Hindu and Buddhists, Quiz Example

Because of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, their plays were bound to contain:

The first time the king saw Sakuntala, she was in the process of:

The king, having many wives, assures Sakuntala of his honorable intent by:

The king first recognizes his son when the boy is seen:

In The Thousand and One Nights, Shahrayer decides to marry and kill his wives:

Brecca won the race with Beowulf because:

Grendel is seemingly impossible to kill because:

Deer that approach Grendel’s lair:

The unusual aspect of the writing of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is

Arthur can not eat a meal until:

Gawain accepts the challenge of the Green Knight because of:

An element of Marie de France’s life that is certain is that she:

Upon the refusal of the queen’s advances, the queen suggests:

When Lanval realizes that he has lost his magical lover, he:

Liberality, according to Machiavelli, is appropriate only for:

Messer Remirro de Orco, after restoring unity and harmony to Romagna,

Machiavelli states that a prince must be both:

Gertrude deserves the most sympathy when:

Ophelia is fortunate to receive a Christian burial because of:

Laertes and Hamlet end up as:

In the discussion of the following quotes, include: a) the importance of the quote in context, including speaker and events both before and after b) the importance of the quote in the entire work Answers must be in complete sentences, inclusive and specific.

The demon halted by the lake and ordered the fisherman to cast his net
and fish. The fisherman looked at the lake and marveled as he saw fish in many colors, white, red, blue, and yellow. He cast his net, and when he pulled, he found four fish inside, one red, one white, one blue, and one yellow. When he saw them, he was full of admiration and delight. (1605)

Besides being a good example of the fantastic nature of the tales Shahrazad tells and how she leaves them all on cliffhangers, this tale is also a moral story that ought to have significance for the King, since he too is oppressive and unjust like the king in the story.

He ruled it well
for fifty winters, grew old and wise
as warden of the land
until one began
to dominate the dark, a dragon on the prowl
from the steep vaults of a stone-roofed barrow
where he guarded a hoard; there was a hidden passage,
unknown to men, but someone managed
to enter by it and interfere
with the heathen trove. (1681)

The death of Beowulf fighting the dragon shows that his heroic character remained constant throughout his life; it was not just a product of youthful vigor. In this sense, Beowulf was an ideal Anglo-Saxon king, able to bridge the virtues of wisdom and valor. At the same time, even such a hero cannot escape death. The glory of this passage, unlike the battles before, is not that Beowulf defeats the monster, but that he faces the inevitable with honor and bravery.

An oath will bind Lanval and the king
will put the matter in our hands. If he can provide proof and his beloved
comes forward, and if what he said to incur the displeasure of the queen
is true, then he will be pardoned, since he did not say it to spite her. And
if he cannot furnish proof, then we must inform him that he will lose the
service of the king and that the king must banish him. (1773)

This passage explains the predicament Lanval has gotten himself into. He cannot retain his place in court because he cannot prove the existence of his lover. In some ways, this would be a fitting punishment for his betrayal of his vow. One of the virtues of the court was supposed to be honor, which Lanval did not display when he broke his vow just because his pride was stung by the queen’s insults.

Gawain, for his own good, forgot not that:
When the bright sword was belted and bound on his haunches,
Then twice with that token he twined him about. (2035)

This scene shows Gawain’s failing of the test. He’s good at bravery—he’ll let the Green Knight take his blow, but at the basic social rule of hospitality and being a good guest, he’s failed miserably. Taking a token from his host’s wife is symbolically akin to committing adultery. Also, although he has resisted her sexual advances, it is actually cowardice that prompts him to commit this breach of manners. Only when she suggests the girdle will protect him does he succumb. The emphasis on spiritual and moral fortitude is key to this poem.

Nevertheless, the experience of our times shows that the princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises and who have known how to addle the brains of men with craft . (2528)

This is a typical Machiavellian passage of the sort for which he is so well known. It is pragmatic rather than moral. He advises how to gain and retain worldly power, not how to be a good person

There is a play to-night before the King;
One scene of it comes near the circumstance
Which I have told thee of my father’s death:
I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot,
Even with the very comment of thy soul
Observe my uncle: if his occulted guilt
Do not itself unkennel in one speech,

It is a damned ghost that we have seen,
And my imaginations are as foul
As Vulcan’s stithy. Give him heedful note;
For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,
And after we will both our judgments join
In censure of his seeming. (2872)

Here, Hamlet sets a trap for the king’s conscience. Although Hamlet is pretty sure that Claudius killed his father, he has enough self doubt (his trademark, it seems) to want proof in the real world, not just the ghostly world since he could be misled by a demon posing as his father’s ghost. That the evidence he thinks he’ll see is largely subjective never seems to occur to him; how he interprets the king’s reaction reflects his own inner beliefs. Even with the king’s distress, he cannot know what is in his heart. This is a theme throughout the whole play. Until the end, there is no crime for which the king is for sure guilty and Hamlet himself wavers throughout as well.