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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 was Jacques Roux's former profession?

2. In Marat's rant in Scene 9, where does he say the Parisian hypocrites where the crown?

3. What word do the patients chant in unison in Scene 6?

4. In Scene 7, what does Corday contend is spurting from Marat's hiding place?

5. With what adjective does Coulmier describe the keepers of the asylum in Scene 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What role does Marat imply he wants to play in France in Scene 27?

2. Describe Corday and Duperret's interchange in Scene 29.

3. What horrors does Corday witness in Scene 10?

4. What are Sade's expectations of the Revolution, and are they realized?

5. What historical events have occurred in France in the four years prior to the events of the play-within-the-play?

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

7. Describe the events related in Scene 31.

8. What recommendation does Coulmier make to Sade and the assembled actors at the end of Scene 6?

9. Why does Sade feel the need to write horrific stories of aristocrats while in the Bastille?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Focusing on the final scene of Act 1, The Faces of Marat, write an essay profiling the life and ambitions of Jean-Paul Marat. How do his past reflect the desires and passions of his Revolutionary period? Who does he consider his enemies? Who, his allies? Feel free to cite examples beyond the central scene to explain his later beliefs and doubts.

Essay Topic 2

The theme of subjugation and captivity is pervasive in Weiss's play. Write an essay in three parts discussing the theme of captivity:

Part 1) How are the poor of 1793 constantly held in captivity? Who were their oppressors before the fall of the Bastille, and who have there oppressors become int he Revolutionary era? How does Marat decry both in the play?

Part 2) The story of Mart's death is performed by inmates in a mental asylum. How does the the life of the inmate reflect the life of the poor in 1793? In what way is the play-within-the-play an act of revolution against captivity?

Part 3) What is Sade's notion of captivity? How is it different from Marat's? What is the prison that every man inhabits in Sade's worldview?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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