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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. According to the Herald at the beginning of Scene 7, to what voice is Marat listening as he writes?

2. How many years after the Revolution do the events of the play-within-the-play take place?

3. According to Corday's song in Scene 7, to what does Marat's way lead?

4. What disease's effects are the wigs described in Scene 10 intended to conceal?

5. According to Sade at the end of Scene 11, from what does the guillotine deliver its victims?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the events related in Scene 31.

2. What recommendation does Coulmier make to Sade and the assembled actors at the end of Scene 6?

3. Describe Corday and Duperret's interchange in Scene 29.

4. In 1793, what is the common people's attitude toward the new ruling class in France?

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

6. What is Corday's primary fear regarding the revolution?

7. How doe Marat and Sade differ in their attitudes toward violent action?

8. What is the state of Marat's health in Scene 7?

9. What is the execution of Damiens and what does it signify to Sade?

10. How does the Herald characterize Sade?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In The Marat/Sade, several characters dominate the proceeding without ever speaking a line. These figures represent a authority int he play. How does their appearance reflect something more gentle than their function? What is their function within the role of the bathhouse? How is their true nature revealed in the final moments of the play?

Part 1) The male nurses

Part 2) The sisters

Part 3) Coulmier's family

Essay Topic 2

The Marat/Sade is an inherently grotesque piece. It lingers in the dark, violent, and perverse places of human experience. Write an essay about Weiss's use of the grotesque in the play. How do the inmates, Sade, and the time period of the play-within-the-play reflect the grotesque? What is Weiss calling horrific in nature? Subjugation? Revolution? Life in general?

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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