Focusing on the final scene of Act 1, The Faces of Marat, write an essay profiling the life and ambitions of Jean-Paul Marat. How do his past reflect the desires and passions of his Revolutionary period? Who does he consider his enemies? Who, his allies? Feel free to cite examples beyond the central scene to explain his later beliefs and doubts.

Essay Topic 2

The point-of-view of the play-within-the-play in The Marat/Sade is transitory in nature. Write an essay about the various points-of-view, focusing on the following three points:

Part 1) Most of the cast of Sade's play represent the poor of France, led in their songs by the four Singers. To what extent is the play told from the point-of-view of the common rabble? What is their position on the events of the play?

Part 2) How does the cadence and tone of the play-within-the-play change as Marat's mental state and health deteriorate? How is the play a chronicle of his final hours, his doubts, and his anger at the Establishment?

Part 3) To what extent is the play exclusively Sade's perspective on Marat's life and work? What is his position on the radical revolutionary, and how does he present this view in the play?

Essay Topic 3

In The Marat/Sade, several characters dominate the proceeding without ever speaking a line. These figures represent a authority int he play. How does their appearance reflect something more gentle than their function? What is their function within the role of the bathhouse? How is their true nature revealed in the final moments of the play?

Part 1) The male nurses

Part 2) The sisters

Part 3) Coulmier's family

(see the answer keys)

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