Part A is worth 50 marks. Part B is worth 100 marks. You are to choose one topic in each.
Part A (on Goodnight Desdemona)
Respond to one of these questions in a brief essay between 250-300 words (50 marks):
MacDonald employs elements of expressionism in her play. Identify two of these elements and evaluate their effect and relative success.
Discuss the function and significance of Constance’s green ink and the eventual gold pen.
Act III, Scene vi finds Constance meeting up with the ghost. Discuss the use of verbal wit, pun and play on words in this scene, giving clear examples on each.
Discuss the function and effect of having the actors play three or four roles.
Part B (relates to Othello and/or Goodnight Desdemona)
Write an essay between 500-600 words on one of the following topics (100 marks):
There is a significant change in the play Othello when the characters move from Venice to Cyprus. Discuss with specific references to the play.
In both Othello and in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s characters believe in fate and destiny. Can similar kinds of belief be said to happen in Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)? Compare MacDonald’s use of this belief with this belief in Othello.
“It is not enough to say that women are often the heroes of fiction. We must first redefine ‘heroism’ to accommodate the concept from a woman’s point of view. “Discuss in regards to Othello and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).
There is a fair amount of sexual ambiguity and ambivalence in the characters from Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet). Discuss.
