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. What rumor about Antonio and the Duchess is circulating among the nobility?

2. When Delio and Julia are talking about a potential arrangement between themsevles, who walks in and interrupts?

3. Once he learns the news, Ferdinand seems most focused on:

4. What secret does Antonio tell Delio in Act 2, Scene 1?

5. In Act 1, Scene 1, it becomes clear that Bosola thinks what of the Cardinal?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Duchess trust Bosola with her secret about who she is married to?

2. Because the Duchess did, in fact, disobey Ferdinand and the Cardinal, how does Ferdinand decide to punish her?

3. Who is the symbol of hope for the future at the conclusion of the play?

4. What does the Duchess think of her brothers at the beginning of the play?

5. Why did Ferdinand responded the way he did when the Duchess told him that she thought his warning was rehearsed?

6. Does the Duchess trust Bosola in Act 2, Scene 1 or not?

7. What does the Cardinal take violently from the Duchess? What does this tell us of his intentions?

8. Did Delio have a good reason to be worried that Antonio had been betrayed? Why or why not?

9. Describe what the reader first knows about the Duchess.

10. How does Delio show his support and friendship to Antonio before Antonio leaves to demand a reconciliation with the Cardinal?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Was the Duchess right in living the life that she did? Pick 3 of the choices she makes in the play and then present an argument, using the choices as your evidence, supporting your position.

Essay Topic 2

Do you think that family relationships or friendships prove stronger in this play? Keep in mind that a "strong" relationship can also mean a bad or negative one. Use 3 specific examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think we never learn the Duchess's name in the play? What do you think the author was trying to say by not giving her a name? How would the play have changed, or not have changed, if she had been given a name?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 772 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample