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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What pleased Ben Jonson about Shakespeare's "Henry VIII"?
(a) Its praise of the royal line.
(b) Its departure from historical facts.
(c) Its exposure of royal corruption.
(d) Its improvement on history.

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

3. How does Bloom characterize Theseus in "Two Noble Kinsmen"?
(a) Shakespeare's dying gasp.
(b) An illegitimate child of Shakespeare's genius.
(c) Shakespeare's last poetic voice.
(d) The summit of Shakespeare's poetic philosophy.

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

5. According to Bloom, T. S. Eliot prefers "Coriolanus" to which other Shakespeare play?
(a) "Hamlet".
(b) "Love's Labor's Lost".
(c) "Macbeth".
(d) "King Lear".

Short Answer Questions

1. Whom does Shakespeare attack in "Timon of Athens"?

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

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

4. What opera is based on "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?

5. How does Helena conceive Bertram's child?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bloom say is the heart of "Macbeth"?

2. What does Bloom say is the political subtext of "Troilus and Cressida"?

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

4. What does Bloom say was Shakespeare's role in "Two Noble Kinsmen"?

5. How does Bloom characterize the play "Pericles"?

6. What does Bloom say is the flaw of "Coriolanus"?

7. What insight does Bloom say "All's Well That Ends Well" gives us into marriage?

8. How does Bloom say "Henry V" has been used in its history?

9. What view does Bloom take on Iago's character?

10. What is the moral of "Measure for Measure", in Bloom's account?

(see the answer keys)

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