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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. Whose dress does Bodice wear in the prison cell?

2. What does the Gravedigger's Boy tell Lear that the soldiers are doing?

3. Who has died at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 1?

4. Who foretells how Lear's army will attack in Act 1, Scene 3?

5. Why does Lear insist his enemies hate him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Lear execute the laborer in Act 1, Scene 1? What are his underlying motives?

2. What do Bodice and Fontanelle plan for Lear's future at the trial? How do they go about this plan?

3. Who appears to Lear in prison? How was this character known to Lear before this point?

4. Compare and contrast the characters of Bodice and Fontanelle. Whom are they related to? How are they similar? How are they different?

5. Why does Lear tell Cornelia she must destroy the wall? What does he say regarding pity?

6. Why is the Ghost unhappy and crying in Act 3, Scene 3?

7. Why does Cordelia refuse to take the captured soldier into her army?

8. What do Thomas and Ben reveal to Lear that they plan to do in Act 3, Scene 2? Why?

9. How does Lear feel about the Duke of North and the Duke of Cornwall? Why?

10. Who is the Gravedigger's Boy? What does the exposition reveal about his background? What is his purpose in the play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the characters of Lear and his daughters. How are their actions similar? How are they different? How are their motivations related?

Essay Topic 2

What does Fontanelle's execution and subsequent on-stage autopsy contribute to the play? What change comes about because of this scene? Do you agree or disagree with the choice to put this scene on stage? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the production history of Bond's Lear. How has it been received by the public? What characteristics of the play make it controversial? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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