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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 has been the effect of Madame de Tourvel's separation from Valmont?

2. What does Merteuil advise Madame de Volanges regarding Cécile?

3. What happens to Cécile when Valmont's door opens while they are together?

4. What does Madame de Rosemonde warn Madame de Tourvel about in letter 126?

5. What has Merteuil begun to think about Belleroche?

Short Essay Questions

1. Summarize the content of the "letter" that Merteuil dictates to Valmont about his apparent love of Madame de Tourvel.

2. What subterfuge does Valmont suggest to Cécile in order to get Danceny's letters to her?

3. What event causes Madame de Tourvel to think Valmont does not love her? How does Valmont's respond?

4. What is the reward Valmont claims from Merteuil, and how does Merteuil respond to this?

5. Describe Merteuil's warning to Valmont about his reputation in Paris.

6. What happens between Valmont and Madame de Tourvel that shocks and angers Valmont, and why does he react so strongly?

7. Summarize Bertrand's letters to Madame de Rosemonde.

8. How does Valmont manipulate Cécile and Danceny's relationship?

9. Summarize the problem Madame de Tourvel sees preventing her and Valmont from having a relationship, and how Valmont circumvents her hesitation.

10. Summarize Merteuil's tale of her ruination of Prévan's.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of nature and artifice, especially with reference to Cécile, Danceny, Merteuil, and Valmont. What are the natural personalities, interests, motivations, and moralities of these characters? How do they consciously or unconsciously change themselves to show their own or others' various desires? Are nature and artifice associated with any kind of moral message in the novel? How does Merteuil's letter 81, in which she offers the story of her youth and her sexual education, complicate the distinctions between nature and artifice? When do Cécile and Danceny exhibit artificial behavior? How are nature and artifice made ambiguous in Valmont's seduction of Madame de Tourvel?

Essay Topic 2

Does Merteuil and Valmont's relationship through letter writing become a stand-in for having a real sexual relationship, or even being in love? What is the significance of them never meeting face-to-face within the confines of the book? Does Merteuil subtly seduce Valmont through the entire novel? What does she lead him to believe? What promise or contract between them does Valmont continually remind her of? How does their sexual tension contribute to the breaking of their relationship late in the novel? How does their relationship change throughout the course of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the different writing styles of various main characters: Cécile, Danceny, Valmont, Merteuil, Madame de Tourvel, Madame de Rosemonde, and Madame de Volanges. Are any character's style or styles of writing distinct in any way? What type of language, or what tone, is most associated with each character? To what subjects do these characters refer in their letters? How do their styles of writing contribute to the development of their characters? How do their different styles of writing contribute to the "theatricality" of the novel, to its pace, and to the audience's perception of the work?

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