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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. How many of King Lear's daughters are married?

2. The Fool calls King Lear a fool for doing what?

3. Who is the protagonist in the play?

4. Why does Edmund want his legitimate brother disinherited?

5. Who does Lear say should feel obligation to him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is ironic about Goneril's behavior towards her father, while he is at her house?

2. Why is King Lear dividing up his kingdom?

3. The Fool's ambiguous statements while he and Lear are wandering in the storm imply that the Fool thinks Lear is what?

4. Goneril wants King Lear to leave her home and go where?

5. When Edgar leaves Edmund at the end of Act I, Scene II, why does Edmund laugh?

6. When Kent meets with the gentleman on the heath, what does Kent give the gentleman and what is it supposed to do?

7. How are Kent's actions in relation to Oswald similar to Cordelia's actions in relation to Lear?

8. While King Lear stays with Goneril, what are his knights interfering with?

9. How does Edmund incite his father into a rage against Edgar?

10. The Fools says who will whip him and for what?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Using examples from the text, what are the connections between the main plot and the subplot in the play?

Essay Topic 2

How does King Lear portray service? Who serves? What sort of authority and relationships are related to service in the play? Does service, as used in the play, belong to family or to the state? Why? Please support your answer with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

There are several words that are repeated throughout King Lear. Choose two of the words from the list below and discuss what their use means to the play and the characters in the play.

-- nature

-- natural

-- nothing

-- bond

-- love

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 516 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample