A STEP BEYOND

TESTS AND ANSWERS

TEST 1

_____ 1. The major themes of Romeo and Juliet are

I. love and death
II. the terrible consequences of family feuds
III. conflicts between parents and children

A. I and II only
B. I and III only
C. I, II, and III

_____ 2. Brooke's poem and Bandello's Novelle

A. are Shakespeare's sources for the play
B. were dramatized at the Capulet party
C. both refer to Shakespeare's version of the tragedy

_____ 3. In the best-known description of Romeo and Juliet, the Prologue refers to them as

A. Cupid's cup bearers
B. star-cross'd lovers
C. the paragons of romance

_____ 4. Escalus, the Prince of Verona, admitted culpability by saying he should have

A. been more forceful about the feud
B. made peace between Tybalt and Romeo
C. taken stronger steps to keep the lovers apart

_____ 5. Shakespeare emphasizes the role of fate because

A. the Elizabethans believed strongly in it
B. it lends a quality of irony to the drama
C. the tragedy could have been avoided

_____ 6. In his bawdy and anti-romantic speeches, Mercutio serves as

A. a foil to Romeo
B. comic relief from the starkness of the tragedy
C. the voice of the common man

_____ 7. Romeo refuses to be upset by Tybalt's insults because
I. as a newlywed he is in a good mood
II. he had disciplined himself to be unemotional
III. although Tybalt doesn't know it, they have become relatives

A. I and II only
B. I and III only
C. I, II, and III

_____ 8. Romeo is melancholy at the start of the play because
A. Juliet won't accept his advances
B. he is in love with a coldly virtuous maiden
C. Rosaline was the daughter of his enemy

_____ 9. Mercutio's famous Queen Mab speech in Act I is largely
A. romantic posturing
B. Platonic philosophy
C. social satire

_____ 10. In Romeo's first speech upon spying Juliet, he says
A. "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!"
B. "Her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence."
C. "By heaven, I love thee better than myself."

11. What part does fate play in the lovers' downfall?

12. Follow Juliet's growth from innocence to experience.

13. Trace Romeo's growing maturity over the course of the play.

14. What does the Prince represent, and how does he structure the play?

15. Contrast Romeo's and Juliet's view of love to Mercutio's and the Nurse's.

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