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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. How does the pamphleteer define suicide?

2. Who does Dolmance order to stoke him in this section of the Fifth Dialogue?

3. What is the only thing that Madame de Saint-Ange claims to want from her brother?

4. At the end of this section, Dolmance produces what object?

5. In this section, what does Chevalier claim is still pure in him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What surprising statement does Chevalier make at the beginning of this section?

2. How is Dolmance awed by Augustin in this section?

3. Why does Madame de Mistival pass out in the Final Dialogue?

4. According to the author of the pamphlet, what is the value of suicide?

5. How does Dolmance explain his vile character in this section?

6. How does sexual fluid give way to blood at the beginning of the Fifth Dialogue?

7. How is Madame de Mistival punished after her tribunal in the Final Dialogue?

8. What argument does Dolmance regarding the human heart in the beginning of this section?

9. How does Eugenie's reaction to her mother in the beginning of the Final Dialogue reflect a change in her character?

10. How does Dolmance conclude his argument with Chevalier in this section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dolmance is the dedicated libertine and sodomite who heads up the education of Eugenie. Write a three-part essay about Dolmance's philosophy of life. What arguments does he make regarding each topic? What does this say about the Marquis de Sade's views regarding France? What connects his philosophical views to his sexual proclivities?

Part 1) Charity.

Part 2) Parental relationships.

Part 3) Marriage

Essay Topic 2

In an essay, discuss the role of incest in The Bedroom Philosophers. Which characters either partake or plan to partake in incestuous relationships in the text? What pleasure do the libertines glean from these relationships? Discuss Dolmance and the unnamed pamphleteer's passionate defenses of the taboo act. What is the Marquis de Sade trying to achieve by actively defending the indefensible practice?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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