The Empress by Tanika Gupta is a play set during the final 14 years of Queen Victoria’s reign, from 1887 to her death in 1901. There are two acts and each act contains 15 scenes.

The Empress has four main characters: Rani, Hari, Abdul and Queen Victoria. Some of the characters in the play are based on real historical figures, such as Queen Victoria.

A theme is a big idea that can be found throughout the text. The main themes in The Empress are: class, power and responsibility, racism and Empire, relationships and education.

Context refers to background information. When writing about The Empress, you could consider points such as the life and inspiration of the playwright, Tanika Gupta.

For Edexcel, The Empress is assessed on Paper 1: Shakespeare and Post-1914 Literature. There will be a choice of two exam questions: one on a theme and one on a character.

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