Midterm Exam
Summer 2017
Directions: Write a one-page essay to answer 2 of the 4 questions. You can quote from the
plays; please cite Act and scene in your essays. Do NOT do internet research or quote
Shakespeare scholars. Your task is to interpret the plays and films on your own. Total is
100 points.
Question 1
Here is a description of a “tragic hero” based on Aristotle’s ideas about drama:









A tragic hero is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities.
This person is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force to doom and destruction
or at least to great suffering.
But the hero struggles mightily against this fate and this cosmic conflict wins our
admiration.
Because the tragic hero simply cannot accept a diminished view of the self and because
of some personality flaw, the hero fails in this epic struggle against fate.
This tragic drama involves choices (free will) and results in a paradox --- Is it Fate or
Free Will which is primarily responsible for the suffering in the hero's life (and in our
lives in light of our own personal tragedies)? Though fated the hero makes choices which
bring about his destruction.
In addition, tragic drama usually reveals the hero's true identity. Oedipus --- instead of
being the proud savior of Thebes --- discovers that he is the cause of the city's plague, the
killer of his father and the husband of his mother.
The hero's suffering, however, is not gratuitous because through great suffering the hero
is enlightened. Such heroes learn about themselves and their place in the universe. Pride
is chastened. Though destroyed the hero is at peace intellectually.
Tragic doom is both public (the State) and private (a family tragedy as well) and usually
sexual transgressions are involved in some way.
We are energized by witnessing this eternal drama for it encompasses the fate and "stuff"
of all humans from kings and queens to paupers. As for paupers, in his famous editorial
for the NY Times, Tragedy and the Common Man, Arthur Miller argues that the common
person is also capable of tragic stature in so far as each one of us seeks a true identity and
a personal dignity.
Choose two of these characteristics and test whether they apply to the two Shakespearean
“heroes” from Othello and Macbeth. Do the ancient ideas about tragic heroes apply to these two
Shakespeare plays?
Make sure your discussion is in essay format and that you ground your points and observations
in the written texts of the plays. You can, of course, refer to the two films we saw in class.
However, don’t confuse the film with the play. The film is always an interpretation of the play
and may or may not be faithful to what Shakespeare wrote. (50 points)
Question 2
Justin Kurzel’s interpretation of Macbeth steps outside the depiction of the murder of Macduff’s
family at his castle in Fife, which is the way it is written in the original play. Instead, Kurzel
depicts that the family is brought back to Macbeth’s castle (Dunsinane) and burned at the stake
in front of a crowd of people that includes Lady Macbeth. Write an essay in which you consider
Kurzel’s decision to alter the play and what he gains or loses by interpreting and presenting the
play in an unexpected way. (50 points)
Question 3
Iago or Macbeth represent two of the most dangerous and perhaps evil characters in
Shakespeare. Write an essay that considers what Shakespeare might be saying about human
nature through these two characters. Pay attention not just to their actions but to how others see
and describe them in the plays. Again, you should ground your answer in the language of the
plays but you can refer to the films as interpretations of the plays.
Question 4
Write an essay in which you explore the role of prejudice (racial, cultural or religious) in Othello.
Would you say this issue is central to understanding the play or just one aspect of understanding
the characters and their actions? You will need to cite specific passages from the play to support
your argument.
Bonus: Interpret this frame from Othello. (5 points)
.