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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. Who does Shame dress up like?

2. What does Daungter represent?

3. What kind of pain does Reason argue about?

4. What does fairsemblaunce represent?

5. Which adjective best describes the couples in the garden?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is significant about the castle that Jealousy begins to build?

2. How is Dread a caricature?

3. What does Bialacoil represent when he is locked away?

4. Why is the narrator's request to kiss the rose a turning point in the novel?

5. How might the reader's sympathy shift as a result of the way the woman reacts to her suitor?

6. Describe the tone De Lorris uses to describe the narrator's entrance to Mirth's garden.

7. What does Venus's presence in the rose garden mean?

8. Who is Bialacoil?

9. What does Daunger represent?

10. What message does the allegory relay about the way a woman reacts to a man's interest?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is the tone of The Romance of the Rose more cynical or optimistic? Point out at least five pieces of evidence.

Essay Topic 2

On the wall outside of the garden leading to courtly love, there are pictures. These pictures represent vices not welcome into courtly love. Analyze one of the vices, such as Elde or Vilanye, and explain the role it serves in the poem. Why is this a vice not allowed into courtly love?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the arguments that Reason makes in his conversations about courtly love and gift giving. Are Reason's arguments logical? Are the convincing? Are they valid? Are they outdated?

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