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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which critic does Bloom say was overwhelmed by Caesar?
(a) Hazlitt.
(b) T. S. Eliot.
(c) Samuel Johnson.
(d) Ben Jonson.

2. To what philosopher does Bloom compare Falstaff?
(a) Socrates.
(b) Alcibiades.
(c) Plato.
(d) Nietzsche.

3. What does Bloom reiterate about Christopher Marlowe?
(a) That he drank heavily while writing.
(b) That he was a youngest son.
(c) That he was older than Shakespeare.
(d) That he was murdered by English government agents.

4. What does Bloom say Samuel Johnson dreaded to see in Shakespeare's plays?
(a) Villains.
(b) Marriages.
(c) Deaths.
(d) Injustice.

5. What does Bloom say makes Caesar fascinating?
(a) His humility.
(b) His bombast.
(c) His violence.
(d) His power.

6. Who is the center of the subplot in "Twelfth Night"?
(a) Cesario.
(b) Orsini.
(c) Malvolio.
(d) Olivia.

7. How does Bloom characterize Shakespeare's women?
(a) Conniving.
(b) Stronger than the men.
(c) More cunning yet less direct than the men.
(d) Less abstract than the men in their thinking.

8. How does Bloom characterize Shylock?
(a) As evil incarnate.
(b) As a comic villain.
(c) As a buffoon.
(d) As a diminutive Barabas.

9. What is Moth's role in "Love's Labor's Lost"?
(a) Comic sidekick.
(b) Hero.
(c) Villain.
(d) Lover.

10. Who saves "Two Gentlemen of Verona", in Bloom's opinion?
(a) Launce.
(b) Silvia.
(c) Valentine.
(d) Proteus.

11. Who does Proteus drive into exile?
(a) Silvia.
(b) Launce.
(c) Valentine.
(d) Julia.

12. What does Bloom say is the purpose of Falstaff's philosophizing?
(a) Self-reflection.
(b) Self-protection.
(c) Persuasion.
(d) Amusement.

13. What quality endears Faulconbridge to Bloom?
(a) The ability to excuse himself from every wrongdoing.
(b) The ability to see his own mind in action.
(c) The ability to get what he wants from other people.
(d) The ability to discern the weaknesses of others.

14. What are the relationships in "Love's Labor's Lost" motivated by?
(a) Fear of cuckolding.
(b) Religious longing.
(c) Political ambition.
(d) Physical lust.

15. What did "Titus Andronicus" accomplish for Shakespeare, according to Bloom?
(a) Showed him the limits of evil.
(b) Forced him to return to original material.
(c) Purged his imagination of Marlowe.
(d) Turned him toward poetry, and away from the stage.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Berowne pitted against in "Love's Labor's Lost"?

2. Who whom does Bloom compare Beatrice and Benedick from "Much Ado About Nothing"?

3. Who does Bloom say influenced his view of Shakespeare?

4. What does Bloom say is King John's biggest problem?

5. To whom does Bloom compare Hamlet and Falstaff?

(see the answer keys)

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