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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. How does Cécile respond to Merteuil's advice about her relationship with Valmont?

2. What does Valmont do when alone with Cécile in her room?

3. What does Madame de Tourvel send to Madame de Rosemonde?

4. What is the ultimatum Valmont offers Merteuil?

5. What does Valmont instruct his valet to do in Paris?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Valmont manipulate Cécile and Danceny's relationship?

2. Summarize Merteuil's tale of her ruination of Prévan's.

3. What event causes Madame de Tourvel to think Valmont does not love her? How does Valmont's respond?

4. Describe Merteuil's warning to Valmont about his reputation in Paris.

5. How does Valmont thwart Merteuil with regards to Danceny?

6. What happens between Valmont and Madame de Tourvel that shocks and angers Valmont, and why does he react so strongly?

7. What news of Valmont does Madame de Rosemonde give Madame de Tourvel, and how does Madame de Tourvel react?

8. Describe what Valmont does when he gets the key to Cécile's room.

9. What is the general content of the letter Azolan, Valmont's valet, writes to Valmont?

10. Whom does Valmont enlist to help him communicate and meet with Madame de Tourvel? How does this person respond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the ending of the novel and the various fates assigned to each character. Does the ending and Madame de Volanges' final message fulfill the "requirements" of a moral novel? Could the endings of, arguably, the two most important characters (Valmont's death and Merteuil's disgrace) be considered "Deus ex machinas?" Why or why not? Do you find any symbolism in each character's fate? Where do ideas of morality and justice emerge from the ending of the novel? Does the ending resolve anything, leave any issues ambiguous, or become undercut by the vastness of the immorality in the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the Publisher's Note and Editor's Preface. What is their significance to the work? What messages are they each trying to get across? What is the tone of each? How do they try to influence the readers of the novel? In which ways do they define the work? Why does Laclos include them both? After reading the novel, do you read them or understand them in a different way? How do they compare to typical prefatory material in other works? Is the Publisher's Note after the last letter related in any way to Laclos' introductions?

(see the answer keys)

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