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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. According to Sade at the end of Scene 11, from what does the guillotine deliver its victims?

2. What action is Simone performing at the beginning of Scene 3?

3. At the beginning of the song in Scene 10, what emotion has nearly defeated Corday?

4. What right's inclusion in the Revolution's declaration does Marat lament at the end of Scene 15?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Corday and Duperret's interchange in Scene 29.

2. In what way does Coulmier claim the bathouse is a particularly appropriate setting for Sade's play?

3. What is Corday's primary fear regarding the revolution?

4. What recommendation does Coulmier make to Sade and the assembled actors at the end of Scene 6?

5. What horrors does Corday witness in Scene 10?

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 Sade feel the need to write horrific stories of aristocrats while in the Bastille?

8. How does the Herald describe Marat in Scene 4?

9. Describe the events related in Scene 31.

10. Besides Coulmier, who interrupts the action of the play in this section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The idea of the reactionary is a constant theme throughout the play. Write an essay about the revolutionary attitude toward those who wish to reverse the social changes recently made. For each character below, explain their attitude toward the Revolution as a whole, Marat in particular, and violence in general:

Part 1) Corday

Part 2) Sade

Part 3) Coulmier

Essay Topic 2

Sade spends much time in the play debating Marat's philosophy, but the ostensible subject of the play-within-the-play is his murder. Write an essay detailing Sade's attitude toward the murder. Does he believe it is a good thing for France? Does he believe Charlotte Corday had a cogent vision for France? Though the prompt requires conjecture, use evidence from the text to defend your position.

Essay Topic 3

The theme of subjugation and captivity is pervasive in Weiss's play. Write an essay in three parts discussing the theme of captivity:

Part 1) How are the poor of 1793 constantly held in captivity? Who were their oppressors before the fall of the Bastille, and who have there oppressors become int he Revolutionary era? How does Marat decry both in the play?

Part 2) The story of Mart's death is performed by inmates in a mental asylum. How does the the life of the inmate reflect the life of the poor in 1793? In what way is the play-within-the-play an act of revolution against captivity?

Part 3) What is Sade's notion of captivity? How is it different from Marat's? What is the prison that every man inhabits in Sade's worldview?

(see the answer keys)

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