OCR A Level English Literature Drama and poetry pre-1900 June 2024 question paper H472/01

Coriolanus

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

(a) Discuss the following passage from Act 1 Scene 6, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

dramatic effects.

MARCIUS   Come I too late?
COMINIUS Ay, if you come not in the blood of others,
But mantled in your own.
MARCIUS   O! let me clip ye
In arms as sound as when I woo’d, in heart
As merry as when our nuptial day was done,
And tapers burn’d to bedward.
COMINIUS   Flower of warriors,
How is’t with Titus Lartius?
MARCIUS As with a man busied about decrees:
Condemning some to death, and some to exile;
Ransoming him or pitying, threat’ning th’other;
Holding Corioli in the name of Rome
Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash,
To let him slip at will.
COMINIUS   Where is that slave
Which told me they had beat you to your trenches?
Where is he? Call him hither.
MARCIUS   Let him alone;
He did inform the truth. But for our gentlemen,
The common file—a plague! tribunes for them!
The mouse ne’er shunn’d the cat as they did budge
From rascals worse than they.
COMINIUS   But how prevail’d you?
MARCIUS Will the time serve to tell? I do not think.
Where is the enemy? Are you lords o’ th’ field?
If not, why cease you till you are so?
COMINIUS   Marcius,
We have at disadvantage fought and did
Retire to win our purpose.
MARCIUS How lies their battle? Know you on which side
They have plac’d their men of trust?
COMINIUS   As I guess, Marcius,
Their bands i’ th’ vaward are the Antiates,
Of their best trust; o’er them Aufidius,
Their very heart of hope.

MARCIUS   I do beseech you,
By all the battles wherein we have fought,
By th’ blood we have shed together, by th’ vows
We have made to endure friends, that you directly
Set me against Aufidius and his Antiates;
And that you not delay the present, but,
Filling the air with swords advanc’d and darts,
We prove this very hour.
COMINIUS   Though I could wish
You were conducted to a gentle bath
And balms applied to you, yet dare I never
Deny your asking: take your choice of those
That best can aid your action.
MARCIUS   Those are they
That most are willing. If any such be here—
As it were sin to doubt—that love this painting
Wherein you see me smear’d; if any fear
Lesser his person than an ill report;
If any think brave death outweighs bad life
And that his country’s dearer than himself;
Let him alone, or so many so minded,
Wave thus to express his disposition,
And follow Marcius.

[They all shout and wave their swords, take him up in their arms and cast up their caps.

O, me alone! Make you a sword of me?
If these shows be not outward, which of you
But is four Volsces? None of you but is
Able to bear against the great Aufidius
A shield as hard as his. A certain number,
Though thanks to all, must I select from all; the rest
Shall bear the business in some other fight,
As cause will be obey’d. Please you to march;
And four shall quickly draw out my command,
Which men are best inclin’d.
COMINIUS   March on, my fellows;
Make good this ostentation, and you shall
Divide in all with us.

[ Exeunt.

And

‘A play about military values.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of the play Coriolanus.

Remember to support your answer with reference to different interpretations.

Hamlet

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

(a) Discuss the following passage from Act 3 Scene 3, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

dramatic effects.

KING   O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t—
A brother’s murder! Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will.
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,
And, like a man to double business bound,
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy
But to confront the visage of offence?
And what’s in prayer but this twofold force,
To be forestalled ere we come to fall,
Or pardon’d being down? Then I’ll look up;
My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer
Can serve my turn? ‘Forgive me my foul murder’!
That cannot be; since I am still possess’d
Of those effects for which I did the murder—
My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.
May one be pardon’d and retain th’ offence?
In the corrupted currents of this world
Offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice;
And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But ’tis not so above:
There is no shuffling; there the action lies
In his true nature; and we ourselves compell’d,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence. What then? What rests?
Try what repentance can. What can it not?
Yet what can it when one can not repent?
O wretched state! O bosom black as death!
O limed soul, that, struggling to be free,
Art more engag’d! Help, angels. Make assay:
Bow, stubborn knees; and, heart, with strings of steel,
Be soft as sinews of the new‑born babe.
All may be well.

[ Retires and kneels.

Enter HAMLET

HAMLET   Now might I do it pat, now ’a is a‑praying;
And now I’ll do’t ‑ and so ’a goes to heaven;
And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d:
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven.
Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.

’A took my father grossly, full of bread,
With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May;
And how his audit stands who knows save heaven?
But in our circumstance and course of thought
’Tis heavy with him; and am I then reveng’d
To take him in the purging of his soul,
When he is fit and season’d for his passage?
No.
Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent.
When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage;
Or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed;
At game, a‑swearing, or about some act
That has no relish of salvation in’t—
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,
And that his soul may be as damn’d and black
As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays.
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.

[ Exit.

KING   [Rising] My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

[ Exit.

And

‘A play in which characters are preoccupied with justice and morality.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of the play Hamlet.

Remember to support your answer with reference to different interpretations.

Measure for Measure

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

(a) Discuss the following passage from Act 1 Scene 4, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

dramatic effects.

A nunnery.

Enter ISABELLA and FRANCISCA.

ISABELLA And have you nuns no farther privileges?
FRANCISCA Are not these large enough?
ISABELLA Yes, truly I speak not as desiring more,
But rather wishing a more strict restraint
Upon the sisterhood, the votarists of Saint Clare.
LUCIO   [Within] Ho! Peace be in this place!
ISABELLA   Who’s that which calls?
FRANCISCA It is a man’s voice. Gentle Isabella,
Turn you the key, and know his business of him;
You may, I may not; you are yet unsworn;
When you have vow’d, you must not speak with men
But in the presence of the prioress;
Then, if you speak, you must not show your face,
Or, if you show your face, you must not speak.
He calls again; I pray you, answer him.
[Exit Francisca

ISABELLA Peace and prosperity! Who is’t that calls?

Enter LUCIO.

LUCIO   Hail, virgin, if you be, as those cheek‑roses
Proclaim you are no less. Can you so stead me
As bring me to the sight of Isabella,
A novice of this place, and the fair sister
To her unhappy brother Claudio?
ISABELLA Why her ‘unhappy brother’? Let me ask
The rather, for I now must make you know
I am that Isabella, and his sister.
LUCIO   Gentle and fair, your brother kindly greets you.
Not to be weary with you, he’s in prison.
ISABELLA Woe me! For what?
LUCIO   For that which, if myself might be his judge,
He should receive his punishment in thanks:
He hath got his friend with child.
ISABELLA Sir, make me not your story.
LUCIO   It is true.
I would not—though ’tis my familiar sin
With maids to seem the lapwing, and to jest,
Tongue far from heart—play with all virgins so:
I hold you as a thing enskied and sainted,
By your renouncement an immortal spirit,
And to be talk’d with in sincerity,
As with a saint.
ISABELLA You do blaspheme the good in mocking me.

LUCIO   Do not believe it. Fewness and truth, ’tis thus:
Your brother and his lover have embrac’d.
As those that feed grow full, as blossoming time
That from the seedness the bare fallow brings
To teeming foison, even so her plenteous womb
Expresseth his full tilth and husbandry.
ISABELLA Some one with child by him? My cousin Juliet?
LUCIO   Is she your cousin?
ISABELLA Adoptedly, as school‑maids change their names
By vain, though apt, affection.
LUCIO   She it is.
ISABELLA O, let him marry her!
LUCIO   This is the point.
The Duke is very strangely gone from hence;
Bore many gentlemen, myself being one,
In hand, and hope of action; but we do learn,
By those that know the very nerves of state,
His givings‑out were of an infinite distance
From his true‑meant design. Upon his place,
And with full line of his authority,
Governs Lord Angelo, a man whose blood
Is very snow‑broth, one who never feels
The wanton stings and motions of the sense,
But doth rebate and blunt his natural edge
With profits of the mind, study and fast.
He—to give fear to use and liberty,
Which have for long run by the hideous law,
As mice by lions—hath pick’d out an act
Under whose heavy sense your brother’s life
Falls into forfeit; he arrests him on it,
And follows close the rigour of the statute
To make him an example.

And

‘The play explores the importance of honesty and purity in love relationships.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of Measure for Measure.

Remember to support your answer with reference to different interpretations.

Richard III

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

(a) Discuss the following passage from Act 1 Scene 2, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

dramatic effects.

GLOUCESTER I never sued to friend nor enemy; My tongue could never learn sweet smoothing word; But now thy beauty is propos’d my fee, My proud heart sues, and prompts my tongue to speak.

[She looks scornfully at him.

Teach not thy lip such scorn; for it was made
For kissing, lady, not for such contempt.
If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive,
Lo here I lend thee this sharp‑pointed sword;
Which if thou please to hide in this true breast
And let the soul forth that adoreth thee,
I lay it naked to the deadly stroke,
And humbly beg the death upon my knee.

[ He lays his breast open; she offers at it with his sword.

Nay, do not pause; for I did kill King Henry—
But ’twas thy beauty that provoked me.
Nay, now dispatch: ’twas I that stabb’d young Edward—
But ’twas thy heavenly face that set me on.

[ She falls the sword.

Take up the sword again, or take up me.
LADY ANNE Arise, dissembler; though I wish thy death,
I will not be thy executioner.
GLOUCESTER Then bid me kill myself, and I will do it.
LADY ANNE I have already.
GLOUCESTER   That was in thy rage.
Speak it again, and even with the word
This hand, which for thy love did kill thy love,
Shall for thy love kill a far truer love;
To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary.
LADY ANNE I would I knew thy heart.
GLOUCESTER ’Tis figured in my tongue.
LADY ANNE I fear me both are false.
GLOUCESTER Then never was man true.
LADY ANNE Well, well, put up your sword.
GLOUCESTER Say, then, my peace is made.
LADY ANNE That shalt thou know hereafter.
GLOUCESTER But shall I live in hope?
LADY ANNE All men, I hope, live so.
GLOUCESTER Vouchsafes to wear this ring.
LADY ANNE To take is not to give. [Puts on the ring.
GLOUCESTER Look how my ring encompasseth thy finger,
Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart;
Wear both of them, for both of them are thine.

And if thy poor devoted servant may
But beg one favour at thy gracious hand,
Thou dost confirm his happiness for ever.
LADY ANNE What is it?
GLOUCESTER That it may please you leave these sad designs
To him that hath more cause to be a mourner,
And presently repair to Crosby House;
Where—after I have solemnly interr’d
At Chertsey monast’ry this noble king,
And wet his grave with my repentant tears—
I will with all expedient duty see you.
For divers unknown reasons, I beseech you,
Grant me this boon.
LADY ANNE With all my heart; and much it joys me too
To see you are become so penitent.
Tressel and Berkeley, go along with me.
GLOUCESTER Bid me farewell.
LADY ANNE   ’Tis more than you deserve;
But since you teach me how to flatter you,
Imagine I have said farewell already.

[ Exeunt two gentlemen with Lady Anne.

GLOUCESTER Sirs, take up the corse.
GENTLEMEN   Towards Chertsey, noble lord?
GLOUCESTER No, to White Friars; there attend my coming.

[ Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER

Was ever woman in this humour woo’d? Was ever woman in this humour won? I’ll have her; but I will not keep her long.

And

‘The power of Richard’s personality dominates the events of the play.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of the play Richard III.

Remember to support your answer with reference to different interpretations.

The Tempest

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

(a) Discuss the following passage from Act 3 Scene 3, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

dramatic effects.

ALONSO   I will stand to, and feed,
Although my last; no matter, since I feel
The best is past. Brother, my lord the Duke,
Stand to, and do as we.

Thunder and lightning. Enter ARIEL, like a harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a quaint 5 device, the banquet vanishes.

ARIEL   You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
That hath to instrument this lower world
And what is in’t, the never‑surfeited sea
Hath caused to belch up you; and on this island
Where man doth not inhabit—you ’mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
And even with such‑like valour men hang and drown
Their proper selves.

[ALONSO, SEBASTIAN etc., draw their swords.

You fools! I and my fellows
Are ministers of Fate: the elements
Of whom your swords are temper’d may as well
Wound the loud winds, or with bemock’d‑at stabs
Kill the still‑closing waters, as diminish
One dowle that’s in my plume; my fellow‑ministers
Are like invulnerable. If you could hurt,
Your swords are now too massy for your strengths
And will not be uplifted. But remember—
For that’s my business to you—that you three
From Milan did supplant good Prospero;
Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,
Him, and his innocent child; for which foul deed
The pow’rs, delaying, not forgetting, have
Incens’d the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,
Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,
They have bereft; and do pronounce by me
Ling’ring perdition, worse than any death
Can be at once, shall step by step attend
You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from—
Which here, in this most desolate isle, else falls
Upon your heads—is nothing but heart’s sorrow,
And a clear life ensuing,

He vanishes in thunder; then, to soft music, enter the Shapes again, and dance, with mocks and mows, and carrying out the table.

PROSPERO Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou Perform’d, my Ariel; a grace it had, devouring. Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated

In what thou hadst to say; so, with good life
And observation strange, my meaner ministers
Their several kinds have done. My high charms work,
And these mine enemies are all knit up
In their distractions. They now are in my pow’r;
And in these fits I leave them, while I visit
Young Ferdinand, whom they suppose is drown’d,
And his and mine lov’d darling.

[ Exit above.

GONZALO I’ th’ name of something holy, sir, why stand you
In this strange stare?
ALONSO   O, it is monstrous, monstrous!
Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it;
The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder,
That deep and dreadful organ‑pipe, pronounc’d
The name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass.
Therefore my son i’ th’ ooze is bedded; and
I’ll seek him deeper than e’er plummet sounded,
And with him there lie mudded.

[ Exit.

SEBASTIAN   But one fiend at a time,
I’ll fight their legions o’er.
ANTONIO   I’ll be thy second.

[ Exeunt SEBASTIAN, and ANTONIO.

And

‘Punishment is a key element in the play.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of The Tempest.

Remember to support your answer with reference to different interpretations.

Twelfth Night

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

(a) Discuss the following passage from Act 1 Scene 5, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

dramatic effects.

OLIVIA …we will draw the curtain and show you the picture. [Unveiling] Look you, sir, such
a one I was this present. Is’t not well done?
VIOLA Excellently done, if God did all.
OLIVIA ’Tis in grain, sir; ’twill endure wind and weather.
VIOLA ’Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white
Nature’s own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
Lady, you are the cruell’st she alive,
If you will lead these graces to the grave,
And leave the world no copy.
OLIVIA O, sir, I will not be so hard‑hearted; I will give out divers schedules of my beauty. It
shall be inventoried, and every particle and utensil labell’d to my will: as—item,
two lips indifferent red; item, two grey eyes with lids to them; item, one neck, one
chin, and so forth. Were you sent hither to praise me?
VIOLA I see you what you are: you are too proud;
But, if you were the devil, you are fair.
My lord and master loves you—O, such love
Could be but recompens’d, though you were crown’d
The nonpareil of beauty!
OLIVIA How does he love me?
VIOLA With adorations, fertile tears,
With groans that thunder love, with sighs of fire.
OLIVIA Your lord does know my mind; I cannot love him.
Yet I suppose him virtuous, know him noble,
Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth;
In voices well divulg’d, free, learn’d and valiant,
And in dimension and the shape of nature
A gracious person; but yet I cannot love him.
He might have took his answer long ago.
VIOLA If I did love you in my master’s flame,
With such a suff’ring, such a deadly life,
In your denial I would find no sense;
I would not understand it.
OLIVIA   Why, what would you?
VIOLA Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out ‘Olivia!’ O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me!
OLIVIA   You might do much.
What is your parentage?
VIOLA Above my fortunes, yet my state is well:
I am a gentleman.
OLIVIA   Get you to your lord;
I cannot love him; let him send no more—
Unless perchance you come to me again

To tell me how he takes it. Fare you well.
I thank you for your pains; spend this for me.
VIOLA I am no fee’d post, lady; keep your purse;
My master, not myself, lacks recompense.
Love make his heart of flint that you shall love;
And let your fervour, like my master’s, be
Plac’d in contempt! Farewell, fair cruelty.

And

‘A play which shows that love demands we risk everything.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of Twelfth Night.

Remember to support your answer with reference to different interpretations.

Section 2 – Drama and Poetry pre‑1900

Answer one question from this section.

You should spend about 1 hour and 15 minutes on this section.

You should use one drama text from the list and one poetry text from the list in your answer:

7 ‘Isolation is not a natural state for people.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers explore the effects of solitude and seclusion on human beings. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.

8 ‘Literature thrives on presenting creative thinking and actions.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers explore creativity and the imagination. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.

9 ‘Love has the strength to triumph over every challenge.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers present the power and effects of love. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.

‘Self‑belief is presented as a dangerous quality in literary texts.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers present characters who believe strongly in themselves. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.

‘Literature shows that people are capable of significant change.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers present and encourage development and change. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.

‘Literature suggests that human beings are essentially pessimistic.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers explore the existence and effects of negative thoughts and actions. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.