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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 separates the two terraces in the first scene?

2. What time is it, specifically, at the top of Act I?

3. What is the other option presented for Amanda and Elyot if they choose to not run away?

4. In which country is Act I set?

5. According to Amanda, what rules her life?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

4. Why do Elyot and Amanda both lie to their spouses about the reasons they should leave the hotel instead of just telling the truth?

5. 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?

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

7. 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?

8. Why does Sibyl keep asking Elyot about Amanda?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"Private Lives" is known for sharp, witty dialogue. What role does the dialogue play in this story? How does it add to the plot, humor, and character development?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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