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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. What does Eugenie demand at the end of this section?

2. What does Eugenie cease to believe in after being sodomized?

3. According to Dolmance in this section, laws are written for whom?

4. What is the only reason to love one's parents, according to Dolmance?

5. In this section, what does Dolmance claim the heart does?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What proclamation regarding crime does Dolmance make at the beginning of this section?

3. What trepidations does Augustin have at the beginning of the Fifth Dialogue?

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

5. Why does the author of the pamphlet reject the notion of laws as important to order?

6. In this section, how does Dolmance downgrade humanity's importance in his defense of sodomy?

7. What argument for the pamphleteer offer regarding death and capital punishment?

8. Why does Dolmance expound on marriage in this section, and what does he say?

9. Why does Dolmance not break Eugenie's hymen?

10. Why does the author of the pamphlet favor the Olympian gods?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the pamphlet Chevalier reads in the Fifth Dialogue, an unnamed author refutes the notion that laws are necessary for public order. Over the course of the pamphlet, he disproves the harmful effects of many crimes. Write an essay about three of these crimes. Why does the author state that they are not harmful? What positive effects do they have? What societal changes does the author recommend in harnessing this good?

Part 1) Slander

Part 2) Rape and incest

Part 3) Murder

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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