All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #51 : Identification Of Plays
Which four-part operatic masterpiece by the German composer Richard Wagner includes use of ancient Norse sagas, mythical structures, and musical elements such as the leitmotif?
Tristan und Isolde
The Ring of the Nibelung
Don Giovanni
The Valkyries
Lohengrin
The Ring of the Nibelung
The dramatic work in question is the Ring cycle, known in German as Der Ring des Nibelungen. The work’s structure is modeled on the ancient Greek dramas that contained three tragedies and a satyr play, with a full performance lasting more than half a day. Characters include Wotan, Fricka, Freia, Siegmund, Sieglinde, Siegfried, Gunther, and Brünnhilde.
Example Question #52 : Identification Of Plays
Which famous Mozart opera is based on the legend of a seductive, lascivious Italian nobleman and has inspired such writers as Flaubert, Kierkegaard, and George Bernard Shaw?
La Bohème
The Marriage of Figaro
The Barber of Seville
The Magic Flute
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
This is Don Giovanni, named after the title character. Don Giovanni (or Don Juan as he is known in legend) seduces and takes advantage of many other characters in the opera before he is confronted with a ghost that kills him and carries him down to hell. This character has served as an archetype and as a common cultural reference for a young male philanderer in literature.
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