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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. Why does Valmont think it possible to seduce this woman?

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

3. How does Valmont force Madame de Tourvel's maid to help with his plans?

4. What does the author of the Editor's Preface claim he has done?

5. In his other writings, what view did Laclos take of women?

Short Essay Questions

1. What action does Valmont take to make Madame de Tourvel love him, and what are the results?

2. What are Merteuil and Valmont's plans for Danceny and Cécile at the beginning of Part II?

3. What does the author of the Introduction say about potential political messages of social commentary in Laclos' novel?

4. What are the general contents of Valmont's love letters to Madame de Tourvel?

5. How does Merteuil respond to Valmont's warning?

6. What serious warning does Valmont give Merteuil?

7. How does Cécile feel about Danceny's first letter?

8. Describe Cécile de Volanges.

9. What does Madame de Volanges say about Valmont to warn Madame de Tourvel against becoming too friendly with him?

10. What defines or designates the "libertine" literary tradition?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the role of servants, doctors, confessors, and others of lower social standing as they seem in the novel. Do these barely visible characters have a voice, or any agency? What portions of the plot do they fill? Are there differences in Laclos' presentation of them through their letters, or through their reported interactions with more vocal characters? What potentially political role could they have in the novel--that is, can one interpret their presence, or lack thereof, as opposed to the presence and characterization of the high-society characters, as a political statement? How do members of the upper-class treat, speak to, or refer to members of the servant and lower classes?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role that religion, church, and the clergy have in the novel. How does each character treat, refer to, or interact with religion, faith and morality? Explain the reasoning behind the following categorizations of the main characters, based upon the characters' views on, or influence from, religion: Merteuil and Valmont; Madames de Rosemonde, de Volanges, and de Tourvel; Cécile and Danceny.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the changes in Cecile's character throughout the novel. What characteristics define her in the beginning, middle, and end of the story? Closely analyze Cécile's letters to Sophie, looking for language and phrasing which indicates how she feels about her relationships with others. This includes her thoughts on marriage, her relationship with her mother, her feelings for Danceny, and her friendship with Merteuil. How does her language and her style of writing help define Cécile's character? Why does she stop writing to Sophie? Why is Cécile's voice almost completely absent through the last portions of the novel? What does this conspicuous absence say about her identity, or lack thereof? What control, if any, does Cécile retain over her own life? How does she use this control, or how do others (specifically Valmont) control her?

(see the answer keys)

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