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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what French town is the play's asylum located?
(a) Charenton.
(b) Bergerac.
(c) Caen.
(d) Lille.

2. What is the basis for all life, according to Sade's works?
(a) Indolence.
(b) Suffering.
(c) Death.
(d) Pleasure.

3. What famous French text does Coulmier invoke in his Scene 2 speech?
(a) The Constitution of 1793.
(b) The Declaration of Human Rights.
(c) Democracy in America.
(d) The Declaration of Pilnitz.

4. What part of Corday's body does the Salesman admire in the dagger-purchasing mime?
(a) Her bosom.
(b) Her buttocks.
(c) Her hair.
(d) Her neck.

5. How much does Corday pay for the dagger with which she will kill Marat?
(a) 20 sous.
(b) 40 sous.
(c) 10 sous.
(d) 80 sous.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which philosopher does Corday cite in her song in Scene 7?

2. What is the "lurid star" under which the Herald says Sade came to the asylum?

3. What object is Marat staring at as he writes at the beginning of Scene 7?

4. How old is Marat when the events of the play begin?

5. In Scene 5, Kokol quips to Marat that Paris facing a shortage of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the message of the song Poor Old Marat in Scene 21.

2. What are Marat's grievances in his imaginary session with the imaginary National Assembly of Scene 27?

3. How doe Marat and Sade differ in their attitudes toward violent action?

4. How does the unrest begin in the Epilogue?

5. What satirical argument does Sade make about the aristocracy at the end of this section?

6. What historical events have occurred in France in the four years prior to the events of the play-within-the-play?

7. Why does Marat regret the inclusion of private property in the Declaration of Human Rights?

8. Who is present on behalf of the asylum to oversee the Patients?

9. In Scene 8, how does Marat explain that the expectations of the Revolution proved faulty?

10. Describe the setting of the play.

(see the answer keys)

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