View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Bloom say the reader needs to know about "Henry V"?
(a) The limits of the pageantry.
(b) The seething undercurrents beneath Henry V's pageantry.
(c) Henry V's true motives.
(d) The end of the story, where Henry V is betrayed.

2. What does Ben Jonson say "Winter's Tale" unites with the dark fears of Leontes?
(a) The spectral possibility of spiritual rebirth.
(b) The fresh hope of spring.
(c) The dire reality of mortality.
(d) A feverish vision of eternity.

3. Whom does Bloom say Iachino in "Cymbeline" resembles?
(a) Iago.
(b) Lady Macbeth.
(c) Othello.
(d) Macbeth.

4. What does William Hazlitt say is the center of "Othello"?
(a) Desdemona's innocence.
(b) Othello's blackness.
(c) Iago.
(d) Othello's jealousy.

5. What opera is based on "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?
(a) "Falstaff".
(b) "Carmen".
(c) "The Barber of Seville".
(d) "Tosca".

6. What makes "Winter's Tale" jarring, in Bloom's interpretation?
(a) Its nihilism.
(b) Its piety.
(c) Its hostility.
(d) Its originality.

7. Whom does Shakespeare attack in "Timon of Athens"?
(a) Alcibiades.
(b) Geoffrey Chaucer.
(c) Christopher Marlowe.
(d) Nietzsche.

8. What does Bloom say he prefers for representations of Caliban?
(a) A black slave.
(b) A half-human beast.
(c) A pygmy.
(d) A Native American.

9. What character flaw does Bloom say runs through Othello?
(a) His jealousy seems out of sync with his love for Desdemona.
(b) His passivity with Desdemona seems to be out of sync with his military prowess.
(c) His susceptibility to Iago seems out of place for a military leaders.
(d) His expressiveness seems to be out of sync with his blind rages.

10. How does Bloom characterize the end of "Measure for Measure"?
(a) A concession to necessity.
(b) Barely happy.
(c) Miserable.
(d) Resplendently happy.

11. How does Bloom say "Henry V" has been used in England?
(a) As propaganda for the socialist state.
(b) As a patriotic statement.
(c) As a criticism of the French.
(d) As anti-communist propaganda.

12. What was John Fletcher's role in "Henry VIII", according to Bloom?
(a) He wrote the source play for Shakespeare's play.
(b) He authored the script.
(c) He helped with the writing.
(d) He wrote the first draft for Shakespeare.

13. What does Bloom say "The Merry Wives of Windsor" might have been designed to do?
(a) Make a lot of money for the theatre company.
(b) Propitiate the queen with light humor.
(c) Urge the government to make reforms.
(d) Resolve personal quandaries of Shakespeare's.

14. What does critic Hazlitt see in "Coriolanus"?
(a) The danger of political power.
(b) The problem with family love.
(c) A warning against love.
(d) The insolence of power.

15. What objection does Dr. Johnson make about "Cymbeline"?
(a) The villain's motives are not explicit.
(b) The character's motivations are not clear.
(c) The action is unbelievable.
(d) There are too many sudden shifts.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Bloom characterize the match between Helena and Bertram in "All's Well That Ends Well"?

2. How does Auden describe Iago?

3. Whose appearance marks a shift in Act IV of "Winter's Tale"?

4. What does Fluellen's comparison mean for Henry V?

5. Why does Janet Adelman say that Cordelia had to be murdered in "King Lear"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 563 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample