Guide Questions

I. Look up the meaning of the words used in the play ""The Beggar and the King": A Play
in One Act by Winthrop Parkhurst"

a. Impudence smote
 The Impudence smote is consist of two different words. Impudence means not showing due
respect for another person or impertinent. While Smote is the past tense form of the verb smite,
which is most frequently used to mean "to strike sharply or heavily especially with the hand or
with something held in the hand," or "to kill or severely injure by striking in such a
way." Therefore, Impudence smote means Impertinence slapped.

b. Forsooth
 ( archaic denotation) it is synonymous to the word indeed: in truth
 It also means that someone agrees to what is being said (truly, indeed, agreed)
  In the other words, it is called “in truth : indeed” and it is often used to imply contempt or doubt.
It is also an archaic word originally meaning `in truth' but now usually used to express disbelief.

c. yonder
 'Yonder' comes from the Dutch 'ginder' (meaning "over there") and the English 'yon. We Filipinos
calls it pumaroon; doon; kabilang dako; diyan and many more.

d. treason
 It is the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or
overthrow the government.
 Treason is a high offense against the state / treasonous act
 It denotes a traitorous action against one’s own country and government

2.) Why did the writer not mention the specific country where the play set in?
- In my opinion, the reason why the place or country was not discussed or mentioned in the play The
Beggar and The King is because it may ruin the reputation of that country.

3.) Describe the motivations of each of the characters in this play. What do they want?
- he only want to give a crust of bread to the Beggar, dropped from the window as a remedy to stop the
Beggar. Lastly, the lowly beggar, crying outside a castle to a rigid King and his kindhearted servant is
invited into the castle. Aside for a bread, he also challenge the king to remove his crown from his
forehead and throw it to the window.

4.) The play features a reversal of roles for the King and the Beggar. At the beginning of
the play, the king has the most power, yet at the end, it the beggar. How does this happen?
 - At the beginning, the king has the most power because he has been sent away, punished, cut his tongue
and slain the Beggar. He can easily do those things because he is powerful, because he is the King. But in
the end, The Beggar got the crown.
The play denotes the effects of arrogance to someone powerful, it also denotes the false power that
someone powerful wields when ordering someone to move at his immediate request, but when these so
called servants and serfs are gone and unable to respond, the king considers the choices offered by the
beggar to throw away his crown and throw away his arrogance and show compassion instead to settle the
dispute once and for all.