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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. Who says, "I think very few people are completely normal really, deep down in their private lives?"

2. What are Victor and Sibyl doing at the end of Act I?

3. What does Elyot accuse Sibyl of being?

4. What does Amanda tell Victor in the first act that frightens him?

5. How do Amanda and Elyot realize that they are sharing a terrace in the hotel?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. Elyot remarks to Sibyl that, "Apart from loving me and all that, you must have plans." What does he mean by that and why would he accuse Sibyl of it?

3. How can the reader interpret Amanda's statement about a person's private life?

4. What are Victor and Sibyl's attitudes on the subject of their spouses' previous marriage?

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

6. 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?

7. How does Elyot know that Amanda's statement of the two of them being in love all over again is false?

8. Why do Amanda and Elyot choose Paris to run away to?

9. When Elyot implores Sibyl that they must leave the hotel, Sibyl is uncharacteristically firm and stubborn about staying. What happened throughout the act that may have given her more of a backbone?

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

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

Is it important that these characters are rich and upper-class? How would this play have changed if Amanda and Elyot were not as rich as they are written? Is the glamor and sophistication absolutely necessary? How does it affect the fights? Do you believe that this is meant to be a statement on the behaviors of the upper-class? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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