OCR A Level English Literature Drama and poetry pre-1900 November 2021 question paper H472/01

Coriolanus

Answer both parts (a) and (b).

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

dramatic effects.

Enter COMINIUS, TITUS LARTIUS, with other Senators; JUNIUS BRUTUS and SICINIUS VELUTUS.

1 SENATOR Marcius, ’tis true that you have lately told us:
The Volsces are in arms.
MARCIUS   They have a leader,
Tullus Aufidius, that will put you to’t.
I sin in envying his nobility;
And were I anything but what I am,
I would wish me only he.
COMINIUS   You have fought together?
MARCIUS Were half to half the world by th’ ears, and he
Upon my party, I’d revolt, to make
Only my wars with him. He is a lion
That I am proud to hunt.
1 SENATOR Then, worthy Marcius,
Attend upon Cominius to these wars.
COMINIUS It is your former promise.
MARCIUS   Sir, it is;
And I am constant. Titus Lartius, thou
Shalt see me once more strike at Tullus’ face.
What, art thou stiff? Stand’st out?
LARTIUS   No, Caius, Marcius;
I’ll lean upon one crutch and fight with t’other
Ere stay behind this business.
MENENIUS   O, true bred!
1 SENATOR Your company to th’ Capitol; where, I know,
Our greatest friends attend us.
LARTIUS [To Cominius]   Lead you on.
[To Marcius] Follow Cominius; we must follow you;
Right worthy you priority.
COMINIUS   Noble Marcius!
1 SENATOR [To the Citizens] Hence to your homes; be gone.
MARCIUS   Nay, let them follow.
The Volsces have much corn: take these rats thither
To gnaw their garners. Worshipful mutineers,

Your valour puts well forth; pray follow.
[Citizens steal away. Exeunt all but Sicinius and Brutus.
SICINIUS Was ever man so proud as is this Marcius?
BRUTUS   He has no equal.
SICINIUS When we were chosen tribunes for the people –
BRUTUS   Mark’d you his lip and eyes?
SICINIUS   Nay, but his taunts!
BRUTUS   Being mov’d, he will not spare to gird the gods.
SICINIUS Bemock the modest moon.
BRUTUS   The present wars devour him! He is grown
Too proud to be so valiant.
SICINIUS   Such a nature,
Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow
Which he treads on at noon. But I do wonder
His insolence can brook to be commanded
Under Cominius.
BRUTUS   Fame, at the which he aims –
In whom already he is well grac’d – cannot
Better be held nor more attain’d than by
A place below the first; for what miscarries
Shall be the general’s fault, though he perform
To th’ utmost of a man, and giddy censure
Will then cry out of Marcius ‘O, if he
Had borne the business!’
SICINIUS   Besides, if things go well,
Opinion, that so sticks on Marcius, shall
Of his demerits rob Cominius.
BRUTUS   Come.
Half all Cominius’ honours are to Marcius,
Though Marcius earn’d them not; and all his faults
To Marcius shall be honours, though indeed
In aught he merit not.
SICINIUS   Let’s hence and hear
How the dispatch is made, and in what fashion,
More than his singularity, he goes
Upon this present action.
BRUTUS   Let’s along.

And

‘The effects of war are often unpredictable.’

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 1, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

its dramatic effects.

HAMLET   – Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia. – Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins rememb’red.
OPHELIA   Good my lord,
How does your honour for this many a day?
HAMLET I humbly thank you; well, well, well.
OPHELIA My lord, I have remembrances of yours
That I have longed long to re-deliver.
I pray you now receive them.
HAMLET   No, not I;
I never gave you aught.
OPHELIA My honour’d lord, you know right well you did,
And with them words of so sweet breath compos’d
As made the things more rich; their perfume lost,
Take these again; for to the noble mind
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
There, my lord.
HAMLET Ha, ha! Are you honest?
OPHELIA My lord?
HAMLET Are you fair?
OPHELIA What means your lordship?
HAMLET That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your
beauty.
OPHELIA Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce than with honesty?
HAMLET Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is
to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This
was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once.
OPHELIA Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.
HAMLET You should not have believ’d me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock
but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.
OPHELIA I was the more deceived.
HAMLET Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself
indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better
my mother had not borne me: I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious; with
more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination
to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do
crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves, all; believe none of
us. Go thy ways to a nunnery. Where’s your father?
OPHELIA At home, my lord.
HAMLET Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the fool nowhere but in’s own
house. Farewell.
OPHELIA O, help him, you sweet heavens!
HAMLET If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou as chaste as
ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery,
go, farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs many, marry a fool; for wise men know well
enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go; and quickly too.
Farewell.
OPHELIA O heavenly powers, restore him!

HAMLET I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God hath given you one
face, and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, and
nickname God’s creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance. Go to,
I’ll no more on’t; it hath made me mad. I say we will have no moe marriage:
those that are married already, all but one, shall live; the rest shall keep as they
are. To a nunnery, go.

And

‘There is very little room for love in the court at Elsinore.’

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 4 Scene 1, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

its dramatic effects.

Enter MARIANA; and Boy singing.

Song
Take, O, take those lips away,
That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights that do mislead the morn;
But my kisses bring again, bring again;
Seals of love, but seal’d in vain, seal’d in vain.

Enter DUKE, disguised as before.

MARIANA Break off thy song, and haste thee quick away;
Here comes a man of comfort, whose advice
Hath often still’d my brawling discontent.
[Exit Boy.
I cry you mercy, sir, and well could wish
You had not found me here so musical.
Let me excuse me, and believe me so,
My mirth it much displeas’d, but pleas’d my woe.
DUKE   ‘Tis good; though music oft hath such a charm
To make bad good and good provoke to harm.
I pray you tell me hath anybody inquir’d for me here to-day. Much upon
this time have I promis’d here to meet.
MARIANA You have not been inquir’d after;
I have sat here all day.

Enter ISABELLA.

DUKE   I do constantly believe you. The time is come even now. I shall crave your
forbearance a little. May be I will call upon you anon, for some advantage
to yourself.
MARIANA I am always bound to you.   [Exit.
DUKE   Very well met, and well come.
What is the news from this good deputy?
ISABELLA He hath a garden circummur’d with brick,
Whose western side is with a vineyard back’d;
And to that vineyard is a planched gate
That makes his opening with this bigger key;
This other doth command a little door
Which from the vineyard to the garden leads.
There have I made my promise
Upon the heavy middle of the night
To call upon him.
DUKE   But shall you on your knowledge find this way?
ISABELLA I have ta’en a due and wary note upon’t;
With whispering and most guilty diligence,
In action all of precept, he did show me

The way twice o’er.
DUKE   Are there no other tokens
Between you ’greed concerning her observance?
ISABELLA No, none, but only a repair i’ th’ dark;
And that I have possess’d him my most stay
Can be but brief; for I have made him know
I have a servant comes with me along,
That stays upon me; whose persuasion is
I come about my brother.
DUKE   ‘Tis well borne up.
I have not yet made known to Mariana
A word of this. What ho, within! come forth.

Re-enter MARIANA.

I pray you be acquainted with this maid;
She comes to do you good.
ISABELLA   I do desire the like.
DUKE   Do you persuade yourself that I respect you?
MARIANA Good friar, I know you do, and have found it.
DUKE   Take, then, this your companion by the hand,
Who hath a story ready for your ear.
I shall attend your leisure; but make haste;
The vaporous night approaches.
MARIANA   Will’t please you walk aside?

And

‘The women in the play are dominated by the men.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of the female characters in 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 3 Scene 1, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

its dramatic effects.

The trumpets sound. Enter the PRINCE OF WALES, GLOUCESTER, BUCKINGHAM, CATESBY, CARDINAL BOURCHIER, and Others.

BUCKINGHAM Welcome, sweet Prince, to London, to your chamber.
GLOUCESTER Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts’ sovereign.
The weary way hath made you melancholy.
PRINCE   No, uncle; but our crosses on the way
Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy.
I want more uncles here to welcome me.
GLOUCESTER Sweet Prince, the untainted virtue of your years
Hath not yet div’d into the world’s deceit;
Nor more can you distinguish of a man
Than of his outward show; which, God He knows,
Seldom or never jumpeth with the heart.
Those uncles which you want were dangerous;
Your Grace attended to their sug’red words
But look’d not on the poison of their hearts.
God keep you from them and from such false friends!
PRINCE   God keep me from false friends! but they were none.
GLOUCESTER My lord, the Mayor of London comes to greet you.

Enter the Lord Mayor and his Train.

MAYOR   God bless your Grace with health and happy days!
PRINCE   I thank you, good my lord, and thank you all.
I thought my mother and my brother York
Would long ere this have met us on the way.
Fie, what a slug is Hastings, that he comes not
To tell us whether they will come or no!

Enter LORD HASTINGS.

BUCKINGHAM And, in good time, here comes the sweating lord.
PRINCE   Welcome, my lord. What, will our mother come?
HASTINGS   On what occasion, God He knows, not I,
The Queen your mother and your brother York
Have taken sanctuary. The tender Prince
Would fain have come with me to meet your Grace,
But by his mother was perforce withheld.
BUCKINGHAM Fie, what an indirect and peevish course
Is this of hers? Lord Cardinal, will your Grace
Persuade the Queen to send the Duke of York
Unto his princely brother presently?
If she deny, Lord Hastings, go with him
And from her jealous arms pluck him perforce.
CARDINAL   My Lord of Buckingham, if my weak oratory
Can from his mother win the Duke of York,
Anon expect him here; but if she be obdurate

To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid
We should infringe the holy privilege
Of blessed sanctuary! Not for all this land
Would I be guilty of so deep a sin.
BUCKINGHAM You are too senseless-obstinate, my lord,
Too ceremonious and traditional.
Weigh it but with the grossness of this age,
You break not sanctuary in seizing him.
The benefit thereof is always granted
To those whose dealings have deserv’d the place
And those who have the wit to claim the place.
This Prince hath neither claim’d it nor deserv’d it,
And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it.
Then, taking him from thence that is not there,
You break no privilege nor charter there.
Oft have I heard of sanctuary men;
But sanctuary children never till now.
CARDINAL   My lord, you shall overrule my mind for once.
Come on, Lord Hastings, will you go with me?
HASTINGS   I go, my lord.
PRINCE   Good lords, make all the speedy haste you may.

And

‘The play offers a masterclass in how to manipulate people.’

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 1 Scene 1, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

its dramatic effects.

On a ship at sea; a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.

Enter a Shipmaster and a Boatswain.

MASTER   Boatswain!
BOATSWAIN Here, master; what cheer?
MASTER   Good! Speak to th’ mariners; fall to’t yarely, or we run ourselves aground;
bestir, bestir.
[Exit.

Enter Mariners.

BOATSWAIN Heigh, my hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! yare, yare! Take in the
topsail. Tend to th’ master’s whistle. Blow till thou burst thy wind, if room
enough.

Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, FERDINAND, GONZALO, and Others.

ALONSO   Good boatswain, have care. Where’s the master? Play the men.
BOATSWAIN I pray now, keep below.
ANTONIO Where is the master, boson?
BOATSWAIN Do you not hear him? You mar our labour; keep your cabins; you do assist
the storm.
GONZALO Nay, good, be patient.
BOATSWAIN When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the name of king?
To cabin! silence! Trouble us not.
GONZALO Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.
BOATSWAIN None that I more love than myself. You are a counsellor; if you can
command these elements to silence, and work the peace of the present,
we will not hand a rope more. Use your authority; if you cannot, give
thanks you have liv’d so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for
the mischance of the hour, if it so hap. – Cheerly, good hearts! – Out of our
way, I say.   [Exit.
GONZALO I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath no drowning mark
upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his
hanging; make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little
advantage. If he be not born to be hang’d, our case is miserable. [Exeunt.

Re-enter Boatswain.

BOATSWAIN Down with the topmast. Yare, lower, lower! Bring her to try wi’th’ main-
course. [A cry within] A plague upon this howling! They are louder than the
weather or our office.

Re-enter SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, and GONZALO.

Yet again! What do you here? Shall we give o’er, and drown? Have you a mind to sink?

SEBASTIAN A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!
BOATSWAIN Work you, then.
ANTONIO Hang, cur; hang, you whoreson, insolent noise-maker; we are less afraid
to be drown’d than thou art.
GONZALO I’ll warrant him for drowning, though the ship were no stronger than a
nutshell, and as leaky as an unstanched wench.
BOATSWAIN Lay her a-hold, a-hold; set her two courses; off to sea again; lay her off.

Enter Mariners, wet.

MARINERS All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost!
[Exeunt.
BOATSWAIN What, must our mouths be cold?
GONZALO The King and Prince at prayers! Let’s assist them.
For our case is as theirs.
SEBASTIAN   I am out of patience.
ANTONIO We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards.
This wide-chopp’d rascal – would thou mightest lie drowning
The washing of ten tides!
GONZALO   He’ll be hang’d, yet.
Though every drop of water swear against it,
And gape at wid’st to glut him.
[A confused noise within: Mercy on us!
We split, we split! Farewell, my wife and children!
Farewell, brother! We split, we split, we split!
ANTONIO Let’s all sink wi’ th’ King.
SEBASTIAN Let’s take leave of him.
[Exeunt Antonio and Sebastian.
GONZALO Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground
– long heath, brown furze, any thing. The wills above be done, but I would
fain die a dry death.   [Exeunt.

And

‘The storm in The Tempest both destroys and renews.’

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 3, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and

its dramatic effects.

Enter SIR TOBY BELCH and MARIA.

SIR TOBY What a plague means my niece to take the death of her brother thus? I am
sure care’s an enemy to life.
MARIA   By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier o’ nights; your cousin, my
lady, takes great exceptions to your ill hours.
SIR TOBY Why, let her except before excepted.
MARIA   Ay, but you must confine yourself within the modest limits of order.
SIR TOBY Confine! I’ll confine myself no finer than I am. These clothes are good
enough to drink in, and so be these boots too; an they be not, let them
hang themselves in their own straps.
MARIA   That quaffing and drinking will undo you; I heard my lady talk of it yesterday,
and of a foolish knight that you brought in one night here to be her wooer.
SIR TOBY Who? Sir Andrew Aguecheek?
MARIA   Ay, he.
SIR TOBY He’s as tall a man as any’s in Illyria.
MARIA   What’s that to th’ purpose?
SIR TOBY Why, he has three thousand ducats a year.
MARIA   Ay, but he’ll have but a year in all these ducats; he’s a very fool and a
prodigal.
SIR TOBY Fie that you’ll say so! He plays o’ th’ viol-de-gamboys, and speaks three or
four languages word for word without book, and hath all the good gifts of
nature.
MARIA   He hath indeed, almost natural; for, besides that he’s a fool, he’s a great
quarreller; and but that he hath the gift of a coward to allay the gust he
hath in quarrelling, ’tis thought among the prudent he would quickly have
the gift of a grave.
SIR TOBY By this hand, they are scoundrels and substractors that say so of him.
Who are they?
MARIA   They that add, moreover, he’s drunk nightly in your company.
SIR TOBY With drinking healths to my niece; I’ll drink to her as long as there is a
passage in my throat and drink in Illyria. He’s a coward and a coystrill that
will not drink to my niece till his brains turn o’ th’ toe like a parish-top. What,
wench! Castiliano vulgo! for here comes Sir Andrew Agueface.

[ Enter SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK.

SIR ANDREW Sir Toby Belch! How now, Sir Toby Belch!
SIR TOBY Sweet Sir Andrew!
SIR ANDREW Bless you, fair shrew.
MARIA   And you too, sir.
SIR TOBY Accost, Sir Andrew, accost.
SIR ANDREW What’s that?
SIR TOBY My niece’s chambermaid.
SIR ANDREW Good Mistress Accost, I desire better acquaintance.
MARIA   My name is Mary, sir.
SIR ANDREW Good Mistress Mary Accost –
SIR TOBY You mistake, knight. ‘Accost’ is front her, board her, woo her, assail her.

SIR ANDREW By my troth, I would not undertake her in this company. Is that the meaning
of ‘accost’?
MARIA   Fare you well, gentlemen.

And

‘ Twelfth Night suggests that life should not be taken too seriously.’

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.

In your answer, you should refer to one drama text and one poetry text from the following lists:

7 ‘Above all, characters must connect with one another.’

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

8 ‘Literary works may praise honesty, but deceit is often more interesting.’

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

9 ‘Literary works frequently overvalue the quality of heroism.’

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

‘States of doubt and confusion are of great literary interest.’

In the light of this view, consider ways in which writers explore positions of uncertainty or lack of precision. In your answer, compare one drama text and one poetry text from the above lists.

‘Literature suggests that it’s always better to act than to do nothing.’

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

‘Fulfilment in life can sometimes be achieved through unexpected means.’

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