of drama 29

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7 Identifying contexts for your plays

Activity 37
1 Read through the table below at least twice.

Contextual influences on drama

‘Context’ refers to the factors that These contextual factors can be grouped These headings relate specically to:
into headings:
The dramatist’s choice of plot, Literary • the dramatist’s use of their reading
characters and theme Social and political • events and attitudes of the time
Theatrical • the tastes of the audience
• the theatres where drama was performed
The dramatist’s choice of genre, style Literary • the conventions of drama of the time
and language
• the conventions of drama from the past
Theatrical • the tastes of the audience
• the theatres where drama was performed
The dramatist’s way of thinking Literary • the dramatist’s use of their reading
about life Social and political • events and attitudes of the time
Cultural • philosophical ideas of the time
• theological views and beliefs of the time
The staging of the play Literary • the conventions of drama of the time
Theatrical • the tastes of the audience
• the theatres where drama was performed

Note A dramatist’s own life and experience, the personal context, is clearly an important influenc-
ing their writing. It is not included in this table because the precise ways in which life influences
literature can be speculated about but never ascertained and because relatively little is known for
sure about the lives of most dramatists writing between 1300 and 1650, including Shakespeare’s.

2 As a class, talk about:

a the headings in the central column (make sure you can differentiate between them)
b the notes in the left- and right-hand columns (make sure you can see how they link to the
headings in the central column).
This table provides you with a structure for planning and writing about the context of your main
and further plays. Refer to it regularly as you build up your explorative study.

30 Part 3 Exploring Drama

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C Comparing plays in their contexts

1 Relating your plays to their context:

an example
This section explains how to develop a knowledge of context so that you can
apply it to your play. It shows you that contextual factors influence both the
way a play is written and the audience’s response to it.

The exemplar play used in this section is Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Watch a

performance of the play on DVD before working on the activities below.

Macbeth (RCS, 2007)

Activity 38
1 Consider the literary contextual factors that influenced Macbeth. Use the
information below.

Shakespeare’s sources
The plot of Macbeth is derived from other literature. This was Shakespeare’s common
practice, as it was with almost all Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists: they had a

The main source for Macbeth is Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland compiled by
Raphael Holinshed in 1587 (when Shakespeare was 23). Its historical narrative describes

a group of witches in the town of Forres. Donwald, captain of the castle of Forres and
loyal to the King, broke into the witches’ house and found them casting spells against
King Duff . The witches were executed and the King cured.
The previously loyal Donwald mounted a rebellion against King Duff and murdered him.
Donwald was, in turn, put to death.
B Anal
King Duncan ascended the Scottish throne. His generals, Macbeth and Banquo defeated
an invasion attempt by King Canute of England. Then Macbeth murdered Duncan and
took the throne himself, beginning a reign of terror in Scotland that lasted nearly 20
years. Earlier, three witches had prophesied that Macbeth would never be slain by ‘one
of woman born’. Macduff , loyal to Duncan’s son, Malcolm, led an insurrection against
Macbeth and killed him in his castle at Dunsinane. Apparently, Macduff had been born
by Caesarian section.

2 As a class, discuss how Shakespeare makes use of Holinshed’s Chronicle. Focus on:
Key terms
a how he adapts events
philosphical (context)
b how he deliberately changes and merges together some parts of the chronology theological (context)
c why he may have chosen to dramatise the story of Macbeth rather than King Duff and chronology
Donwald (Lady Macbeth is a minor figure in Holinshed’s Chronicle.)

Comparing plays in their contexts 31

B Anal
Analysing key elements of drama

M02C_ELIT_SB_2482_U02C.indd 157 22/5/08 13:20:33

C Comparing plays in their context
1 Consider some of the social and political contextual factors that influenced Macbeth. Use the
Activity 39 information below.

King James I
James I of England (James VI of Scotland), a direct descendent of Banquo, succeeded Queen Elizabeth I
in 1603. The Act of Union joined the two kingdoms. Elizabeth had not produced a male heir and James’s
right to the English throne was disputed.
Macbeth was written in 1605 or 1606. James I was a keen patron of drama. He gave a royal charter to
Shakespeare’s theatre company, which took the title of The King’s Men in 1603. They performed regularly
at court.
James I wrote several treatises on kingship, notably the Basilicon Doran, published in 1599. This contains
a long section contrasting a good king with a usurping tyrant. James I believed firmly that kings were
appointed by God and that regicide, the killing of a king, was blasphemy against the natural order of
God’s world.
James I also had a particular interest in witchcraft. He wrote repeatedly about it, most extensively in his
treatise on Demonology, published in 1597. Many elements of demonology are common to James’s
writings on the subject and Shakespeare’s play: the supernatural powers of witches, their capacity to
become invisible and to change shape, their allegiance to the devil, the ingredients of their magic brews.
The Gunpowder Plot failed, but very nearly succeeded, in November 1605. Catholic loyalists tried to blow
up King James and his parliament. The Plot was followed by a series of arrests and executions.

2 As a class, discuss:

Key terms a which events and ideas in Macbeth James I would have recognised
patron b which political themes would strike a chord with James I’s views about, and experiences of,
tyrant kingship up to 1606
demonology c whether you agree with those scholars who argue that Macbeth was written as a
compliment to James I.

1 Consider some of the theatrical contextual factors that influenced Macbeth. Use the
Activity 40 information below.

Macbeth was acted at the Globe Playhouse, the theatre where The King’s Men normally
performed. The Globe had a platform stage with a trapdoor, frequently used as a ‘hellmouth’
(through which demonic characters made entrances and exits). There was no stage lighting
and no fixed scenery. Performances took place in the open during the afternoon. In
Shakespeare’s time, there was a convention for fluid movement between one scene and the
next. The actors utilised a large store of ‘props’, which were used and re-used for two or three
different productions a week.
The audiences at the Globe crossed social barriers. They ranged from ordinary workmen and
women to highly educated professional people and minor nobility. Between them they had
a particular taste for horror, violence and bloodshed; the supernatural, particularly ghosts
and witches; battles; colourful spectacle; broad comedy and obscenity; British history (many
members of the audience were illiterate and could not read about this); political themes; and
debate about philosophical and religious matters.

2 As a class, discuss:
a any two scenes from the play: how do you visualise them being performed at the Globe?
b how well you think Macbeth is suited to its contemporary audience
c how the per formance of Macbeth you watched was, or was not, comparable in production
style to a performance at the Globe in the early 1600s.

158 Part 32 Exploring

32 Unit drama
Explorations in drama

M02C_ELIT_SB_2482_U02C.indd 158 22/5/08 13:20:34

2 Building material on context into your response
The contextual influences you highlight will depend on your particular play. Choose relevant
contextual factors from below. Take it further
Watch a production of
King Lear on DVD. Use
Religious your knowledge of
Theatrical the Jacobean political
context to assess how
far it reflects the events
of its time. Useful
Social and
political Cultural contextual comments
on this play and many
others are made by
Emma Smith in The
Cambridge Introduction
to Shakespeare.

Activity 41
1 Study the example below of an outline plan for context.

Literary context (1) Religious context

Theatrical genres of Christian belief

Dr Faustus
links with medieval
Morality Plays damnation awaits
if man challenges
God‛s supremacy

Topic: Presentation of
the tragic hero

Literary context (2)

Dramatic genre of Cultural context
tragedy of Renaissance
philosophy

tragic hero‛s fatal idea of man in

fl aw = pride, charge of his
ambition own destiny

2 Follow this model to make a provisional outline plan for context on a topic related to your
own play.
.

C Comparing plays in their context 33

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3 The history of English drama, 1300–1800

The history of English drama, 1300–1800 – an outline

Main features of drama Main plays and playwrights Contexts
Medieval and Tudor (1300–1558)
• Mainly religious, based on stories from • Mystery Plays: originated in church • A largely illiterate population
the Bible services when parts were read by • The Black Death
• Mystery Plays performed by ordinary priests and congregation
• The Hundred Years’ War
people belonging to craft guilds • York, Chester, Wakefield and Coventry
• The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)
• Mystery Plays performed in cycles of Mystery Play Cycles: anonymous
• The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
10 to 20+ episodes or ‘pageants’ • Morality Plays represented vices
(1387)
• Tudor Interludes performed at and virtues as stock characters
• Caxton’s Printing Press (1470s)
country houses and Inns of Court in – Everyman, The Castle of Perseverance,
London anonymous
Elizabethan (1558–1603)
• Drama becoming increasingly popular • The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Kyd • Elizabeth I (1558–1603)
and commercial (1558–94) • Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the
• Many public theatres built in London • Tamburlaine the Great, Dr Faustus, globe (1577–80)
from 1570 onwards: open roofs, Christopher Marlowe (1564-93) • Chronicles, Raphael Holinshed (1577)
platform stages • William Shakespeare (1564–1616) • Thomas North’s translation of
• Professional acting companies formed: • Volpone, The Alchemist, Plutarch’s Great Lives (1579)
male actors only Ben Jonson (1572–1637) • Essays, Sir Francis Bacon (1597)
• A variety of genres: histories,
comedies, tragedies, satires
Jacobean (1603–25)
• Indoor theatres established in London • The Duchess of Malfi, The White Devil, • James I (1603–25)
(eg Blackfriars): boys’ acting companies John Webster (1580?–1625?) • Rise of Puritan influence
• Strong Puritan opposition to public • The Revenger’s’ Tragedy, Middleton/ • Pilgrim Fathers sail for America (1620)
theatres Tourneur
• English Civil War (1642–1651)
• Court masques and civic pageants: • The Changeling, Middleton/Rowley
• All theatres closed by law (1642)
elaborate scenic effects • ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore,
• Revenge Tragedy and City Comedy John Ford (1586–1640)
increasingly popular
Restoration (1660–1700)
• Prohibition of public drama lifted: • The Man of Mode, • Restoration of the monarchy
theatres re-opened George Etheredge (1635–92) • Charles II (1660–85)
• New theatre building in London and • The Rover, Aphra Behn (1640–89) • Samuel Pepys’s Diary (1660–9)
the provinces: proscenium arch • The Country Wife, The Plain Dealer, • Paradise Lost, John Milton (1667)
stages William Wycherley (1640–1716)
• • John Locke’s Essay on Human
Lavish scenery and lighting effects • Love for Love, The Way of the World, Understanding (1690)
• Comedy of Manners popular: themes William Congreve (1670–1729)
• Satirical poems by John Dryden, John
of sexual intrigue and ‘town versus
Wilmot, Earl of Rochester and others
country’ in witty prose dramas
• Women allowed to act by law for the
first time

C Comparing plays in their context 34

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Main features of drama Main plays and playwrights Contexts
Eighteenth century (1700–1800)
• Sentimental Comedy a popular • The Beggar’s Opera, John Gay • The Age of Enlightenment: belief in
dramatic genre (1695–1732) rationalism, scientific progress and
• Increase in the range of genres: • She Stoops To Conquer, high culture
pantomime, ballad opera, heroic Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) • Stage Licensing Act (1737)
tragedy • The Rivals, The School for Scandal, • Dr Johnson’s Dictionary published in
• New theatres built in London and Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) 1755
major towns and cities: elaborate • The Enchanted Isle, an operatic • The rise of the novel (Defoe,
architecture matched by elaborate version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest Richardson, Fielding) and the
stage scenery and costumes performed frequently educated middle class
• Professional actor-managers • The Dunciad, The Rape of the Lock,
(e.g Garrick at Drury Lane) Alexander Pope (1688–1744) – social
and political satires

Key terms
craft guilds
vice
virtue
stock characters
Interlude
masque
proscenium arch

35 Part 3 Exploring drama

M02C_ELIT_SB_2482_U02C.indd 162 22/5/08 13:20:40

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