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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 Madame de Sainte-Ange in the First Dialogue, what is Dolmance's preferred sex act?

2. What does Chevalier declare Eugenie to be in the beginning of the Fourth Dialogue?

3. How many days is Eugenie intending to stay with Madame de Saint-Ange?

4. Who does Eugenie admit she wants to kill at the beginning of this section?

5. According to Madame de Saint-Ange, what customary restriction does Dolmance make regarding his sexual partners?

Short Essay Questions

1. What specific instructions does Sade give his readers about emulating characters in To the Libertines?

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

3. What is the relationship between Madame de Saint-Ange and the Chevalier?

4. Describe Dolmance's attitudes toward the poor.

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

6. Describe Dolmance.

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

8. What skill do women have for cruelty, according to Dolmance at the end of the Third Dialogue?

9. What does Dolmance think about parental control of children?

10. Describe Dolmance's defense of incest.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sodomy plays an incredible role in the libertine philosophy of Dolmance. He expounds upon its pure, unadorned pleasure. Write a three-part essay about the libertine ideal as expressed through the act of sodomy:

Part 1) What reasons does Dolmance explain through the book that society has for frowning upon anal intercourse? Why is it considered unnatural and dirty? To what extend is the substance of semen made sacred through these arguments?

Part 2) Discuss the various ways in which Dolmance rebuke the arguments against sodomy. How does he connect the notion of nature to justify the value of sodomy? Aesthetically, why does Dolmance think that the anus is more perfect than the vagina?

Part 3) Discuss how Dolmance applies his beliefs about sodomy in his everyday life. What does he abstain from? What does he lecture and practice on a regular basis?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the introduction of the book. What reasons does Sade offer for writing The Bedroom Philosophers? What does he hope his readers will take away from it? Does this introduction seem earnest or like a throwaway joke? Is The Bedroom Philosophers intended to be an instruction manual for those that are tired of social constrictions?

Essay Topic 3

In an essay, discuss the identity of The Bedroom Philosophers as pornography. What goals of pornographic material are achieved with the proceedings of the text? Do you think that the book is intended as anything other than a prurient thrill? What significance does a pornographic work gain when viewed as a historical document? What does The Bedroom Philosophers tell us about the mores, fears, and secret desires of its readers?

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