View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Antony say is approaching the ports of Rome in the play's first act?

2. In what location does Act 3, Scene 4 take place?

3. Against what does Caesar warn Antony in Act 3, Scene 2?

4. Who does Caesar say thrives in the idleness of the triumvirs?

5. With what does Caesar reward his army in the beginning of Act 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what reasons are tensions brewing between Antony and Caesar in Act 3, Scene 4?

2. For what reason does Antony spurn the news that has come from Rome at the play's beginning?

3. How do his companions react to Antony's speeches in Act 4, Scene 2?

4. What is the significance of the discussion between Enobarbus and Agrippa in the first part of Act 3, Scene 2?

5. Under what condition would Caesar grant lands in Sicily to Mark Antony?

6. What characterizes the reports that the messenger gives to Cleopatra of Octavia?

7. How does Cleopatra act in Antony's absence?

8. Why does Octavius Caesar lament the absence of Mark Antony?

9. What is the result of Antony's fleeing from Actium?

10. For what reason does Mecaenas imply that striking Antony while the beleaguered triumvir is in his rage is strategically sound

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

In a variety of scenes and a variety of manners, the play constantly exposes the inherent dangers of political success and failure. Analyze this exposition as it occurs throughout the play in a well-organized essay. In what scenes is political danger a dominant theme? How are the dangers of politics portrayed? Which characters provide insight on the dangers of the political machinations of the play and how are they exposed? What is the significance of the inherent dangers of politics to the tragic nature of the play?

Essay Topic 3

Keeping in mind that a tragedy is a story of human action which, by the means of free will and fate, results in exceptional calamity and the death or disintegration of the life of an extraordinary man, analyze the relationship between the story of Antony and Cleopatra with the archetypal indications of tragedy in a well-thought-out essay. What indicates the story to be a tragedy? What is the significance of all the central elements of the story insofar as they relate to tragedy? In what does the play's tragedy specifically consist?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 773 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample