You'll work in teams (to be allocated) on one of the following topics:


1. Act 2, Scene I: Aricia and Ismene

Make some notes in response to these questions:
  • What happens in this scene? How does it contribute to the tragic action?
  • Why does Aricia evoke her family and background in her long speech (vv. 434-83)?
  • What does she say about love and passion?
  • What key quotations do you think should be noted?

2. Act 2, Scene II: Aricia and Hippolytus

Make some notes in response to these questions:
  • What happens in this scene? How does it contribute to the tragic action?
  • How do Aricia and Hippolytus interact in this scene? Give examples.
  • Why does Hippolytus complain that ‘[r]eason is giving way to violence’ (v. 547)?
  • Why does he claim that love is ‘like a foreign language’ (v. 580)?
  • What key quotations do you think should be noted?

3. Act 5, Scene VI: Theramenes' account of Hippolytus' death

Make some notes in response to these questions:
  • What happens in this scene? How does it contribute to the tragic action?
  • How might we relate this sequence to the rules of classical tragedy?
  • What key quotations do you think should be noted?

Last modified: Thursday, 13 February 2025, 6:20 PM