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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part I: Letters 1 through 15.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Laclos' contemporary critics feel his novel would impact society?
(a) The novel would offer scrupulous moral lessons.
(b) The novel would corrupt more people than it saved.
(c) The novel would showcase French literary talent.
(d) The novel would challenge the political regime.

2. How did French society view Laclos after the publication of _Les Liaisons Dangereuses_?
(a) As a "mystery."
(b) As a "genius."
(c) As a "monster."
(d) As a "saint."

3. What does Merteuil do to get herself in the mood for sex with her lover?
(a) She reads.
(b) She daydreams.
(c) She drinks wine.
(d) She gazes at herself in the mirror.

4. Where does Cécile live before coming home to Paris?
(a) On the streets.
(b) With her elderly aunt.
(c) At a convent.
(d) With a family friend.

5. What message does the Publisher's Foreword give?
(a) It asserts the reality and truth of the novel's events.
(b) It warns the readers that this is a dangerous novel.
(c) It encourages readers to thoroughly enjoy the novel
(d) It offers a comic summary of the novel.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Valmont contrive to grope the woman he wants to seduce?

2. With which philosophical movement of the 18th century is Laclos associated?

3. Why is Cécile unable to go to the opera with Merteuil?

4. What does "libertine" generally refer to in 18th-century France?

5. Which place in the social hierarchy did Laclos' family occupy?

(see the answer key)

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