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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 object is Marat staring at as he writes at the beginning of Scene 7?

2. What right's inclusion in the Revolution's declaration does Marat lament at the end of Scene 15?

3. Which of the follow is not something the singers of Scene 5 suggest be done to the ruling class of 1793?

4. The song in Scene 10 details Corday's arrival in what town?

5. What was Jacques Roux's former profession?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the world that Corday and Duperret describe in Scene 22.

2. How does Coulmier characterize the asylum in Scene 2?

3. How does the Herald describe Marat in Scene 4?

4. What is the nature of Marat's life in 1793?

5. In Scene 28, how do the Singers tell Marat he could avoid his death?

6. What false story does Corday deliver in her first visit to Marat's lodging?

7. How does Corday's sickness affect her performance?

8. What is Sade's ultimate attitude toward Marat?

9. What final points does Coulmier make in the Epilogue?

10. Why does Coulmier stop the play in Scene 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sade spends much time in the play debating Marat's philosophy, but the ostensible subject of the play-within-the-play is his murder. Write an essay detailing Sade's attitude toward the murder. Does he believe it is a good thing for France? Does he believe Charlotte Corday had a cogent vision for France? Though the prompt requires conjecture, use evidence from the text to defend your position.

Essay Topic 2

In Weiss's play, sex and violence are intertwined in a way such that one cannot exist without the other. Write an essay on this inextricable link, focusing on these three points:

Part 1) How does Charlotte Corday represent the perfect balance of sexuality and destruction? How does her plan to murder Marat hinge on her sexual allure? How does her religious fervor play to both of these attributes?

Part 2) The Marquis de Sade was infamous for his linking of sex and violence in his writing. How does the Sade of Weiss's play explain this fascination? What is his attitude to either sex or violence individually?

Part 3) Focusing on Sade's speech to Marat before Corday's third visit, discuss both sex and violence as driving forces both in the play and the play-within-the play.

Essay Topic 3

Much of the dialogue in The Marat/Sade focuses on the link between theory and violent action. Write an essay about his link, focusing on the two dominant symbols of each. How are they connected? What responsibility doe the author seem to imply the theorist has regarding the enacting of his ideas?

Part 1 ) Marat's quill and paper

Part 2) The guillotine

(see the answer keys)

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