ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by Julius Caesar. Emperor of Rome and inventor

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of a seriously delicious salad dressing.

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Which of the following plays is mentioned as a tragedy that Shakespeare wrote early

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in his career prior to what the passage refers to as the playwright's "tragic period"?

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We might have to give that big, long first paragraph a thorough read before we can answer

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this one. Bradley gets a little convoluted sometimes...

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So we'll refresh our memories and makes sure we pay attention to the order of these plays.

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Looks like lines 23 through 24 are where the action is.

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The professor straight up lists a bunch of plays, which Shakespeare wrote during his

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tragic period, giving us an easy reference point.

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Since both Julius Caesar and Othello appear on the list we can nix both (B) and (D), which

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clearly belong to the "tragic period."

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The final two choices are a little harder to choose between, since both As You Like

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It and Romeo and Juliet were written before the tragic period.

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So check out, in lines 10 through 12 the professor specifically says that Romeo and Juliet was

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written "in the early years of his career of authorship," cluing us in that (A) is the best answer.

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Maybe Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet back then because he was young and in love.

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Touche, Professor.

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