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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 has happened to Leopold Mozart's letters?

2. Who does Constanze blame for the Mozarts' present plight?

3. What works has Mozart written during the same time?

4. Music from which of Mozart's operas is played as Salieri muses during the transition between scenes?

5. How does Salieri dress in order to frighten Mozart?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the importance of the scene in which Salieri's home is contrasted with that of the Mozart family?

2. How is the Emperor a danger to Salieri's plan to destroy Mozart?

3. In what way is the dying Mozart presented to us as a Christ-like martyr?

4. What are the indications of decline that Salieri observes when he meets Wolfgang and Constanze in the Prater?

5. What happens to make The Marriage of Figaro a failure in its first year?

6. Comment on Salieri's actions as Mozart's illness and obsession overtake him.

7. How does Mozart respond to the news about his salary?

8. What does Mozart tell Salieri at the end of this section of the play?

9. What is implied by the Emperor's comment to Salieri regarding music and the Princess Elizabeth?

10. What significant observations about art does Salieri make?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Does Amadeus qualify as an example of tragedy? Is there a tragic hero and what makes him such?

Essay Topic 2

"Mozart embraces life honestly, lives it fully and renders its complexity in his music. Salieri buries his passions in conventional living and is only capable of conventional art '. Discuss this statement with close reference to the text.

Essay Topic 3

To what extent is the Mozart of Shaffer's play responsible for his own downfall? Your discussion should contain close reference to the text.

(see the answer keys)

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