Essay Quiz


1			In the first clip, you will see a scene from a modern production of Sophocles's Antigone. Following the scene, you will hear from the director whose opinions about the Greek plays provides a possible explanation for the continued interest in works over two thousand years old. In what way are the "debates" that appear in Greek tragedy relevant for today? In this small portion of Antigone, do we recognize modern political and social issues? In the clip from Hamlet, we see a portion of what has come to be known as the Gravedigger Scene. As noted in the chapter, drama has often combined serious and comic material in the same play. In this case, Shakespeare creates a comic scene about an unlikely subject: death. Immediately following this scene is the highly emotional scene in which Ophelia is buried. How might the latter scene be affected by being preceded by a comic one? How is the comedy affected by its subject matter? In the clip from King Lear, we see the title character after he has suffered through many trials. Once a powerful king, he is now a broken, tired, and mad old man encountering his daughter, Cordelia, who loves him dearly despite having been spurned at the play's beginning. Wilson and Goldfarb note that that the tragic hero is usually an extraordinary person, a person of stature. How is Lear's condition in this scene made even more tragic by his previous stature? Would this scene have been different had Lear begun as a beggar?