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 accompanies Antony at the outset of Act 4, Scene 12?

2. With what does Cleopatra kill herself?

3. Who arrives and claims that the enemy is beaten and his side's advantage serves for "a fair victory" in the seventh scene of the fourth act?

4. What does Antony call the work of a soldier in war?

5. What does Antony send after his most recent deserter in Act 4, Scene 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. To what end does Cleopatra commit herself, and why, after Antony has died?

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

3. How does Antony behave towards his servants before the battle at Alexandria?

4. Why does Caesar insist upon being still with his land forces on the second day of Battle at Alexandria?

5. What characterizes the reactions of those present in Act 4, Scene 1, to the news of Antony's death?

6. What does Antony mean by saying that his men have "shown all Hectors" and why is this significant?

7. What is revealed by Antony's immediate blame of Cleopatra for the surrender of his fleet?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the third act of the play, the fortunes of the two sides of the external conflict are reversed by the machinations of free will. Examine in a thoroughly-developed analytical essay this reversal of fortune. How had the fortunes of Antony and his companions been positively progressing throughout the first few acts of the play? In what way do they regress in the second half? How is this affected in the third act of the play? What particular actions, and of whom, are responsible for the inception of the downfall of the triumvir Antony and in what do they consist?

Essay Topic 2

As a constant companion of Mark Antony, Enobarbus often serves as a foil against which Antony's greatness and tragic decline are set. Thus, compose an insightful analytical essay that examines the character of Enobarbus as he helps to expose Antony's character. What sort of man is Enobarbus? What characterizes his actions? How does such a character help to demonstrate Antony's character? What does Enobarbus's tragic end help the audience to see regarding Antony? What is the significance of Enobarbus's soliloquy in Act 4, Scene 9?

Essay Topic 3

A seldom explicitly mentioned theme throughout the play is the fidelity and infidelity of minor characters despite maltreatment and disregard for their more fundamental rights. Thoughtfully explicate this theme in a well-developed essay. How do the various minor characters demonstrate their fidelity and to whom? For what reasons do the characters evidently remain loyal? Contrariwise, which characters forsake their obligations to fidelity, and for what reasons are they motivated to do so? What do these various relationships of disparate levels of fidelity indicate about the fundamental human tendencies regarding loyalty?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 895 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample