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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Who does Bloom say influenced his view of Shakespeare?
(a) Eliot.
(b) Emerson.
(c) Frost.
(d) Nietzsche.

3. What does Bloom say "Love's Labor's Lost" has in common with other plays?
(a) Heroes brought low and villains elevated.
(b) Mixing of social classes.
(c) Surprising twists and turns.
(d) Love winning out against the odds.

4. What quality do Faulconbridge and Hamlet have in common, according to Bloom?
(a) They are both sons of kings.
(b) They are both unsuccessful contenders for thrones.
(c) They are both paralyzed by doubts.
(d) They are both larger than life.

5. In what way does Bloom say Shakespeare departs from Marlowe's precursor "The Jew of Malta"?
(a) The Jew is more monstrous.
(b) The Jews are more caricaturist.
(c) The play is more overtly anti-Semitic.
(d) The Christians are as vicious as the Jew.

6. How does Shakespeare use "As You Like It" to comment on his own politics?
(a) He implores Marlowe to forgive him for trying to survive in trying times.
(b) He uses allusions to Marlowe's death to assert his political cautiousness.
(c) He uses his characters to lament his political timidity.
(d) He cites Marlowe's political bravery as the reason for his outrageous dramas.

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

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

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

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

11. How does Bloom characterize the end of "Richard III"?
(a) Fulfilling.
(b) Repetitive.
(c) Symphonic.
(d) Disorganized.

12. What does Bloom say almost overwhelms him about "Richard III"?
(a) The Marlovian influence.
(b) The soliloquies.
(c) The battle scene.
(d) The seduction scene.

13. Who is Queen Mab, according to Bloom?
(a) Mercutio's wife.
(b) Queen Elizabeth I.
(c) The powerful mobs of London.
(d) The whore Mab.

14. How does C. L. Barber characterize "Twelfth Night"?
(a) A disguised political satire.
(b) A battle of the sexes.
(c) A festive comedy.
(d) A screwball comedy.

15. To whom does Bloom compare Hamlet and Falstaff?
(a) Melville's Captain Ahab.
(b) The Knight in Chaucer's 'Knight's Tale'.
(c) Adam in 'Paradise Lost'.
(d) The Old Testament God.

Short Answer Questions

1. What song reminds Bloom of this other work?

2. What book does Bloom compare Shakespeare's plays to, in measuring their influence on Western culture?

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

4. Who does Julia look for, while she is disguised?

5. What complicates the action of "Two Gentlemen of Verona", according to Bloom?

(see the answer keys)

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