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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 Marat in Scene 11, where did the aristocrats allow the poor to die slowly?

2. Which of the following characters does not have a line in the Homage to Marat?

3. Who shouts "Long live the Revolution" midway through the Homage to Marat?

4. In what year is The Marat/Sade set?

5. What is Coulmier's official position?

Short Essay Questions

1. What false story does Corday deliver in her first visit to Marat's lodging?

2. How has the role of Jacques Roux been changed by Coulmier?

3. Besides Coulmier, who interrupts the action of the play in this section?

4. How does the cast indicate the beginning of performance in Scene 3?

5. What is the topic of Corday's song in Scene 7?

6. Describe the world that Corday and Duperret describe in Scene 22.

7. What do the apparitions of Scene 26 reveal about Marat?

8. What is the execution of Damiens and what does it signify to Sade?

9. Describe the setting of the play.

10. Why is Marat particularly outraged by aristocratic revulsion at the executions?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Interruptions are common throughout the Marat/Sade. The play-within-the-plsy is stopped several times int he middle of the action. Write an essay about these interruptions:

Part 1) Coulmier is the character that most often interrupts the action of Sade's play. What are his concerns and grievances? How are they received by the actors and Sade? Are these concerns well-founded?

Part 2) Which inmates interrupt the performance? Why dot hey do so, and how do these unexpected interruptions reflect something essential about the action onstage? What effect do they create?

Part 3) There is one planned interruption in the play-within-the-play, right before the death of Marat. Why does Sade include this interruption? How is it intended to inform the action of the final moments of the play?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the worldview of Duperret and Corday. What do they describe as their ideal nation? How does the Paris of 1793 represent everything that both detest about social engineering? Why do you think this leads Charlotte Corday to take violent action but not Duperret?

Essay Topic 3

In the great debate between Sade and Mart, Sade's viewpoint is more complex and ambiguous. As an aristocrat turned Revolutionary turned voice for political apathy, his worldview is strange and inwardly focused. Write an essay on etymology of this viewpoint. Why did Sade join the Revolution, and why was he repelled by it? What does he view as most important in life? What is his attitude toward violence and its place in society?

(see the answer keys)

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