LOYOLA COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), CHENNAI – 600 034

B.A. DEGREE EXAMINATION – ENGLISH LITERATURE

FOURTH SEMESTER – APRIL 2012

EL 4501 – SHAKESPEARE

 

 

 

Date : 24-04-2012              Dept. No.                                        Max. : 100 Marks

Time : 1:00 – 4:00

 

PART – A

 

 Explain the following passages with reference to the context:                                (10×2=20)

 

1. I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder

The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber

Did I the tired Caesar.

 

2. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,

To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,

 

3. Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

 

4. Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved

Rome more

 

5. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it

 

6. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano;

A stage where every man must play a part,

And mine a sad one.

 

7. When Laban and himself were compromised

That all the eanlings which were streak’d and pied

Should fall as Jacob’s hire,

 

8. All that glitters is not gold;

Often have you heard that told:

Many a man his life hath sold

But my outside to behold:

Gilded tombs do worms enfold.

 

9. There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper,

That steals the colour from Bassanio’s cheek:

Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world

Could turn so much the constitution

Of any constant man

 

10. The quality of mercy is not strain’d,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

PART – B

 

Write paragraph answers for any FIVE of the following:                                             (5×8=40)

 

11. Analyse the character of Cassius.
12. Discuss how the trial scene reveals a conflict between justice and mercy.
13. Compare the passivity of Desdemona with the other female characters of Shakespeare.
14. How does Richard II compare with Henry Bolingbroke?
15. Tragic heroes of Shakespeare.
16. Role of Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream.
17. Write a note of the wedding scenes in Merchant of Venice and Midsummer Night’s

Dream.

 

18. What is the significance of Caesar’s dying words – Et tu Brute?

PART – C

 

Write essays on the following questions in about 300 words each:                    (2×20=40)

 

1. Discuss the heroines of Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night on comparison with the

heroes of the play.
(OR)

Consider Richard II as a historical play.

 

20. Who is the true statesman in the play Julius Caesar – Caesar, Antony or Brutus? Argue.

(OR)

Make a Post-colonial analysis of the play Othello.

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