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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. In the Third Dialogue, which fluid is incorrectly identified as operative in procreation?

2. Who does Eugenie admit she wants to kill at the beginning of this section?

3. According to Madame de Saint-Ange, what customary restriction does Dolmance make regarding his sexual partners?

4. With whom does Dolmance perform anal sex in this section?

5. According to Madame de Saint-Ange in this section, why are no desires uncommon?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Chevalier frame Dolamnce's entrance in the First Dialogue?

2. How does the Chevalier reassure Eugenie at the beginning of the Fourth Dialogue?

3. How does Dolmance decry religion in this section?

4. How does Eugenie respond to finding Dolamnce in the boudoir in the Third Dialogue?

5. How does Eugenie decide to murder her mother?

6. What argument does Dolmance make about deceit in this section?

7. Describe Dolmance.

8. Describe Dolmance's defense of incest.

9. What methods does Madame recommend for avoiding pregnancy?

10. How is the the sexual passage of this section typical of the writing of The Bedroom Philosophers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In a point-counterpoint essay, determine what the Marquis de Sade would be satirizing if The Bedroom Philosophers were satire. Would his targets be the French aristocracy? The Revolution? Is it more reasonable to believe that he intends the text as a critique of excess? Discuss, on the other hand, what Sade's goal would be if the text were earnest. What evidence from his personal life would contend that the book should be taken straight?

Essay Topic 2

The dialogues of The Bedroom Philosophers are intended to be perversions of Socratic dialogues, in which a philosopher takes a given dictum and dissects it, disproving it piece by piece. In an essay, choose one dialogue and discuss how the libertine dissects a given social more. What component of society is the character refuting? What does he or she find at fault in it? How does he or she disprove this fault, and what conclusion is reached?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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