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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 did Shakespeare create with pain, in Bloom's interpretation?

2. How is Joan of Arc depicted in "Henry VI", in Bloom's account?

3. To whom does Bloom compare Hamlet and Falstaff?

4. What quality endears Faulconbridge to Bloom?

5. Bloom describes a Nietzschean tendency toward what, in "Twelfth Night"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bloom say is the true subject of "Julius Caesar"?

2. What is Bloom's estimation of "Richard III"?

3. What does Bloom say is the primary rival for Romeo and Juliet's affections?

4. What play does Bloom say influenced Shakespeare's "Henry VI"?

5. How does Bloom describe the meaning of his title, "The Invention of the Human"?

6. What is it about Falstaff that Bloom likes so much?

7. How does Bloom characterize Richard III?

8. What does Bloom say is the main action of "Two Gentlemen of Verona"?

9. What step does Bloom say Shakespeare took, with "The Merchant of Venice", beyond Marlowe's style?

10. What was Nietzsche's influence on Bloom's view of Shakespeare?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Bloom say Shakespeare teaches us about the relation between men and women? That women are stronger? That men are? Use examples from Bloom's analysis to formulate your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Where is the climax of this book? Are there different climaxes? What questions does each climax resolve? What questions does each climax leave unanswered?

Essay Topic 3

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

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