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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. What do both Amanda and Elyot express a mild appreciation for, to the shock of their spouses?

2. What time of day does the first act take place?

3. According to Elyot, how does he feel about Amanda?

4. What does Elyot believe is the cruelest thing he and Amanda could do?

5. What can Sibyl do that Amanda cannot?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of "Solomon Isaacs?"

2. Victor and Sibyl both use nicknames for Amanda and Elyot (Mandy and Elli), though Amanda and Elyot always refer to each other by their full names. What is the significance of the use of nicknames in regards to these four characters?

3. Why would Victor say to Amanda that she was frightening him?

4. To Sibyl's dismay, Elyot does not care for her mother and believes that Sibyl married him in part to escape her. What do the differing attitudes about the mother reveal about Sibyl's character?

5. At the start of the play, is Elyot in love with Sibyl? How can the reader tell?

6. Amanda describes her marriage to Elyot as, "two violent acids bubbling about in a nasty little matrimonial bottle." Why would she use those words and what images do they provoke?

7. Why does Sibyl keep asking Elyot about Amanda?

8. What is Amanda's outlook on the violence in her previous marriage that is so shocking to Victor?

9. What does Elyot mean when he claims that he and Amanda were too in love for their relationship to last?

10. When discussing the possibility of getting a sunburn, Amanda remarks to Victor, "I did so hope our honeymoon was going to be progressive" in response to his declaration that he could not love her anymore than he already does. What does this statement portend about Amanda's views on relationships, particularly her marriage to Victor?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Sibyl's reaction to meeting Amanda and vice versa.

Essay Topic 2

Amanda and Elyot have a deep, involved history of being passionately in love and being just as violently hateful toward each other.

1) Compare and contrast the relationship between Amanda and Elyot versus their relationships with Victor and Sibyl. Discuss the similarities and differences using specific examples from the script.

2) How do you believe the new marriages would have worked out had Elyot and Amanda not run away together? Specifically, would Elyot and Amanda have been able to reconcile their "private lives" to their new spouses?

3) In your opinion, should Elyot and Amanda ever again attempt to stay together? Support your arguments with specific examples from the script.

Essay Topic 3

When Victor is questioning Amanda in Act III, she claims that she hates Elyot, though she is deeply attracted to him. Does Amanda truly hate Elyot? Can she hate him and have an attraction? How? Keep in mind how loving she and Elyot are to each other, including the fact that they make up and leave together at the end.

(see the answer keys)

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