Take the characters in Oedipus Rex and Medea, and consider the following:

  1. Who is the protagonist? Defend your choice.
  2. Why do they do what they do? Are they self-motivated, or manipulated by outside forces?
  3. Are they capable of change or growth? Why or why not?
  4. Do their actions impact others? If so, who and how?
  5. Which characters are tragic, and which are merely pathetic?

(Plays discussed: Oedipus Rex and Medea)

  1. Lysistrata and Oedipus: a study in contrasts
  1. Both Oedipus and Lysistrata had well-defined goals. In what ways did their goals dictate the paths each took?
  2. What differences did you see in the way their journeys played out, and to what extent were these differences due to their temperaments?
  3. How did the structure of each play enable or impede your understanding of the story?
  4. Why did one fail, and the other succeed?

(Plays discussed: Oedipus Rex and Lysistrata)

  1. Sakuntala and Everyman: teaching morality

These two plays are essential lessons for the audience, taught in very different ways.

  1. Name at least three lessons from each play, say why you think these lessons were important.
  2. In what ways are  the lessons similar across cultures?
  3. Why do you think they were structured so differently?
  4. Can you boil the lessons of each play down to three sentences?

(Plays discussed: The Recognition of Sakuntala and Everyman)

  1. A Renaissance Man
  1. What kind of things does Faustus desire?
  2. Why do you think he wants those things?
  3. Does Marlowe allow Faustus to achieve his goals?
  4. Why/ why not?

(Play discussed: Doctor Faustus)

  1. Love and Other Drugs
  1. Compare Hippolyta’s relationship with Theseus and Oberon’s relationship with Titania.
  2. Why does Oberon want Titania to give him the child?
  3. What does Bottom say about the nature of love?
  4. What kinds of love does Shakespeare describe? Which characters are emblematic of which kind of love?

(Play discussed: A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

  1. Tartuffe
  1. Why is the play named for a character who doesn’t appear until Act III?
  2. In what ways were your opinions of Tartuffe formed before his arrival?
  3. How do you think Orgon is changed by Tartuffe’s betrayal?
  4. What purpose does Cleante serve?
  5. What is the deus ex machina?

(Play discussed: Tartuffe)

  1. Love Suicides
  1. Take a moment and compare this play to Oedipus Rex. What similarities can you find?
  2. How does Tokubei compare to Oedipus as a tragic hero?
  3. Are you able to see any other options for Ohatsu and Tokubei?
  4. Given the opportunity, how would you rework the end of the play?

(Plays discussed: The Love Suicides at Sonezaki and Oedipus Rex)

  1. That’s the Way
  1. What do Mirabell and Fainall have in common?
  2. What does each man want?
  3. Compare the actions each takes to achieve their goals.
  4. What’s the deus ex machina?