2014-­15 BA EXAMINATION BY COURSE UNIT
ESH101
HOURS
SHAKESPEARE
DURATION: 3
YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TURN THIS QUESTION PAPER OVER UNTIL
INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY AN INVIGILATOR.
Answer BOTH Questions. You are advised to take 10 minutes to read the whole
paper before beginning to answer, and to pay careful attention to the rubric and to
the number of marks available in each case.
In your answer to question 2, you may NOT choose a scene from the play you have
chosen for your answer to question 1.
If you answer more questions than specified, only the first answers (up to the
specified number) will be marked. Cross out any answers that you do not wish
to be marked.
Complete all rough workings in the answer book and cross through any work that is
not to be assessed.
YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TAKE INTO THE EXAMINATION A COPY OF THE
NORTON SHAKESPEARE (SECOND EDITION). THE COPY MUST CONTAIN
NEITHER INSERTED PAPER (SMALL BOOKMARKS ARE PERMITTED) NOR
EXTENSIVE HANDWRITTEN TEXT (SHORT MARGINAL NOTES ARE
PERMITTED).
Possession of unauthorised material at any time when under examination conditions
is an assessment offence and can lead to expulsion from QMUL. Check now to
ensure you do not have any notes, mobile phones or unauthorised electronic devices
on your person. If you do, raise your hand and give them to an invigilator
immediately. It is also an offence to have any writing of any kind on your person,
including on your body. If you are found to have hidden unauthorised material
elsewhere, including toilets and cloakrooms it will be treated as being found in your
possession. Unauthorised material found on your mobile phone or other electronic
device will be considered the same as being in possession of paper notes. A mobile
phone that causes a disruption in the exam is also an assessment offence.
EXAM PAPERS MUST NOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAM ROOM
Examiners: Professor Claire Preston, Professor Joad Raymond, Professor David
Colclough, Dr Una McIlvenna
Question One [50 marks]
Choose one of the following scenes and write an analysis of it.
[Norton edition page-numbers are given with each quotation.]
In your essay you should demonstrate both close reading skills,
and your ability to situate this kind of analysis within a larger
argument about narrative development and dramatic context.
You may, if you wish, choose to focus on a shorter passage
within your scene (c. 15-30 lines), and offer a close reading of
that passage; however, you should not lose sight of its place
and role within the scene as a whole.
1. ‘The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night… Wisely and
slow. They stumble that run fast.’
(Romeo and Juliet Act 2 Scene 2, 1-94) (N 928-929)
2. ‘Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight…. The heart
of Brutus ernes to think upon.’
(Julius Caesar Act 2 Scene 2, 1-129) (N 1577-1579)
3. ‘The tyrannous bloody act is done…. We must be brief when
traitors brave the field.’
(Richard III Act 4 Scene 3, 1-57) (N 603-604)
4. ‘Give me some music. Now good morrow friends… My love can
give no place, bid no denay.’
(Twelfth Night 2.4, 1-123) (N 1811-1814)
5. ‘Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death… Though all the
earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.’
(Hamlet Act 1 Scene 2, 1-257) (N1700-1706)
6. ‘O Jupiter, how weary are my spirits!.... And buy it with your gold
right suddenly.’
(As You Like It, Act 2 Scene 4, 1-95) (N 1640-1642)
7. ‘I prithee, Harry, withdraw thyself, thou bleed’st too much…leave
sack, and live cleanly, as a noble man should do.’
(Henry IV, part 1, Act 5 Scene 4, 1-157) (N 1250-1253)
8. ‘I do beseech you, sir, trouble yourself no further…. Not to pick
bad from bad, but by bad mend.’
(Othello, Act 4 Scene 3, 1-103) (N 2177-2179)
Question Two [50 marks]
Select one of the scenes from the list below and compare and/or
contrast it (or a substantial part of it) with a scene, part of a
scene, or a sequence of scenes of your own choice from a play
from the other semester. Do not write about a scene from the play
you have already discussed in Question 1. You should pay
attention in your answer to the dramatic contexts of the passages
you are considering.
Semester One plays: Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth
Night, Richard III.
Semester Two plays: Hamlet, As You Like It, Henry IV part 1,
Othello.
1. ‘Romeo, come forth, come forth thou fear-full man….Farewell.’
(Romeo and Juliet, Act 3 Scene 3, 1-174) (N 944-948)
2. ‘Now, Antony, our hopes are answered… And then the end is
known. –Come, ho, away!
(Julius Caesar Act 5 Scene 1, 1-126) (N 1604-1607)
3. ‘Now, noble peers, the cause why we are met… They smile at
me, who shortly will be dead.’
(Richard III, Act 3 Scene 4, 1-107) (N 588-590)
4. ‘Come thy ways, Signior Fabian… I’ll make one too.’
(Twelfth Night, Act 2 Scene 5, 1-181) (N 1814-1818)
5. ‘Now must your conscience my acquittance seal… Therefore
let’s follow.’
(Hamlet, Act 4 Scene 7, 1-166) (N1764-68)
6. ‘I think he be transformed into a beast… And let me all your
fortunes understand.’
(As You Like It, Act 2 Scene 7, 1-203) (N 1644-1648)
7. ‘These promises are fair, the parties sure… With all my heart.’
(Henry IV, part 1, Act 3 Scene 1, 1-261) (N 1221-1227)
8. ‘Though in the trade of war I have slain men… Bondslaves and
pagans shall our statesmen be.’
(Othello, Act 1 Scene 2, 1-100) (N 2123-2126)