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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. In what field of battle does Antony proclaim he will engage Caesar in Act 3, Scene 7?

2. Who is with Caesar in his home in Act 1, Scene 4?

3. What animal does Antony jokingly describe for the drunken Lepidus?

4. What is the name of the lieutenant of Caesar, who leads his land army?

5. In Act 3, Scene 5, who delivers news to Enobarbus?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the sight of Thyreus kissing Cleopatra's hand provoke in Mark Antony?

2. What characterizes Antony's speech after Actium, before Cleopatra arrives, at the palace in Alexandria?

3. For what reason does Cleopatra fly into a rage in the fifth scene of the second act?

4. What is the meaning and significance of "a Lethe'd dulness" as Pompey uses the phrase in line 27 of Act 2, Scene 1?

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

6. For what reason does Antony insist upon assailing Caesar by sea at Actium, despite the protestations of his loyal men?

7. For what reason does Cleopatra send Alexas to Italy?

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

9. What does Caesar imply by his directions regarding giving the soldiers a feast the night before the battle at Alexandria?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the most complicated characters in the play, despite the brevity of his appearance, is the Clown who delivers the deadly asps to Cleopatra in the final scene. Though his phrasing is somewhat veiled and ambiguous, a multitude of arguments can be made for any number of interpretations of his character's significance. In a very carefully constructed essay, analyze the Clown's words to Cleopatra and make an argument for some definite interpretation of his meaning. What are the referents for the people and conditions to which the Clown alludes? What is the significance of his commentaries insofar as they relate to the actions and characters of the play? Why have a clown deliver such a message?

Essay Topic 2

A dominant means of exposition and plot movement in the play is through the unseen but contextually described battles. Being careful to read out from the play and not into the play, explicate the significance of the battles at Actium and Alexandria, analyzing in what ways the various victories and defeats occur and what the significance of each is. Who wins the battle? How does he win the battle? What are the consequences of the battle being won? What is revealed about the various involved characters through their reactions to the conclusions of the various battles?

Essay Topic 3

The tragic conclusion of Antony and Cleopatra is somewhat mitigated by the portrayal and evident Roman perception of the nobility of suicide. By carefully developing a well-structured essay, analyze the reasons behind the Roman view of suicide and explicate how this effects the conclusion of the play. What is significant about the various characters ending their own lives? How does such action alter the ending of the play? What is the fundamental correlation between death and nobility? Upon what principles is the Roman conception of suicide in the face of being conquered as noble founded? Be sure to explicate through examples from the text.

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