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. With what does Cleopatra kill herself?

2. How does the speaker in Act 4's eleventh scene say the associated army shall be?

3. What happens to Cleopatra after Antony's death, in Act 4, Scene 15?

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

5. How many lines are there in Act 4, Scene 11?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the course of the battle change in Act 4, Scene 10?

2. How does Cleopatra comport herself towards Antony in Act 4, Scene 4?

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

4. How does Antony react to the desertion by Enobarbus?

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

6. What purpose does Act 4, Scene 3 serve, with its interlude of unnamed, minor characters?

7. For what reason does Caesar seek to preserve the life of Cleopatra after hearing that Antony has died?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An essential element of the tragic play is the evocation of pity from the audience. In order to evoke pity, the audience must be enabled to relate with the characters caught up in the tragedy. In a broad-minded and considerate essay, analyze the means by which the play makes those involved in the tragedy, principally Antony and Cleopatra, but also Enobarbus and Eros, as well as any others caught in the struggles between mightier characters, sympathetic to the audience or reader. What scenes demonstrate the unfortunate nature of these characters' sufferings? How do they portray the characters as pitiable? What is the fundamental root of relation between the audience and the pitiable characters in these scenes? What does this reveal about dramatic tragedy and its relationship to human nature?

Essay Topic 2

In contrast to the more nuanced influences of the play, the direct cause of the play's tragic outcome is quite obviously the external conflict between Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar. However, the drastic importance of this conflict, its political and historical implications, have a drastic influence on the overall significance of the play. Why is the conflict important to the whole world? How is this indicated in the play? What is at stake in the conflict between the two triumvirs? What is the relationship between the greater significance of this conflict and the significance of the play as a tragedy?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 914 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample