Table of Contents
- Question 21: Kitchen Sink Drama Playwrights
- Question 22: Theatre of the Absurd Dramas
- Question 23: Plays by Harold Pinter
- Question 24: Chronology of Drama Theory Texts
- Question 25: "The Theatre of Revolt" Context
- Question 26: Critique of A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Question 27: Samuel Pepys's Fame
- Question 28: Founder of "Scrutiny" Journal
Question 21
Choose from the following options the correct combination of playwrights who contributed to the movement called "Kitchen Sink Drama":
The "Kitchen Sink Drama" was a late 1950s/1960s British cultural movement characterized by gritty, domestic realism focusing on the working-class (often referred to as "Angry Young Men").
The core playwrights include John Osborne (Look Back in Anger), Arnold Wesker (Chicken Soup with Barley), Shelagh Delaney (A Taste of Honey), and John Arden (Serjeant Musgrave's Dance).
(Note: Harold Pinter is associated with the "Comedy of Menace" and Theatre of the Absurd, not strict Kitchen Sink realism. Antonin Artaud is associated with the French "Theatre of Cruelty").
Question 22
Name the dramas which fall within the category of the Theatre of the Absurd.
A. The Birthday Party
B. Endgame
C. Mrs. Warren's Profession
D. The Rhinoceros
E. Riders to the Sea
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
The "Theatre of the Absurd" (a term coined by Martin Esslin) explores existential futility, illogical situations, and the breakdown of communication.
- (B) Endgame: Samuel Beckett's classic absurdist play.
- (D) The Rhinoceros: Eugène Ionesco's absurdist play about conformity.
- (A) The Birthday Party: Harold Pinter's play, highly influenced by absurdist tropes (Comedy of Menace).
Why C and E are wrong: Mrs. Warren's Profession is a realist "problem play" by George Bernard Shaw. Riders to the Sea is a realist tragedy by J.M. Synge.
Question 23
Which of the following are plays written by Harold Pinter?
A. Family Voices
B. A Moon for the Misbegotten
C. The Room
D. No Man's Land
E. Krapp's Last Tape
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Identifying the works of Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter:
- (C) The Room (1957): Pinter's first play.
- (D) No Man's Land (1975): A famous play featuring the characters Hirst and Spooner.
- (A) Family Voices (1981): A radio play later adapted for the stage.
Why B and E are wrong: A Moon for the Misbegotten is by the American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Krapp's Last Tape is by Samuel Beckett.
Question 24
Arrange the works in chronological sequence:
A. The Theatre of Revolt by Robert Brustein
B. The Theater of the Absurd by Martin Esslin
C. The Playwright as Thinker by Eric Bentley
D. Modern American Drama by C.W.E. Bigsby
E. Modern Drama in Theory and Practice by L. N. Styan
Choose the correct answers from the options given below:
The chronological order of these critical works analyzing modern drama is:
- (C) The Playwright as Thinker (1946) by Eric Bentley.
- (B) The Theatre of the Absurd (1961) by Martin Esslin.
- (A) The Theatre of Revolt (1964) by Robert Brustein.
- (E) Modern Drama in Theory and Practice (1981) by J.L. Styan.
- (D) Modern American Drama (1992) by C.W.E. Bigsby.
Question 25
Given below are two statements:
Statement I: The Book The Theatre of Revolt was written by Robert Brustein
Statement II: The Book The Theatre of Revolt is written in the context of French Revolution.
In the light of the statements given above, choose the correct answer given below:
Statement I is True: The Theatre of Revolt: An Approach to Modern Drama (1964) is a seminal book of theater criticism written by Robert Brustein.
Statement II is False: The book has absolutely nothing to do with the historical French Revolution. It analyzes how modern playwrights (like Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, Brecht, and O'Neill) "revolted" against traditional theatrical forms, societal norms, and religious conventions in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Question 26
Who among the following, after watching the performance of William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, observed that "it is the most insipid, ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life"?
This famously harsh review was written by the great 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys.
On September 29, 1662, Pepys recorded in his diary that he had seen A Midsummer Night's Dream and found it entirely foolish and "insipid," though he admitted he liked the dancing and the attractive women in the cast. This reflects the shifting theatrical tastes during the Restoration period, where Shakespeare was often considered unrefined compared to neo-classical standards.
Question 27
Samuel Pepys' claim to fame rests on his:
Samuel Pepys is immortalized in English literature purely for his private Diary.
Kept from 1660 to 1669, the diary is a vital historical document of the English Restoration period. Because it was written in shorthand and never intended for publication, it provides an incredibly candid, uncensored eyewitness account of daily life, court scandals, the Great Plague (1665), and the Great Fire of London (1666).
Question 28
The journal Scrutiny was founded in 1932 by:
Scrutiny was a highly influential literary journal founded in 1932 by the Cambridge critic F.R. Leavis (along with L.C. Knights and Q.D. Leavis).
Running until 1953, the journal was the primary platform for Leavis's rigorous, highly moralistic approach to literary criticism. It championed close reading (similar to American New Criticism) and fiercely defended the "Great Tradition" of English literature against what Leavis saw as the creeping vulgarity of mass culture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What characterized the "Kitchen Sink Drama"?
Emerging in the late 1950s, Kitchen Sink Dramas completely broke away from polite, upper-class "drawing-room" plays. They focused on gritty, realistic depictions of working-class life, cramped domestic spaces (hence "kitchen sink"), poverty, and the intense social frustrations of young people in post-war Britain.
What is the "Theatre of the Absurd"?
Coined by critic Martin Esslin, it refers to a group of European playwrights (Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, Genet) in the 1950s who expressed the existential belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose. Their plays often feature illogical plots, circular repetitive dialogue, and an atmosphere of helpless confusion.
Why is F.R. Leavis's journal "Scrutiny" important?
Scrutiny essentially professionalized the academic study of English Literature in Britain. Under Leavis's direction, the journal argued that literature was fundamentally a moral force necessary to save society. It popularized the method of highly intense, evaluative "close reading" of texts to judge their moral and aesthetic worth.
