Question

Read the excerpt from The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England. In 1587 Thomas Kyd produces The Spanish Tragedy, and soon afterward Christopher Marlowe brings out the first part of Tamburlaine the Great. . . . They employ new verse forms, allowing different spoken rhythms, and compose bold speeches with greater resonance and meaning. The new conceptual framework of a revenge tragedy in particular allows them to portray powerful emotions voiced by strong characters. Suddenly it is possible to show so much more passion on the stage. What was the most direct cause of the more passionate performances

Answer 1

This question is missing the answer choices. I have found the complete question online. Since the passage is the same, I will omit it:

What was the most direct cause of the more passionate performances:

A. The play The Spanish Tragedy

B. The new verse forms and conceptual framework

C. The collaboration of Kyd and Marlowe

D. The play Tumberlaine the Great

Answer:

The most direct cause of the more passionate performances was:

B. the new verse forms and conceptual framework.

Explanation:

Ian Mortimer is a British historian born in 1967. In his book "The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England," Mortimer describes what life was like In Elizabethan England in vivid detail - all of its beauty as well as all of its issues.

In this particular excerpt, we can easily find a cause-and-effect relationship. We are told that actors were now able to perform more passionately. According to the author, the causes for that are new verse forms and the new conceptual framework of tragedies. With the former, actors can speak with greater "resonance and meaning". Therefore, they can impact the audience more effectively. With the latter, "powerful emotions" could now be portrayed. With that in mind, the best option is letter B.