View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whose riddle does Pericles solve at the beginning of the play?
(a) King Antioch's.
(b) The Delphic Oracle's.
(c) The Sphinx'.
(d) The Sibyl's.

2. What is the sentence for Claudio's unlawful fornication?
(a) Exile.
(b) Imprisonment.
(c) A fine.
(d) Death.

3. What does Bloom say is the moral of "All's Well That Ends Well"?
(a) That for men, women are all the same in the dark.
(b) That war is the condition for which people seem to have been created.
(c) That love is always ultimately destructive.
(d) That love is the only thing keeping people from savagery.

4. Whose marriage does Bloom say is happiest in all of Shakespeare's plays?
(a) Ferdinand and Miranda.
(b) The Macbeths'.
(c) Romeo and Juliet's love-death.
(d) Beatrice and Benedick.

5. What was John Fletcher's role in "Henry VIII", according to Bloom?
(a) He wrote the source play for Shakespeare's play.
(b) He authored the script.
(c) He helped with the writing.
(d) He wrote the first draft for Shakespeare.

6. How does Bloom say Macbeth allows himself to pursue the crown?
(a) By convincing himself of others' illegitimacy.
(b) By lying to himself.
(c) By rationally defining his deserving.
(d) By evilly plotting for his own power.

7. How does Auden describe Iago?
(a) As the subterranean soul of Western culture.
(b) As a devil.
(c) As karmic vengeance.
(d) As a practical joker.

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

9. How does Bloom characterize the match between Helena and Bertram in "All's Well That Ends Well"?
(a) As one of many marriages that plays games with gender roles.
(b) As a rare, normal marriage.
(c) Typical mismatch.
(d) As a rare exception to the rule that love is generally destructive.

10. How does Bloom characterize the Falstaff of "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?
(a) A precursor to later villains.
(b) The genuine Falstaff.
(c) A bastardization of Henry IV.
(d) A false Falstaff.

11. What does Fluellen's comparison mean for Henry V?
(a) He will enjoy great power.
(b) He will be betrayed by his friends.
(c) He will avoid responsibilities.
(d) He will turn on his friends.

12. What important character does Bloom say Iago influenced?
(a) Melville's Ahab.
(b) Whitman's Self.
(c) Milton's Satan.
(d) Emerson's Transparent Eyeball.

13. What does Bloom say constitutes the darkness of "Cymbeline"?
(a) Iachino is not killed off, but he can continue his evil ways.
(b) Posthumous is ineffective against Iachino's manipulations.
(c) Cymbeline is still jealous, even after he repents sentencing his wife to death for betrayal.
(d) There is a suggestion that Imogen might be unfaithful at heart.

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

15. What objection does Dr. Johnson make about "Cymbeline"?
(a) The villain's motives are not explicit.
(b) There are too many sudden shifts.
(c) The action is unbelievable.
(d) The character's motivations are not clear.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Iachino want from Imogen?

2. Who whom does Fluellen compare Henry V?

3. According to Bloom, T. S. Eliot prefers "Coriolanus" to which other Shakespeare play?

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

5. What does Bloom say he suspects Shakespeare of, in "Henry V"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 565 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample