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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. Where was Eugenie before she became acquainted with Madame de Saint-Ange?

2. What color is Eugenie's hair?

3. Who knocks at the boudoir door at the end of the Third Dialogue?

4. Who does Chevalier penetrate immediately after ejaculating in the Fourth Dialogue?

5. What new attribute to Eugenie's personality in this section shocks Madame?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is sodomy, according to Dolmance, the height of libertine pleasure?

2. At the beginning of this section, what argument does Dolmance make regarding virtue?

3. How does Dolmance decry religion in this section?

4. How is Madame de Saint-Ange acquainted with Eugenie?

5. What argument does Dolmance make about deceit in this section?

6. According to Sade in To the Philosphers, what is the key to happiness?

7. Describe the argument that Dolmance and Chevalier have in the Fourth Dialogue?

8. What methods does Madame recommend for avoiding pregnancy?

9. Describe Dolmance's defense of incest.

10. How does the Chevalier reassure Eugenie at the beginning of the Fourth Dialogue?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The dialogues of The Bedroom Philosophers are intended to be perversions of Socratic dialogues, in which a philosopher takes a given dictum and dissects it, disproving it piece by piece. In an essay, choose one dialogue and discuss how the libertine dissects a given social more. What component of society is the character refuting? What does he or she find at fault in it? How does he or she disprove this fault, and what conclusion is reached?

Essay Topic 2

Madame de Saint-Ange is the ideal of feminine libertinage in Sade's work. Her lessons in the book concern the way a woman must adapt to live a life of wanton pleasure. In a two-part essay, discuss Madame de Saint-Ange's views:

Part 1) What is the importance of marriage in the life of a woman libertine? What precautions must the woman take to ensure her husband is not aware of his activities? How does being married offer new opportunities to a libertine woman? Discuss the details of Madame de Saint-Ange's marriage.

Part 2) What role does the childbirth play in the role of a libertine? How does Madame de Saint-Ange explain a woman should take precautions? What experience has she had with childbirth?

Essay Topic 3

Much of the trajectory of The Bedroom Philosophers involves the increasingly deviant sexual endeavors of the libertines. Write a three-part essay about this trajectory, discussing the purpose of this evolution:

Part 1) Why do Dolmance, Chevalier and Madame de Saint-Ange plot the seduction of Eugenie? What lessons do they teach her in the early dialogues, and how do these sexual acts connect to the libertine lifestyle? What does Eugenie learn about this worldview? How does she react, and how does she change?

Part 2) At the end of the Fifth Dialogue, the libertines engage in increasingly deviant sexual behavior. Discuss the acts they engage in immediately after the reading of the pamphlet. How does Dolmance justify his vulgarity and extremity? What is the libertine's purpose in being especially disgusting in sexual acts?

Part 3) Discuss the meaning behind the gang-rape and torture of Madame de Mistival. How is this a culmination of the libertines lessons? How has Eugenie changed over the course of the novel? What has she renounces in the proceedings and how does her violation of her own mother serve as a compact with Dolmance's worldview?

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