GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Contexts of Plays
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Analyzing The Content Of Medieval And Renaissance Drama
The story told in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is often thought to be derived from the story of __________.
Orpheus and Eurydice from Ovid's Metamorphoses
Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid's Metamorphoses
Samson and Delilah from the Bible
Dido and Aeneas from the Aeneid, by Virgil
Lancelot and Guinevere from Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart by Chretien de Troyes
Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid's Metamorphoses
The general consensus among scholars reflects that Shakespeare derived his story and main characters for Romeo and Juliet from Ovid's story of Pyramus and Thisbe. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe depicts two tragic lovers who are separated by their families, who do not approve of their marriage. They communicate their love through a cement wall and plan to meet under a tree outside to confess their love. However, when Thisbe comes out first, she mistakes the blood of a lion for Pyramus' blood and, believing he had been killed, kills herself.
Example Question #1 : Contexts Of Plays
The author of the poem was a contemporary of __________.
John Milton
Caedmon
Geoffrey Chaucer
William Shakespeare
John Skelton
William Shakespeare
The excerpt is taken from a poem by Edmund Spenser, who lived during the second half of the sixteenth century. Though he was a contemporary of Early Modern poets like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, Spenser utilized deliberately archaic language that may seem like something that one would be more likely to find in Chaucer's poetry.
Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, I.xiv.1-9 (1590)
Example Question #2 : Contexts Of Plays
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint: now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands…
Who is the author of this play?
Ben Jonson
Thomas Kyd
William Shakespeare
Christopher Marlowe
Sir Walter Raleigh
William Shakespeare
This is the famous epilogue from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1623).
Christopher Marlowe wrote Dr. Faustus (1604). Thomas Kyd wrote The Spanish Tragedie (1587). Ben Jonson wrote Every Man in his Humour (1598). Sir Walter Raleigh wrote "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" (approx. 1598).
Example Question #3 : Contexts Of Plays
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint: now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands…
What genre does this play belong to?
comedy
epic
history
tragedy
None of the other answers is accurate
None of the other answers is accurate
While The Tempest (1623) isn’t strictly considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, it also doesn’t fit into an easy category like tragedy, comedy, or history. While the play was originally billed as a comedy in Elizabethan times, it has since been recategorized by most scholars.
Example Question #4 : Contexts Of Plays
Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint: now, ’tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands…
Which of the following characters is not from this play?
Ariel
Miranda
Prospero
Iago
Caliban
Iago
Iago is a character in Shakespeare’s Othello (1622), not from The Tempest (1623).
Example Question #5 : Contexts Of Plays
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo.
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear’d. ‘Tis much he dares,
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.
Who is the author of this play?
Sir Walter Raleigh
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
Ben Jonson
Thomas Kyd
William Shakespeare
This is a monologue from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1623). Even if you weren’t familiar with the monologue itself, you could have recognized Banquo as one of the central characters in the play.
Example Question #6 : Contexts Of Plays
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo.
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear’d. ‘Tis much he dares,
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.
What genre does this play belong to?
melodrama
history
tragedy
comedy
problem play
tragedy
This play is a tragedy; in fact, the full title is The Tragedy of Macbeth (1623). In the play, Macbeth and his wife are ruined by their fatal flaws of weakness and ambition, a classic trope in tragedy.
Example Question #7 : Contexts Of Plays
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo.
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear’d. ‘Tis much he dares,
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.
What is the setting of this play?
Verona, Italy
Scotland
ancient Egypt
Venice, Italy
Denmark
Scotland
Macbeth (1623) is set in Scotland. (Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1604) is set in Denmark, Antony and Cleopatra (1623) is set in ancient Egypt, Romeo and Juliet (1597) is set in Verona, and Othello (1622) is set partly in Venice.)
Example Question #9 : Contexts Of Plays
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo.
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear’d. ‘Tis much he dares,
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.
What historical document served as a basis for this play’s storyline?
The Domesday Book
Herodotus’ Histories
The Magna Carta
Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland
Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland
Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587) contains an account of real Scottish historical figures called Macbeth, Macduff, and Duncan. The story of Shakespeare’s play differs considerably from Holinshed’s story, though.
Herodotus' The Histories (440 BCE), The Domesday Book (1086), Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), and The Magna Carta (1215) were all used as alternate answer choices.
Example Question #8 : Contexts Of Plays
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo.
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear’d. ‘Tis much he dares,
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar.
Which of the following is not a character in this work?
Donalbain
Macduff
King Duncan
Fleance
Cordelia
Cordelia
Cordelia is a central character in Shakespeare’s King Lear (1608), not Macbeth (1623).
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