View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why was Caliban suffering, according to critic Browning?
(a) Because Prospero will not adopt him.
(b) Because he is incapable of attaining the beautiful things he imagines.
(c) Because his nature is still too bestial.
(d) Because he will never win Ariel for himself.

2. What does Bloom say brings Anthony back to Cleopatra?
(a) Lust for power.
(b) Sexual lust.
(c) Hostility to Caesar.
(d) Dependency on Cleopatra.

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

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

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

6. 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) Urge the government to make reforms.
(c) Resolve personal quandaries of Shakespeare's.
(d) Propitiate the queen with light humor.

7. What does Bloom say love causes in "King Lear"?
(a) Justice.
(b) Tragedy.
(c) Resolution.
(d) Harmony.

8. What does Bloom say is the heart of "Antony and Cleopatra"?
(a) The battle between East and West.
(b) The battle between the sexes.
(c) The battle between Rome and Egypt.
(d) The battle between love and politics.

9. How does Thersites avoid being killed?
(a) By cunning.
(b) By undignified begging.
(c) By intrigue.
(d) By cowardliness.

10. How does Bloom say Ben Jonson saw Thersites?
(a) As a predecessor to Falstaff.
(b) As a coward.
(c) As a nihilist.
(d) As a Christian.

11. For whom did Cressida betray Troilus?
(a) Diomedes.
(b) Ulysses.
(c) Thersites.
(d) Achilles.

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

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

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

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

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 say "Henry V" has been used in England?

3. What does Bloom say is the center of "The Tempest'?

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

5. How does Auden describe Iago?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 510 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample