View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the matchmaker for Samuel Pozzi and his wife Therese?

2. When did Jean Lorrain publish Monsieur de Phocas?

3. When did Liberty and Co. open in London?

4. How old was Leon Daudet when he fought his first duel?

5. When did Dr. Pozzi receive his doctorate on fistulas of the upper rectum?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Jean Lorrain?

2. Who was Guy de Maupassant?

3. Who was James Abbott McNeill Whistler?

4. How does the author compare the sexual perspectives of those from England and those from France in the late nineteenth century?

5. Who was Sarah Bernhardt and what role does she play in the narrative?

6. What is the novel A Rebours about?

7. What is known about Montesquiou's sexual exploits, according to the author?

8. What does Des Esseintes tortoise symbolize?

9. Who was Edmond de Goncourt?

10. What does a dandy refer to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the practice of dueling during the Belle Époque. What were the basic principles of a duel? What were the rules and practices? How many duels took place? Did anyone die from duels?

Essay Topic 2

Who was Edmond de Goncourt and why is he important in the narrative? What publications did Edmond de Goncourt publish? Who did he know among the elite circles of France?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the political atmosphere of the Belle Époque. What was the political atmosphere like in England? What was it like in France? What was it like in the U.S.? How would the perceptions of these countries change following the Belle Époque?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 614 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample