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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which place in the social hierarchy did Laclos' family occupy?
(a) The clergy.
(b) The lowest form of nobility.
(c) The highest form of the gentry.
(d) The peasant class.

2. To whom does the Marquise de Merteuil confide her plots?
(a) Madame de Volanges.
(b) Valmont.
(c) Danceny.
(d) Madame de Tourvel.

3. What does Valmont say is notable about the man pursuing Merteuil?
(a) He is well endowed.
(b) He ranks high in the King's court.
(c) He is ugly, but nevertheless a great seducer.
(d) Through skilled conversation, he can get anyone to admit to anything.

4. How does Coward characterize each "chapter" in __Les Liaisons Dangereuses_?
(a) They are "identical to one another."
(b) They are "theatrical."
(c) They are "flighty."
(d) They are "stodgy."

5. What event does Madame de Volanges' sudden illness threaten?
(a) Danceny's meeting with Madame de Tourvel.
(b) Cécile's secret meeting with Danceny.
(c) Cécile's meeting with Valmont.
(d) Merteuil's meeting with Valmont.

6. Who is the author of the Editor's Preface?
(a) Choderlos de Laclos.
(b) Laclos' wife, Marie-Soulange Duperré.
(c) Philippe-Égalité.
(d) A close friend of Laclos.

7. How does Valmont contrive to grope the woman he wants to seduce?
(a) By helping her mount a horse.
(b) By grabbing her from behind.
(c) By pretending to stumble into her.
(d) By carrying her across a ditch.

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

9. What is an "epistolary novel?"
(a) A novel told from the perspective of a single character.
(b) A novel centering around a mythical being.
(c) A novel set in Medieval times.
(d) A novel told through letters.

10. What does Madame de Tourvel tell Madame de Volanges she will do to get rid of Valmont?
(a) She will blackmail and humiliate him.
(b) She will fake her own death.
(c) She will ask him to leave his aunt's estate.
(d) She will leave Madame de Rosemonde's estate.

11. What idea does Merteuil plant in Cécile's head after the revelation of her and Danceny's love?
(a) Running away with Danceny.
(b) Shifting her desire to Valmont.
(c) Becoming a nun.
(d) Seeing Danceny in secret.

12. What does Laclos favor over the well-trained mind?
(a) A high social station.
(b) A sense of humor.
(c) A stout constitution.
(d) A feeling heart.

13. How does Cécile generally feel about the prospect of soon being married?
(a) Depressed and dour.
(b) Excited, but confused.
(c) Haughty and snobbish.
(d) Anxious and frightened.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In letter 26, what does Madame de Tourvel blame on her impassioned outburst?

2. What ruse does Valmont use to attempt to secretly rifle through Madame de Tourvel's letters?

3. How does Valmont give Cécile her letter from Danceny?

4. What does Madame de Tourvel promise to Madame de Volanges in letter 11?

5. With whom does Valmont conspire to trick and humiliate a new acquaintance?

(see the answer keys)

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