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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. Which two libertines penetrate Madame de Saint-Ange in this section?

2. According to Dolmance in this section, what is pleasure in its highest point?

3. Which libertine is not in the boudoir at the beginning of the Sixth Dialogue?

4. According to Dolmance, what naturally follows desire?

5. What act does Madame de Saint-Ange commit in this section that inflames Dolmance?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Chevalier's argument in this section atypical of the rest of the text?

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

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

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

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

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

7. What is the only purpose of friendship, according to Dolmance?

8. What transpires at the end of the Fifth Dialogue?

9. Why is marriage unpatriotic, according to the author?

10. In the Fifth Dialogue, what does Dolmance explain about the law to Eugenie?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay on the topic of phalli in The Bedroom Philosophers. Discuss the order in which phalli are introduced in the narrative and how one tops the other. How are Dolmance, Chevalier, Augustin and Lapierre's phalli all put to different uses? What are the women's reactions to each? Analyzing the use of phalli in the text, determine what they represent in the world of the novel? Excess? Pleasure? Death?

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

There are many characters - both present and referenced - that could be construed as surrogates for the author in The Bedroom Philosophers. Write an essay about three of them: Dolmance, Madame de Saint-Ange and the unnamed author of the pamphlet. What component of Sade's worldview does each represent, and how is this viewpoint presented? Is it enacted in the action or simply discussed at length?

(see the answer keys)

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