1.The hanging of Dr. Faure’s dog recalls the hanging of the villagers in the first chapter. How do the two incidents resemble each other? What major themes do they introduce?

2.Jean-Marie “know[s] we’re animals,” but wonders “if we [aren’t] also something more” (199). What makes people “more” than animals? What role does class play?

3.There is seemingly no boundary Jean-Marie will not cross in his quest to taste everything at least once. Where do you draw the line? What is the most exotic thing you’ve tasted?

4.In a letter to Jean-Marie, the Marquis de Sade claims that sex is “as important as eating or drinking” (237). Do you agree? How are sex and eating related in the novel?

5.Virginie holds a grudge against Emile for the bet he made with Jerome, and Jean-Marie doesn’t defend him. Do you think Emile is treated unfairly because of his class?

6.The sudden death of their son, Jean-Pierre, devastates Virginie and warps her relationship with jean-Marie. What other factors contribute to her depression? After discovering Virginie’s body in the lake, Jean-Marie “wonder[s] how much of this was [his] fault” (205). Do you think he is partially to blame for her suicide?

7.What does the character of Charlot represent? How do Charlot’s feelings for Jean-Marie complicate his status as an aristocrat?

8.How does Jean-Marie’s trip to Corsica change him? What distinguishes the Corsican government under Pasquale Paoli from the French government at Versailles?

9.The novel emphasizes the injustice of a hierarchy determined by birth. Jean-Marie believes that Ben Franklin “is, despite his birth, among nature’s natural nobility” (297). What qualities define this “natural nobility”?

10.Jean-Marie determines to refuse Georges Duras’s request to marry Helene after he sees Georges cruelly whipping his horse. Do you think jean-Marie made the right decision? What is the significance of the endnote about Georges?

11.At the end of the novel, Jean-Marie wonders whether Tigris is in fact “the greatest of his loves” (326). In what way is Jean-Marie’s love for Tigris greater than his love for Virginie or Manon?