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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 Dolmance, what does God have no reason to do?

2. In this section, Dolmance argues that no one owes fidelity to what?

3. In the Fourth Dialogue, Eugenie says her new god is what?

4. In the Fourth Dialogue, what combination of sexual acts does Madame de Saint-Ange advocate?

5. What corporal punishment does Dolmance administer to Eugenie early in the Third Dialogue?

Short Essay Questions

1. What methods does Madame recommend for avoiding pregnancy?

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

3. How does Dolmance decry religion in this section?

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

5. How does Eugenie decide to murder her mother?

6. How is the the sexual passage of this section typical of the writing of The Bedroom Philosophers?

7. How does Chevalier frame Dolamnce's entrance in the First Dialogue?

8. What hypothetical sexual inundation do Dolmance and Madame concoct in the Fourth Dialogue?

9. What is the value of blasphemy to the libertine?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Review the orgy texts of The Bedroom Philosophers and write an essay about how the Marquis de Sade portrays actually copulation. How does the author make clear the specific actions that each character is undertaking? For Eugenie, how does involvement in these activities transition from trepidation to euphoria? What occurs in the text that indicates that the participants are reaching orgasm?

Essay Topic 2

The Bedroom Philosophers is presented in the form of a series of dialogues in two rooms, almost like a play. In a three-part essay, discuss the use of offstage characters to relate information. In what for do these unseen characters appear? What do we learn from these characters? Why are they not present in the boudoir?

Part 1) V.

Part 2) Eugenie's father.

Part 3) The unnamed pamphleteer.

Essay Topic 3

The story of The Bedroom Philosophers is, to a certain extent, the story of Eugenie's education. She enters the narrative a relative innocent and leaves it a libertine. In a three-part essay, discuss Eugenie's character arch:

Part 1) Why is Eugenie initially an innocent? Discuss her life before she arrived in Madame de Saint-Ange's boudoir. What compels her about the libertine lifestyle? How has she explored her sexuality thus far, and what does she expect from this lesson?

Part 2) Discuss the components of Dolmance's lessons that particularly shock Eugenie? Why is she reticent to let the Chevalier break her hymen? How do her perceptions of the world change as she learns more about the philosophy of libertinage?

Part 3) Discuss the type of women Eugenie has become by the end of The Bedroom Philosophers. How does she view the world and her family? What plans does she have for her life going forward? How is this different from her outlook on life at the beginning of the book?

(see the answer keys)

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