Critics have long been puzzled by the inner contradictions of major ch

Question

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Passage # 89, Date: 15-May-2020
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Critics have long been puzzled by the inner contradictions of major characters in John Webster’s tragedies. In his The Duchess of Malfi, for instance, the Duchess is “good” in demonstrating the obvious tenderness and sincerity of her love for Antonio, but “bad” in ignoring the wishes and welfare of her family and in making religion a “cloak” hiding worldly self-indulgence. Bosola is “bad” in serving Ferdinand, “good” in turning the Duchess’ thoughts toward heaven and in planning to avenge her murder. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle implied that such contradictions are virtually essential to the tragic personality, and yet critics keep coming back to this element of inconsistency as though it were an eccentric feature of Webster’s own tragic vision.

The problem is that, as an Elizabethan playwright, Webster has become a prisoner of our critical presuppositions. We have, in recent years, been dazzled by the way the earlier Renaissance and medieval theater, particularly the morality play, illuminates Elizabethan drama. We now understand how the habit of mind that saw the world as a battleground between good and evil produced the morality play. Morality plays allegorized that conflict by presenting characters whose actions were defined as the embodiment of good or evil. This model of reality lived on, overlaid by different conventions, in the most sophisticated Elizabethan works of the following age. Yet Webster seems not to have been as heavily influenced by the morality play’s model of reality as were his Elizabethan contemporaries; he was apparently more sensitive to the more morally complicated Italian drama than to these English sources. Consequently, his characters cannot be evaluated according to reductive formulas of good and evil, which is precisely what modern critics have tried to do. They choose what seem to be the most promising of the contradictor values that are dramatized in the play, and treat those values as if they were the only basis for analyzing the moral development of the play’s major characters, attributing the inconsistencies in a character’s behavior to artistic incompetence on Webster’s part. The lack of consistency in Webster’s characters can be better understood if we recognize that the ambiguity at the heart of his tragic vision lies not in the external world but in the duality of human nature. Webster establishes tension in his plays by setting up conflicting systems of value that appear immoral only when one value system is viewed exclusively from the perspective of the other. He presents us not only with characters that we condemn intellectually or ethically and at the same time impulsively approve of, but also with judgments we must accept as logically sound and yet find emotionally repulsive. The dilemma is not only dramatic: it is tragic, because the conflict is irreconcilable, and because it is ours as much as that of the characters.   1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) clarify an ambiguous assertion
(B) provide evidence in support of a commonly held view
(C) analyze an unresolved question and propose an answer
(D) offer an alternative to a flawed interpretation）
(E) describe and categorize opposing viewpoints

2 
 2. The author suggests which one of the following about the dramatic works that most influenced Webster’s tragedies?

(A) They were not concerned with dramatizing the conflict between good and evil that was presented in morality plays.
(B) They were not as sophisticated as the Italian sources from which other Elizabethan tragedies were derived.
(C) They have never been adequately understood by critics.
(D) They have only recently been used to illuminate the conventions of Elizabethan drama.
(E) They have been considered by many critics to be the reason for Webster’s apparent artistic incompetence.

3 
 3. The author’s allusion to Aristotle’s view of tragedy in lines 11-13 serves which one of the following functions in the passage?

(A) It introduces a commonly held view of Webster’s tragedies that the author plans to defend.
(B) It supports the author’s suggestion that Webster’s conception of tragedy is not idiosyncratic.
(C) It provides an example of an approach to Webster’s tragedies that the author criticizes.
(D) It establishes the similarity between classical and modern approaches to tragedy.
(E) It supports the author’s assertion that Elizabethan tragedy cannot be fully understood without the help of recent scholarship.

4 
 4. It can be inferred from the passage that modern critics’ interpretations of Webster’s tragedies would be more valid if

(A) the ambiguity inherent in Webster’s tragic vision resulted from the duality of human nature
(B) Webster’s conception of the tragic personality were similar to that of Aristotle
(C) Webster had been heavily influenced by the morality play
(D) Elizabethan dramatists had been more sensitive to Italian sources of influence
(E) the inner conflicts exhibited by Webster’s characters were similar to those of modern audiences

5 
 5. With which one of the following statements regarding Elizabethan drama would the author be most likely to agree?

(A) The skill of Elizabethan dramatists has in recent years been overestimated.
(B) The conventions that shaped Elizabethan drama are best exemplified by Webster’s drama.
(C) Elizabethan drama, for the most part, can be viewed as being heavily influenced by the morality play.
(D) Only by carefully examining the work of his Elizabethan contemporaries can Webster’s achievement as a dramatist be accurately measured.
(E) Elizabethan drama can best be described as influenced by a composite of Italian and classical sources.

6 
 6. It can be inferred from the passage that most modern critics assume which one of the following in their interpretation of Webster’s tragedies?

(A) Webster’s play tended to allegorize the conflict between good and evil more than did those of his contemporaries.
(B) Webster’s plays were derived more from Italian than from English sources.
(C) The artistic flaws in Webster’s tragedies were largely the result of his ignorance of the classical definition of tragedy.
(D) Webster’s tragedies provide no relevant basis for analyzing the moral development of their characters.
(E) In writing his tragedies, Webster was influenced by the same sources as his contemporaries.

7 
 7. The author implies that Webster’s conception of tragedy was 
(A) artistically flawed
(B) highly conventional
(C) largely derived from the morality play
(D) somewhat different from the conventional Elizabethan conception of tragedy
(E) uninfluenced by the classical conception of tragedy

Source:   LSAT Official PrepTest 7   ( February 1993 ) 
 Difficulty Level:   650

honneeey · Accepted Answer

10 minutes, 5 correct 1 incorrect!

8.  The primary purpose of the passage is to 
(A) clarify an ambiguous assertion- No assertion.
(B) provide evidence in support of a commonly held view-Not in support, in against.
(C) analyze an unresolved question and propose an answer-No question is posed!
(D) offer an alternative to a flawed interpretation- Perfect!  Flawed interpretation by scholars, alternative by author!
(E) describe and categorize opposing viewpoints-No opposing viewpoints.

9.  The author suggests which one of the following about the dramatic works that most influenced Webster’s tragedies? 
(A) They were not concerned with dramatizing the conflict between good and evil that was presented in morality plays.- True , about the work. Not impressed by Morality play. Refer "Morality plays allegorized that conflict by presenting characters whose actions were defined as the embodiment of good or evil. This model of reality lived on, overlaid by different conventions, in the most sophisticated Elizabethan works of the following age. Yet Webster seems not to have been as heavily influenced by the morality play’s model of reality as were his Elizabethan contemporaries.."
(B) They were not as sophisticated as the Italian sources from which other Elizabethan tragedies were derived.-Sophistication is out of context!
(C) They have never been adequately understood by critics.-Wrong! his dramatic works are understood, their interpretation is taken for a toss!
(D) They have only recently been used to illuminate the conventions of Elizabethan drama.-OFS
(E) They have been considered by many critics to be the reason for Webster’s apparent artistic incompetence.-OFS

10.   The author’s allusion to Aristotle’s view of tragedy in lines 11-13 serves which one of the following functions in the passage? 
(A) It introduces a commonly held view of Webster’s tragedies that the author plans to defend.
(B) It supports the author’s suggestion that Webster’s conception of tragedy is not idiosyncratic.- True , refer " The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle implied that such contradictions are virtually essential to the tragic personality, and yet critics keep coming back to this element of inconsistency as though it were an eccentric feature of Webster’s own tragic vision..."
(C) It provides an example of an approach to Webster’s tragedies that the author criticizes.-Wrong.
(D) It establishes the similarity between classical and modern approaches to tragedy.-OFS
(E) It supports the author’s assertion that Elizabethan tragedy cannot be fully understood without the help of recent scholarship.-OFS

11.   It can be inferred from the passage that modern critics’ interpretations of Webster’s tragedies would be more valid if 
(A) the ambiguity inherent in Webster’s tragic vision resulted from the duality of human nature
(B) Webster’s conception of the tragic personality were similar to that of Aristotle
(C) Webster had been heavily influenced by the morality play- Excellent choice,  refer "Morality plays allegorized that conflict by presenting characters whose actions were defined as the embodiment of good or evil. This model of reality  lived on , overlaid by different conventions, in the most sophisticated Elizabethan works of the following age. Yet Webster  seems not to have been as heavily influenced by the morality play’s model  of reality as were his Elizabethan contemporaries"
(D) Elizabethan dramatists had been more sensitive to Italian sources of influence-Opposite
(E) the inner conflicts exhibited by Webster’s characters were similar to those of modern audiences-OFS

13.  It can be inferred from the passage that  most modern critics assume  which one of the following in their interpretation of Webster’s tragedies? 
(A) Webster’s play tended to allegorize the conflict between good and evil more than did those of his contemporaries.-Wrong.
(B) Webster’s plays were derived more from Italian than from English sources.-More Morally complicated Italian drama not all Italian drama!
(C) The artistic flaws in Webster’s tragedies were largely the result of his ignorance of the classical definition of tragedy.-OFS
(D) Webster’s tragedies provide no relevant basis for analyzing the moral development of their characters.-Incorrect
(E) In writing his tragedies, Webster was influenced by the same sources as his contemporaries.-  True,  refer "The problem is that, as an Elizabethan playwright, Webster  has become a prisoner of our critical presuppositions . We have, in recent years, been dazzled by the way the earlier Renaissance and medieval theater, particularly the morality play, illuminates Elizabethan drama.  We now understand how the habit of mind that saw the world as a battleground  between good and evil produced the morality play..."

14.  The author implies that Webster’s conception of tragedy was 
(A) artistically flawed-Not flawed at all.
(B) highly conventional-Not conventional,Rather pretty unconventional
(C) largely derived from the morality play-Opposite
(D) somewhat different from the conventional Elizabethan conception of tragedy- True,  refer "Yet Webster seems not to have been as heavily influenced by the morality play’s model of reality as were his Elizabethan contemporaries;.."
(E) uninfluenced by the classical conception of tragedy-Nowhere mentioned!

jawele · Answer

8. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) clarify an ambiguous assertion while the author does clarify an ambiguity, in particular why the critics take an incorrect look at W's plays, the author does not stop there
(B) provide evidence in support of a commonly held view the author does not support the critic's view (if we assume that their view is common)
(C) analyze an unresolved question and propose an answer
(D) offer an alternative to a flawed interpretation correct: the author claims that the critics misunderstand the nature of W's plays and that they should take a different perspective
(E) describe and categorize opposing viewpoints while the author does describe, his main point is not just to do so, let alone categorize

9. The author suggests which one of the following about the dramatic works that most influenced Webster’s tragedies?
Relevant text: Morality plays allegorized that conflict by presenting characters whose actions were defined as the embodiment of good or evil. This model of reality lived on, overlaid by different conventions, in the most sophisticated Elizabethan works of the following age. Yet Webster seems not to have been as heavily influenced by the morality play’s model of reality <...> ; he was apparently more sensitive to the more morally complicated Italian drama than to these English sources
(A) They were not concerned with dramatizing the conflict between good and evil that was presented in morality plays. correct
(B) They were not as sophisticated as the Italian sources from which other Elizabethan tragedies were derived.
(C) They have never been adequately understood by critics. the passage does not provide their thoughts on Italian drama
(D) They have only recently been used to illuminate the conventions of Elizabethan drama. again, W was not influenced much by Eliz.
(E) They have been considered by many critics to be the reason for Webster’s apparent artistic incompetence. not the Italian drama, but the critic's assumption that W's plays must be judged in terms of good and bad

10. The author’s allusion to Aristotle’s view of tragedy in lines 11-13 serves which one of the following functions in the passage? Got this one wrong
Relevant text: The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle implied that such contradictions are virtually essential to the tragic personality, and <...> The dilemma is not only dramatic: it is tragic, because the conflict is irreconcilable, and because it is ours as much as that of the characters
(A) It introduces a commonly held view of Webster’s tragedies that the author plans to defend. if anything, the author introduces a perspective that most people who judge W's plays are not aware of; so this option is not justified
(B) It supports the author’s suggestion that Webster’s conception of tragedy is not idiosyncratic. correct
(C) It provides an example of an approach to Webster’s tragedies that the author criticizes.
(D) It establishes the similarity between classical and modern approaches to tragedy. approach is not discussed
(E) It supports the author’s assertion that Elizabethan tragedy cannot be fully understood without the help of recent scholarship. this choice is even not in relevant context

11. It can be inferred from the passage that modern critics’ interpretations of Webster’s tragedies would be more valid if
(A) the ambiguity inherent in Webster’s tragic vision resulted from the duality of human nature and it does
(B) Webster’s conception of the tragic personality were similar to that of Aristotle and it is
(C) Webster had been heavily influenced by the morality play correct
(D) Elizabethan dramatists had been more sensitive to Italian sources of influence sensitive is not enough to offset the fundamental differences between the two
(E) the inner conflicts exhibited by Webster’s characters were similar to those of modern audiences if anything, the author says that the conflict in W's plays "is ours as much as that of the characters"

12. With which one of the following statements regarding Elizabethan drama would the author be most likely to agree?
Relevant text: This [morality model: good or bad] model of reality lived on, overlaid by different conventions, in the most sophisticated Elizabethan works of the following age.
(A) The skill of Elizabethan dramatists has in recent years been overestimated.
(B) The conventions that shaped Elizabethan drama are best exemplified by Webster’s drama.
(C) Elizabethan drama, for the most part, can be viewed as being heavily influenced by the morality play. correct
(D) Only by carefully examining the work of his Elizabethan contemporaries can Webster’s achievement as a dramatist be accurately measured.
(E) Elizabethan drama can best be described as influenced by a composite of Italian and classical sources.

13. It can be inferred from the passage that most modern critics assume which one of the following in their interpretation of Webster’s tragedies?
Relevant text: <...> he was apparently more sensitive to the more morally complicated Italian drama than to these English sources.
(A) Webster’s play tended to allegorize the conflict between good and evil more than did those of his contemporaries. first, W's play did not allegorize the conflict of good vs bad; second, the comparison is not given
(B) Webster’s plays were derived more from Italian than from English sources.
(C) The artistic flaws in Webster’s tragedies were largely the result of his ignorance of the classical definition of tragedy. that's not what the author tries in the passage to say about W's play
(D) Webster’s tragedies provide no relevant basis for analyzing the moral development of their characters. too strong, the moral development taken by the critics is not adequate in order to judge it
(E) In writing his tragedies, Webster was influenced by the same sources as his contemporaries. correct

14. The author implies that Webster’s conception of tragedy was
(A) artistically flawed
(B) highly conventional
(C) largely derived from the morality play
(D) somewhat different from the conventional Elizabethan conception of tragedy correct
(E) uninfluenced by the classical conception of tragedy the conception in this choice is not discussed

GDT · Answer

SajjadAhmad

Pls post the OE for Q4,6

Thanks in advance!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

Well this is not an official explanation from LSAT rather from Kaplan.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that modern critics’ interpretations of Webster’s tragedies would be more valid if

Difficulty Level:   650

Explanation

What piece of information would make the critics’ interpretations of Webster’s tragedies more valid? Well, a good place to start would be with a reminder of what, according to the author, makes those interpretations invalid. It’s the same idea we’ve been harping on thus far: The author believes that the critics mistakenly assume that Webster based his tragedies on earlier morality plays. So, if Webster had actually based his tragedies on earlier morality plays, with their black and white characters, yet his own tragedies still featured morally ambiguous characters, we could safely conclude that he was, as the critics contend, incompetent.

(A)  Webster’s tragic vision would seem more, not less competent, if it was based on the duality of human nature.

(B)  Aristotle was mentioned to uphold the validity of employing contradiction in tragedy, so again, the fact that Webster’s vision conforms to Aristotle’s would only support the author’s argument, rather than increase the validity of the critics’ interpretation.

(D)  According to the author, the critics’ position is based on the assumption that Elizabethan dramatists, including Webster, were primarily influenced by the English morality play, not by the Italian dramatists. It’s hard to see how the critics’ position would be bolstered by going against this assumption.

(E)  The modern audience is outside the scope; it could have no bearing on how and why Webster created his characters, and thus no bearing on the critics’ interpretation of them.

Answer: C

6. It can be inferred from the passage that most modern critics assume which one of the following in their interpretation of Webster’s tragedies?

Difficulty Level:   750

Explanation

Q. 6 is very similar to Q. 4, and both are tied closely to the passage’s main idea: how critics have wrongly assessed Webster’s works. In Q. 4, we reiterated the main point that critics have assumed (wrongly) that Webster was influenced by earlier morality plays. They have done so because most Elizabethan dramatists were influenced by morality plays.  Choice (E)  says this, only substituting  “same sources as his contemporaries”  for  “morality plays.”

(A)  Critics have found Webster’s characters, in contrast to those of other Elizabethan dramatists, morally ambiguous, not black and white.

(B) . As we’ve seen over and over, the author’s point is that critics have assumed (albeit incorrectly) that Webster’s works derived from morality plays, which were English, not Italian.

(C)  Critics have attributed Webster’s alleged artistic flaws to his supposed inability to copy the style of the earlier morality play, rather than to ignorance of the classical definition of tragedy.

(D)  Lines in the second para:

They choose what seem to be the most promising of the contradictory values that are dramatized in the play, and treat those values as if they were the only basis for analyzing the moral development of the play’s major characters,

tell us that critics have found that Webster’s tragedies provide at least some basis for character analysis.

Answer: E

Hope it helps

antony1995 · Answer

Hey  SajjadAhmad

Could you please share the OE for the first question?

Thanks in advance

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

Difficulty Level:   700

Explanation

The author wrote this passage in order to take issue with critics over their interpretation of Webster’s characters. In the second para, the author explains how critics have misunderstood Webster’s characters and provides a more plausible interpretation of those characters’ inconsistencies. Put another way, then, the author’s purpose in writing this passage is to offer a more convincing alternative explanation,  choice (D).

(A)  There is no ambiguity requiring clarification here. The critics’ position is clear; the author simply disagrees with it and offers her own take on the matter.

(B)  The author doesn’t support the mainstream view of Webster’s work, but rather tears it down, and supplies what she considers to be a more plausible alternative explanation.

(C)  has some truth to it—the author does propose an answer to the problem of the contradictory nature of Webster’s characters, but there’s no unresolved question at issue in the passage. As mentioned in the explanation to  (A)  above, the critics have a definite point of view about Webster’s work and the author has simply taken issue with this view.

(E)  is perhaps trickier than the rest. The author’s purpose isn’t to describe two opposing viewpoints; she offers an opposing viewpoint to counter that of the critics. Furthermore, the author doesn’t categorize viewpoints—she simply rejects one in favor of another.

Answer: D

dossh · Answer

Hello guys !

Related to question 10 :

10. The author’s allusion to Aristotle’s view of tragedy in lines 11-13 serves which one of the following functions in the passage?
(A) It introduces a commonly held view of Webster’s tragedies that the author plans to defend.
(B) It supports the author’s suggestion that Webster’s conception of tragedy is not  idiosyncratic .
(C) It provides an example of an approach to Webster’s tragedies that the author criticizes.
(D) It establishes the similarity between classical and modern approaches to tragedy.
(E) It supports the author’s assertion that Elizabethan tragedy cannot be fully understood without the help of recent scholarship.

Let's assume one doesn't know what idiosyncrasy is.

--

Going through questions by POE, when I can't get the meaning of an answer because the language used simply beats the crap out of me, I put it in my "final stack", and I come back to it, comparing it to my favourite(s) contender(s).
I picked D) - easy trap in restrospect, whatever a modern approach to tragedy is, it is not mentioned in the text nor is any form of comparison between old and new brought forward. As Aristotle is quite the ancient dude, brain just mapped the keyword in the answer choice with whatever overinterpretation was going on in my head.

How do you guys go about  answer choices , such as B), where the whole intent relies on your understanding of a specific word -a word you don't understand ? Is it just a "learn and move on" kind of thing or do you have a strategy to handle these ? I found that situation to be somewhat recurrent over my studies, especially with LSATs RC.

cheers !

Sneha2021 · Answer

GMATNinja   KarishmaB 
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(C) analyze an unresolved question and propose an answer
(D) offer an alternative to a flawed interpretation

Why C is incorrect?
The author analyzed the whole situation about the Webster’s characters(inner contraditcion in characters) and provide explanation in the second para on interpretation of Webster’s characters.

Critics have long been puzzled by the inner contradictions of major characters in John Webster’s tragedies - why i can't inference that it was an unresolved question by critics puzzled about it. It means they dont have a clear answer to the question.

Why D? How can I infer that it was a "FLAWED" interpretation?

Sneha2021 · Answer

GMATNinja   KarishmaB

3. The author’s allusion to Aristotle’s view of tragedy in lines 11-13 serves which one of the following functions in the passage?
(A) It introduces a commonly held view of Webster’s tragedies that the author plans to defend.

How A is incorrect?

Aristotle view - contradictions are virtually essential to the tragic personality
Is the author defending it? Yes - Author provide alternative explanation for this view in the second para.

Thanks for your help!

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 1 
 
(C) is tempting because critics have indeed been "puzzled by the inner contradictions of major characters in John Webster’s tragedies". But what exactly is the  question  that the author has answered? We can make a guess based on the context, but there's no clear Q&A in the passage.

Also, in the final paragraph, we're told that the critics attribute the inconsistencies to "artistic incompetence on Webster’s part." So even if we want to  infer  that the question is something like, "Why do Webster's major characters tend to have inner contradictions?", we couldn't say that the question is unresolved -- the critics already have an answer, which is that Webster is simply incompetent.

The author starts the second paragraph with, "The  problem  is that..." Saying that the critics' interpretation is a "problem" is the same as saying that their interpretation is flawed. The entire (lengthy) second paragraph is dedicated to explaining why their interpretation is flawed and proposing an alternative, so (D) is a better answer.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 3 
 
The problem with (A) is that Aristotle's view does not represent a "commonly held view OF Webster’s tragedies". If that were the case, then most critics would look at Webster's works and say, "Oh cool, Webster is doing the whole Aristotle thing, and that's why his major characters have inner contradictions."

But that's not what's happening. Critics are FAILING to see how Webster's works are consistent with ancient Greek philosophy. Instead, they conclude that Webster's characters' contradictions are just "an  eccentric  feature of Webster’s own tragic vision."

The author, on the other hand, argues that these contradictions are NOT just an eccentric (or idiosyncratic) feature of Webster's own tragic vision. Instead, the contradictions are consistent with Aristotle's view and with ancient Greek philosophy: inner contradictions are a "virtually essential" aspect of the tragic personality.

This is a tough one, but (B) is a better option.

QueenFreak · Answer

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) clarify an ambiguous assertion 
 (B) provide evidence in support of a commonly held view 
 (C) analyze an unresolved question and propose an answer 
 (D) offer an alternative to a flawed interpretation) 
 (E) describe and categorize opposing viewpoints

A. Author does give a clarification but, that's in part and pieces, it isnt the main idea of the passage - Wrong option. 
 B. Author provides multiple evidences of different interpretation of the work and the contradictory characters, but again, that is just one small portion. Evidence providing is not where the author stopped. - Wrong option. 
 C. Author analyses yes, but, author provides a clear analogy of moral contradiction in society wrt the character's contradiction, but author doesn't give any answers. Therefore - Wrong option. 
 D. Yes. Author does  offer  an alternative to a flawed interpretation by providing a clear analogy of moral contradiction in society wrt the character's contradiction. it's author's POV, the way he/she sees, and how he/she makes it reflect. -  Right answer.  
 E. Again, passage isnt limited to just describing and categorising, there's more. - Wrong answer

Critics have long been puzzled by the inner contradictions of major ch

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