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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 travels with Isabelle?

2. What secret does Hugo reveal to Madame Desmortes?

3. What secret is shared by Patrice and Lady India?

4. Who is Capulet?

5. How has the scenery changed from Scene 1 to Scene 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Diana's frustration with Hugo in Act 2.

2. What impression does Hugo want to give the guests at the ball regarding his feelings and Isabelle's feelings?

3. Why is Isabelle sad, after she and Messerschmann tear up his ready cash?

4. Why does Madame Desmortes question Romainville about Isabelle's lineage, and what answer does she receive?

5. Why does the playwright refer to this play as a "charade with music?"

6. What message comes to Messerschmann by telegram at the end of the play?

7. Why does Patrice challenge Hugo to a duel?

8. Why does Isabelle's mother refuse to leave the chateau with Isabelle after her hopes for romance with Hugo have been dashed?

9. What does Joshua tell Isabelle after she and Messerschmann tear up his money?

10. What news does Romainville bring regarding Isabelle's mother and Capulet? What are the implications of this news?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do the frenetic entrances and exits of Frederic and Hugo impact the audience as they view this play? Is that impact harder to appreciate when reading the play than when viewing it?

Essay Topic 2

How do Messerschmann and Romainville represent "new money" and the new era of industrialization and rebuilding which took place after World War II? What do Messerschmann's actions at the end of the play indicate about the value of money, especially the value of "new money?"

Essay Topic 3

Why do both Hugo and Lady India fall in love (or rather, fall more deeply in love) with their romantic partners after they become poor? What does this indicate about their characters and about the playwright's message regarding the value of money?

(see the answer keys)

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