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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the character Timon of Athens do to his guests?
(a) Eat them.
(b) Throw stones at them.
(c) Torture them.
(d) Treat them to lavish entertainments.

2. How does Bloom characterize the Falstaff of "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?
(a) A bastardization of Henry IV.
(b) The genuine Falstaff.
(c) A false Falstaff.
(d) A precursor to later villains.

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

4. Who whom does Fluellen compare Henry V?
(a) Caesar.
(b) Henry IV.
(c) Falstaff.
(d) Alexander the Great.

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

6. Whose appearance marks a shift in Act IV of "Winter's Tale"?
(a) Hermione.
(b) Perdita.
(c) Paula.
(d) Autolycus.

7. Why does Bloom say "Timon of Athens" was never performed?
(a) Shakespeare died before he finished it.
(b) Shakespeare's patron was offended by the play.
(c) Shakespeare felt the play was too personal.
(d) Shakespeare used the play to denounce contemporary London.

8. What important character does Bloom say Iago influenced?
(a) Milton's Satan.
(b) Melville's Ahab.
(c) Emerson's Transparent Eyeball.
(d) Whitman's Self.

9. Whose philosophy does Bloom say Iago embodies?
(a) Nietzsche's.
(b) Plato's.
(c) Aristotle's.
(d) Hegel's.

10. What gives "Winter's Tale" its supernatural quality, according to Bloom?
(a) Hermione's resurrection.
(b) Leontes' visions.
(c) Polixenes' ubiquity.
(d) Leontes' madness.

11. What does Iago triumph over, in Bloom's interpretation?
(a) Shallower evil characters.
(b) Himself.
(c) Subordinate races.
(d) Conventional morality.

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

13. What is Bloom's complaint about "Henry VIII"?
(a) There is too much patriotism.
(b) The play departs from historical fact.
(c) The characters spend too much time explaining their feelings and motives.
(d) There is hardly any inner development of many characters.

14. What aspect of Nietzsche's philosophy does Iago embody, according to Bloom?
(a) The nihilism.
(b) The literariness.
(c) The playfulness.
(d) The evil.

15. What does Bloom say he suspects Shakespeare of, in "Henry V"?
(a) Fear for his own safety.
(b) Patriotism.
(c) Irony.
(d) Disloyalty.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does critic Marc Shell say Shakespeare is criticizing in Angelo's strict enforcement of law in 'Measure for Measure'?

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

3. What does Bloom say Thebes in "Two Noble Kinsmen" refers to?

4. M. C. Bradbrook describes "Pericles" as half spectacle and half what?

5. What objection does Dr. Johnson make about "Cymbeline"?

(see the answer keys)

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