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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of play is "Taming of the Shrew"?

2. What are the relationships in "Love's Labor's Lost" motivated by?

3. What does Bloom say almost overwhelms him about "Richard III"?

4. What does Bloom say "Richard III" is a rehearsal for?

5. How does "Taming of the Shrew" begin?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bloom say distinguished Faulconbridge among Shakespeare's characters?

2. Where does Bloom see resonances of "Julius Caesar" in other plays?

3. What is Bloom's estimation of "Two Gentlemen of Verona"?

4. What does Bloom say is the main action of "Two Gentlemen of Verona"?

5. What aspect of Nietzsche's philosophy is present in "Richard II", in Bloom's interpretation?

6. How does Bloom characterize Richard III?

7. What similarity does Bloom say there is between "Twelfth Night" and a Ben Jonson play?

8. How does Bloom say Shakespeare confronts the viewer's personality in "Comedy of Errors"?

9. What is Bloom's estimation of "Julius Caesar"?

10. What is Marlowe's influence on "Titus Andronicus"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the archetypal Shakespearean characters? Where are they delineated? How does Bloom say they develop from one work to another?

Essay Topic 2

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 3

Which one of Shakespeare's plays is most promising for further analysis, in your opinion? Which play raises questions you would like to answer? What are those questions, and what part of Bloom's analysis makes those questions seem poignant? How does Bloom himself frame the answers for those questions?

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