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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which Gilbert and Sullivan operetta is not mentioned in the section?

2. What does Joyce pull out of Tzara's hat before leaving the stage?

3. Which of the following is not a title that Joyce attaches to Odysseus in this section?

4. What did Lenin do during a major famine in Russia?

5. Whose poetry does Tzara attempt the dismember for Gwendolen in this section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Travesties, the personal lives of the characters are constantly being affected by the realities of external political situation. Write an essay about the role of the larger political scene on the events of the play, in three parts:

Part 1) Henry Carr is stationed at the British Consulate in Zurich. How does he arrive there? How does his experience with the war color his attitude toward Zurich? How do his objectives change do to telegrams form London?

Part 2) Tristam Tzara constantly seems at war with convention. How is his work a direct reaction against outside political forces? What are his opinions regarding the war and Russian Bolshevism?

Part 3) Lenin and Nadya's lives are always affected by the events of Russia. What central event in Russia changes their lives in Switzerland, and how do they react to it? To what extent is Lenin never really living in Zurich?

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the play cordial, Wilde-esque conversations give way to bouts of unrestrained antipathy between characters. Write an essay about the breaking of the formal shell in the play, focusing on three such outbursts:

Part 1) What is the breaking point for Henry Carr when discussing art with Tristan Tzara in their first conversation of the play? How is Dada so offensive to him? What does Tzara say about the war that infuriates him?

Part 2) Why does Tzara think that Joyce is patronizing him when they discuss Dada in Act 1? How do they differ in their view of classical archetypes in art and literature?

Part 3) Examine the library scene between Cecily and Carr at the beginning of Act 2. What is Cecily's breaking point in discussing Marxism? What patronizing statement does Carr make that sets her off?

Essay Topic 3

Tristan Tzara's hat is a central symbol of the play. From it is drawn, and its very significance seems to mystify Gwendolen and Henry Carr and James Joyce. Write an essay about the significance of the hat as a symbol. Who handles it besides Tzara and what surprises emerge from it? What role does it play in Tristan's wooing of Gwendolen? What does it represent in the world of the play?

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