Quiz: Shoemaker's Holiday (365 in book, and listen to this podcast)
Podcast
- This play was written for which company and in which year?
- What is the setting (time and place) of Shoemaker's Holiday?
- What, according to the podcast, are three methods of social mobility or transformation in the play or in this time?
- The play ends on Shrove Tuesday. What is this holiday? What other holiday is associated with this play by its title page?
- According to the podcast, what were some cultural developments/ concerns in 1599 that might have encouraged a preoccupation with the past?
- Why were curfews often being imposed in 1599?
- Although the muster of soldiers in this play concerns a war with France, what military operation was most in the mind of its audience? What concerns did this military operation create for Londoners?
- The podcast mentions that immigrants posed a threat to native trade in 1599. Who were these immigrants, and what were some London responses to them?
- Although the play is "escapist," the podcast says it isn't entirely "airbrushed" in that it anticipates the theatrical fashion of city comedy,of which it is the first example. What are some features of this genre? What are the two "engines" of city life in city comedy?
- Which group of characters in this play is associated with "conspicuous consumption," if to a lesser degree than in later city comedies?
- Among Elizabethan upper classes, what is the correct answer to the question, "Does my bum look big in this?"
- The podcast suggests this play may be in part an "autobiographical fantasy." Explain, with reference to the tension between "retailers" and "craftsmen" or producers.
Play (through scene x (10))
- Why does Lord Mayor object to his daughter Rose's marriage with the earl?
- What did Lacy do in Wittenberg, the Protestant capitol of Europe, after he ran out of money during his travels abroad "for experience"?
- What does the Earl of Lincoln, Lacy's uncle, do to prevent Lacy's marriage to the Lord Mayor's daughter Rose?
- What do Eyre and his shoemaking shop crew ask of Lacy, who is charge of the mustering (drafting and training impressed men for battle)? What does he offer as a bribe?
- Hodge, Firk, and Eyre give Rafe money before he departs. What does Hodge tell Rafe to do with the money?
- What does Rafe give his wife in remembrance of him?
- How does Rose's servant describe Lacy, whom she just saw in London?
- In scene iii, Lacy has returned in disguise. What disguise and why?
- When Lacy enters Eyre's shop disguised as Hans, what is he singing?
- Why doesn't Firk want Lacy to walk in front of him?
- What are Hammon and Warner doing when we first meet them? Why do they have to stop?
- Explain some of the double entendres of scene vi (between Hammon and Rose). Why does the father support Hammon's suit?
- What does the dutch skipper offer Eyre in scene vii?
- Where does Hans get the "porcupines" (portagues, or Portugese coins) he lends to Eyre to buy the cargo?
- What does Eyre call "gross work," and why does he assign it to Hans?
- Eyre puts on the robe of an alderman in scene vii. How do his workers and wife react?
- Why does Firk call Lacy (as Hans) a "butter-box" in scene vii?
- What does the Earl of Lincoln discover in scene viii? What's his reaction?
- In scene ix, what becomes of Lord Mayor's efforts to marry his daughter to Hammon? He comes to believe there's a reason for that. What is it?
- In scene xi, what has happened to Eyre since scene vii?
- What has happened to Margery Eyre (wife's) language and modes of dress in scene x? Who complains about it?
- To what does Hodge compare Margery Eyre (wife) in scene x?
- What happened to Rafe and his wife between the first scene and scene x?
- After he becomes sheriff, what does Eyre give to Hodge and Firk, and what does he ask of them at the end of scene x?