1. Sketch the character of Mephistopheles in Dr.

Faustus.
The character of Mephastophilis (spelled Mephistophilis or
Mephistopheles by other authors) is one of the first in a long tradition of
sympathetic literary devils, which includes figures like John Milton’s
Satan in Paradise Lost and Johann von Goethe’s Mephistophilis in the
nineteenth-century poem ―Faust.‖ Marlowe’s Mephastophilis is
particularly interesting because he has mixed motives. On the one hand,
from his first appearance he clearly intends to act as an agent of
Faustus’s damnation. Indeed, he openly admits it, telling Faustus that
―when we hear one rack the name of God, / Abjure the Scriptures and
his savior Christ, / We fly in hope to get his glorious soul‖ (3.47–49). It is
Mephastophilis who witnesses Faustus’s pact with Lucifer, and it is he
who, throughout the play, steps in whenever Faustus considers
repentance to cajole or threaten him into staying loyal to hell.

Yet there is an odd ambivalence in Mephastophilis. He seeks to damn

Faustus, but he himself is damned and speaks freely of the horrors of
hell. In a famous passage, when Faustus remarks that the devil seems
to be free of hell at a particular moment, Mephastophilis insists, Again,
when Faustus blithely—and absurdly, given that he is speaking to a
demon—declares that he does not believe in hell, Mephastophilis groans
and insists that hell is, indeed, real and terrible, as Faustus comes to
know soon enough. Before the pact is sealed, Mephastophilis actually
warns Faustus against making the deal with Lucifer. In an odd way, one
can almost sense that part of Mephastophilis does not want Faustus to
make the same mistakes that he made. But, of course, Faustus does so
anyway, which makes him and Mephastophilis kindred spirits. It is
appropriate that these two figures dominate Marlowe’s play, for they are
two overly proud spirits doomed to hell.

2. Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate

The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and
Ireland, is the period from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659 during
which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and associated territories were joined
together in the Commonwealth of England, governed by a Lord Protector. It
began when Barebone's Parliament was dismissed, and the Instrument of
Government appointed Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.
Cromwell died in September 1658 and was succeeded by his son Richard
Cromwell.
Richard resigned in May 1659 due to his inability to control either the Army
or Parliament. He was replaced by the English Committee of Safety, which
dissolved the Third Protectorate Parliament, and reseated the so-called Rump
Parliament dismissed by Cromwell in April 1653. This marked the end of the
Protectorate, with the Rump acting as the legislature and the English Council of
State as the executive.
After the dissolution of Barebone's Parliament, John Lambert put forward a
new constitution known as the Instrument of Government, closely modelled
on the Heads of Proposals. It made Cromwell Lord Protector for life to
undertake "the chief magistracy and the administration of government". He
had the power to call and dissolve parliaments but was obliged under the
Instrument to seek the majority vote of the Council of State. However,
Cromwell's power was also buttressed by his continuing popularity among the
army, which he had built up during the civil wars and subsequently prudently
guarded. Cromwell was sworn in as Lord Protector on 16 December 1653.

In 1657, Oliver Cromwell was offered the crown by Parliament as part of a

revised constitutional settlement. That presented him with a dilemma since he
had been instrumental in abolishing the monarchy. Cromwell agonised for six
weeks over the offer. He was attracted by the prospect of stability that it held
out, but in a speech on 13 April 1657, he made it clear that God's providence
had spoken against the office of king: “I would not seek to set up that which
Providence hath destroyed and laid in the dust, and I would not
build Jericho again".[7][a]
Instead, Cromwell was ceremonially reinstalled as Lord Protector, with greater
powers than had previously been granted him under this title, at Westminster
Hall. He sat upon King Edward's Chair, which had been specially moved
from Westminster Abbey for the occasion. The event in part echoed
a coronation by using many of its symbols and regalia, such as a purple ermine-
lined robe, a sword of justice, a sceptre and an ermine-lined coronet but not a
crown or an orb. However, a crown and an orb were present on the lord
protector's seal. However, most notably, the office of Lord Protector was still
not to become hereditary though Cromwell was now able to nominate his own
successor. Cromwell's new rights and powers were laid out in the Humble
Petition and Advice, a legislative instrument that replaced the Instrument of
Government. Cromwell himself, however, was at pains to minimise his role by
describing himself as a constable or watchman. However, Cromwell "had never
gained the willing consent of the nation", and the Protectorate relied on armed
force.

3. Aphra Beh’s poem ‘The Disappointment’ critiques

male dominance. Share your thoughts
―The Disappointment‖ by Aphra Behn, a poem first
published in 1680, is arguably among the best known
and enduring of her works. Considered scandalous in
her lifetime, Behn (1640 – 1689), a playwright, poet,
and novelist, is recognized as the first British woman to
earn a living by her writing.

In this lengthy poem, the shepherd Lisander attempts to

force himself on the maid Cloris. It’s implied that that
two are in love, and that the encounter is not a random
situation.

Cloris, however, is unwilling, and Lisander is unable to

perform — experiencing ―the Hell of Impotence.‖ She is able
to escape, and yet, since the perspective is on the female
sexual experience, we’re left to wonder which of the pair is
the most disappointed.

―Behn wrote quite freely about sex: her poem The

Disappointment is very explicit and concerns male
impotence, a highly transgressive theme for a woman, then
and now,‖ writes Francis Booth in Killing the Angel: Early
British Transgressive Women Writers.

It was, to say the least, highly unusual to focus on female

sexuality in literature of Behn’s time. She was reviled by
many critics, though today her influence and courage are
respected. In A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf wrote
that all women owe a debt to Aphra Behn, who ―earned them
the right to speak their minds.‖

In a detailed analysis of “The Disappointment,” Nancy

Snyder writes, ―Cloris recognizes the period expectations of
chastity and honor. She fights off Lisander’s advances
despite the widely accepted practice of women’s submission.
Behn presents the accepted gender classification of male
dominance as Lisander takes what he wants from the
unwilling Cloris.‖

―There are a couple of ways to interpret The Disappointment,

and their differences lie in how much one believes Cloris
desires Lisander, which also answers the question of who
exactly is disappointed here. On one end is a traditional
interpretation; that the two are passionate lovers and Cloris’s
objections are obligatory utterances said for the purpose of
propriety, but Lisander’s impotence disappoints them both.

On the other is the interpretation that Cloris is completely

objecting; her unfortunate and unavoidable physical arousal
are interpreted by Lisander as consent (or some pleasure,
which he interprets as consent), and Lysander’s failure to
perform disappoints only him and is rather a relief to Cloris.‖

4. Elizabethan Theatre
The term ‘Elizabethan Theatre’ itself directs our attention to Queen
Elizabeth who ascended the throne in 1558. The queen personally loved
arts and therefore promoted drama and other forms of literature. The
origin of theatres in England is linked to the medieval Miracle and
Morality plays. Before the proper theatres came about, plays were
performed in the courtyard of inns or sometimes, in the private houses of
noblemen, great lords and civic officials. Other venues included courts,
halls at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the Inns of Court.
The building of theatres in London began only shortly before
Shakespeare wrote his first plays in the 1590s. They were of two kinds,
outdoor or public playhouses that could accommodate large number of
audiences, and indoor or private theatres for much smaller audience.
However in the later years, theatres had an unsavory reputation London
 authorities didn’t allow plays within the city. They were always opposed
to the stage. Their objections to it were numerous- religious, medical and
economic. They regarded play acting as ungodly, and even described the
theatre as the home of the devil. As a result, theatres were opened
across the Thames in Southwark, in the so called ‘Liberties’- areas
outside the jurisdiction of the authorities of the city of London.
The first proper theatre, the first London outdoor public playhouse was the
Theatre, built at Shoreditch in 1576 by James Burbage. It was occupied by
Leicester Company. It was the erection of this theatre which marked the start of
that great dramatic development which is known after the Queen’s name.
The law required an acting company to be authorized by a noble man. The
authorities, generally Puritans, regarded the actors as vagabonds. Fortunately,
during the time when the professional actors were establishing their position,
the Queen herself and other noblemen had displayed a real interest in theatrical
affairs, and as a result the actors were enabled to carry on their activities with a
certain amount of freedom, and even of support. It was in May 1574 that the
first Royal Patent established the Queen’s Company.

Soon other acting companies were formed. They include the Queen’s Men,
Lord Sussex’s Men, Lord Essex’s Men, and the like. William Shakespeare, the
milestone in the history of English Drama was a member of the company called
Lord Chamberlain’s Men. It was established in 1594. Later when King James I
came to throne in 1603, it came to be known as King’s Men and its patron was
the king himself. During the period immediately before the erection of The
Theatre, the players frequently made use of inn-yards for their performances.
The earliest recorded performances were at the Saracen’s Head in
Islington and the Boar’s Head Inn in Aldegate in 1557. They set up some kind
of trestle-stage at one end and accommodated the audience in the yard itself.
There were also galleries which commonly ran round the walls. Basically the
open- air structure provided a benchless standing area for the less affluent
members of the audience. They were exposed to the weather; while the galleries
offered more comfortable seating for those who could afford the additional cost.
The limited few willing to pay more were seated in a ‘lord’s room’, a part of the
lower gallery.
After the Theatre, further open air playhouses opened in the London area,
including the Curtain (1577), the Rose (1587), the Swan Theatre (1595), the
Fortune (1600) and the Hope (1613). The most famous playhouse was the
Globe (1599) built by the company in which Shakespeare had a stake.
As You Like, It was probably one of the first plays staged at the Globe. The
Globe was only in use until 1613, when a canon fired during a performance
caught the roof on fire and the building burned to the ground. The site of the
theatre was rediscovered in the 20th century and it was reconstructed.
The information about the Elizabethan theatre is based on those concerning the
Globe, Fortune and Swan theatres. A Dutch visitor to London in 1596, Johannes
de Witt, made a sketch of the inside of the Swan Theatre, from memory. A
friend of his, Arend van Burchell, made a copy of this. This copy was
discovered in 1880 and is the only surviving picture of the interior of an
Elizabethan theatre. Considering the structure of these theatres, the first public
playhouses were open air buildings. They were round or hexagonal in shape. It
had two tiered seating galleries and they were roofed. Hence the stage had some
protection from the weather. The roof covered the galleries but not the rest of
the building. The first completely roofed theatre was probably not built before
1596. The central area was open and majority of the audience stood there
crowded around three sides of the stage. The stage projected out into this central
area. There was no curtain to hide the stage for scene changes or to mark scene
divisions. It had a ‘tiring house’ at the back of the stage and was used as a
dressing room and props room. The stage had an in built trap door and above
the tiring house was a balcony, or gallery, which provided a third level. The
three levels also usefully represented heaven, earth and hell. The stage, largely
covered by a roof, had a ceiling called ‘the heavens’ which was elaborately
painted to depict the sun, moon, stars and planets. It was held up by two stage
onstage pillars which served as trees. Orlando in ‘As You Like It ‘probably
fixed his love poems upon these pillars. Actors entered and exited through two
doors in the tiring house wall at the back of the stage. There may have been a
third, central door at the Globe or a space for ‘discoveries’ to be shown. The
two doors represented ‘further inward’ and ‘further outward.’ The inward door
was used by upper -class characters in the play whereas the outward door was
used by the lower-class characters.
The set was minimal. When necessary, actors would impart essential
information to the audience about the setting for a scene with a speech.
Costumes were an important prop and formed a spectacular part of the
performance and theatres were known for its rich wardrobe. They were often
discards of rich noblemen. The main stage was bare, backed by a front wall
which had two or more doors. The actors made their entrances and exits through
it. In general, no attempt was made to localize the place of action by means of
scenery, although movable properties were used to suggest indoor or outdoor
settings. Thus a small tree stood for a forest, at able and benches gave the
impression of a tavern, a bed wheeled in to indicate that the setting was a
chamber, while a flaming torch might suggest in the darkness of night. As there
was no artificial lighting, plays were performed in the afternoon between two
and five o’ clock, to take advantage of the even shadow cast on the stage.
It was the audience who were in sunlight, particularly those directly
opposite the front of the stage. The title of the play was posted outside; a flag
flying from a turret informed play goers in the city that a performance was
about to take place, and the sound of a trumpet announced the commencement
of the play. The shape of the theatres also meant the close association between
the actors and the audience. The most obvious example of interaction between
actor and audience was in the frequent use of aside and soliloquy. The role of
women was acted by young boys. The spectators almost surrounded the players
and it seemed as though they came within the play that was being performed.
Besides the main stage, the actors had two other playing areas which they could
use on occasion- some kind of rear stage and some kind of upper stage. The
public playhouses varied in size. The largest could seat around 2-3000. They
also varied in shape; they were round, polygonal or octagonal. It had a ‘pit’ or
‘yard’ where the ‘groundlings’ stood. Women attended plays, though often the
prosperous women would wear a mask to disguise her identity. It was an un-
roofed space, surrounding the stage on three sides, enclosed by three tiers of
roofed galleries. The yard cost less, the Gallery cost more. The stage was raised,
4-6 feet, extending to the centre of the yard. It was probably the influence of a
strong Puritan element in parliament that caused the theatres to be shut down in
September 1642 for a period of eighteen years. They argued that the playhouses
functioned as convenient haunts for thieves and prostitutes. They also argued
that the playhouses were unhygienic places, and that they spread diseases. They
had more specific, religious objections to the theatre, believing that the plays
endorsed immorality, and that the performances would lead both performers
and audiences into sinful ways. The Puritans’ obsession with the natural order
of things meant they were horrified by the act of cross-dressing. Less is known
about the Elizabethan indoor theatres. There were probably only some private
theatres. However an indoor or private play house in Blackfriars is recorded in
history. This theatre had been constructed in 1596 by James Burbage in an
upper hall of a former of Dominican priory or monastic house. In this private
theatre the stage was lit by candles. Because there was no provision for standing
room, the largest audience it could hold was less than a thousand, or about a
quarter of what the Globe could accommodate. Admission to this theatre was
expensive. Instead of a penny to stand in the yard at the Globe, it cost a
minimum of six pence to get into Blackfriars. The best seats at the Globe cost
six pence. Whether indoor or outdoor play houses the stage was not separated
from the audience. In these private theatres too there was no dropping of curtain
between acts and scenes.
During the time of the Elizabethan theatres, there were also some children’s
companies. The two principal children’s companies were the Children of Paul’s
from St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Children of the Chapel Royal. However these
companies dissolved by the year 1606 and1608.