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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What sort of men does Antony lament his poor fortunes have corrupted?

2. Whom is it reported by Enobarbus that Caesar has hanged without good reason?

3. Where does Cleopatra go in Act 4, Scene 13?

4. To where does the speaker in Act 4, Scene 11, say the speaker and company must go?

5. In whose arms does Mark Antony die?

Short Essay Questions

1. What effect on Antony's disposition does the desertion by Enobarbus have?

2. Why does Enobarbus say he will seek out a ditch in which he may die?

3. In what way is Antony's disposition towards the battle at Alexandria changed on the second day?

4. Why does Cleopatra feign submission to Caesar at the end of the play?

5. How does Cleopatra comport herself towards Antony in Act 4, Scene 4?

6. What does the sudden music expose within the soldiers of Antony before the battle at Alexandria?

7. What does Antony say will happen to Cleopatra if she does not vanish after his fleet has betrayed him?

8. What is indicated by Cleopatra's refusal to come down to Antony in Act 4, Scene 15?

9. What is meant by Charmian's statement that "The soul and body rive not more in parting / Than greatness going off"?

10. How does the course of the battle change in Act 4, Scene 10?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As Antony's rival, Octavius Caesar plays a vital role in the tragic story of Antony and Cleopatra. As the story's external antagonist, he helps to propel the action of the story. In a thoughtful essay, analyze the character of Caesar, being sure to contrast him with Mark Antony but nonetheless retaining focus on Caesar himself. What are his principal traits as a character? What are his motivations? How does he treat other characters in the story? What worldview does Caesar represent? How does Caesar correspond to a changing world dynamic?

Essay Topic 2

Although the external conflict with Caesar is what ostensibly brings Mark Antony to his fate, it is only as a result of Antony's failure to overcome the internal conflict between his desire for Cleopatra and his right reason that the conflict comes about. In a thoughtful essay, analyze the causes, events, and consequences of this internal conflict as it develops throughout the story. In what does the conflict consist? What actions are characteristic of the conflict? How does the conflict move the story's events? What commentaries are given on the conflict, and what insights are provided by characters other than Cleopatra and Antony? How is the conflict resolved? What affects the resolution of the conflict?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout Antony and Cleopatra's stormy relationship in the play, it is shown that their love is always a hair's-breadth away from becoming hate, and vice-versa. In a well-developed analytical essay, examine the nature of Antony and Cleopatra's relationship insofar as it alternates from one extreme to another. What propels the characters to launch from one condition to another? How is hate assuaged and love incited? In what way are the two conditions similarly portrayed?

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