View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Merteuil call Danceny in letter 38?

2. How does Valmont avoid detection of his and the Vicomtesse's dalliance?

3. How does Valmont spy on Madame de Tourvel?

4. How does Merteuil respond to Valmont's warning about the man who wants to pursue her?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What causes Cécile to become worried and sad about her upcoming marriage?

2. What concession does Madame de Tourvel give Valmont, and what are the results?

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

4. What was the general response to _Les Liaisons Dangereuses_ in the 20th century?

5. What were Laclos' general views on politics and gender relations?

6. What event causes Cécile and Danceny to despair? What are the immediate results?

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

8. How does Cécile describe Danceny to her friend Sophie?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Does Merteuil and Valmont's relationship through letter writing become a stand-in for having a real sexual relationship, or even being in love? What is the significance of them never meeting face-to-face within the confines of the book? Does Merteuil subtly seduce Valmont through the entire novel? What does she lead him to believe? What promise or contract between them does Valmont continually remind her of? How does their sexual tension contribute to the breaking of their relationship late in the novel? How does their relationship change throughout the course of the novel?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the aspect of Valmont's character that has to do with his feelings for Madame de Tourvel and his feelings for Merteuil. What does he profess to feel for them both, and what does it seem that he actually feels? How does he use language and tone to express these feelings to them and about them? What do his actions around each woman, or having to do with each woman, say about his real feelings for them? Discuss this aspect of Valmont's character as a function of the tension between public and private morality and persona.

Essay Topic 3

Think of the form of this work is an epistolary novel. Do the letters themselves symbolize anything? Danceny writes in letter 150 that "a letter is the portrait of the soul." What does it mean to correspond with another person, and how is it carried out? How does reading an epistolary influence your experience with communication, character relationships, people, dialogue, and so on in a novel? Do the letters serve any purpose besides as a vehicle to express the plot of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,029 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample