Blog # 5 :The Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos

 By Diane

   Hello everyone!

I will dedicate my first blog post on one of my favourite books : “The Dangerous Liaisons”, by Choderlos de Laclos. The book’s format is quite peculiar as it is an epistolary novel,(only composed of letters)thus the narration is always made by a character writing to another one.The story revolves around the French aristocracy ,(just before the revolution of 1789) and focuses on the two rivals and ex lovers the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. 

The plot is quite intricate.It is about the determination of Valmont to seduce a married & wealthy woman :Madame de Tourvel while Madame de Merteuil’s motivation is to corrupt Cecile de Volanges,whose mother recently arranged to marry her to Merteuil’s recent lover though Cecile falls in love with her music teacher instead (Chevalier Danceny).

The two main characters: Merteuil & Valmont pretend to want to help Cecile and she confides all of her secrets to them.

They will use these later to plan their own.. “evil” scheme.

I will not develop the story further as I strongly recommend all of you who did not get a chance to get hold of this book to discover it by reading it first.

 The Dangerous Liaisons caught my eye on so many aspects, one of them being the (perversive) aim to destroy reputations with sexual conquests and trick others by adopting certain words and puns to be seen in a more flattering light.

In my opinion,It truly shows the importance of appearances in this particular environment and is ,I think,characteristic of the French culture,where being eloquent,and having verbal skills is praised,even today.

Furthermore, the fact we are reading correspondences which are not meant to be read,gives us a “voyeur” insight,where we can witness all the changes in the style of writing (thus behavior) according to who the letter is addressed to (which tells us about one’s personality and motivations).

The plot is captivating and I strongly felt sympathy towards certain characters (mostly victims of Valmont’s cruel maneuvers),as well as fascination vis-a-vis the power of the Marquise de Merteuil.

There were a few screen adaptations of this book,one of them being the critically acclaimed one by Stephen Frears ,starring an exquisitely talented John Malkovich as Valmont ,and Glenn Close,who perfectly portrays the cruel Marquise de Merteuil.

  I would still strongly advise to read the novel first.In fact,even though the adaptation may stay true to the text, Laclos’ brilliance to embody each characters remains,I feel, irreplaceable.

   

   An other adaptation,which became more popular amongst people our age is  “Cruel Intentions” by Roger Kumble,which instead of taking place in the 18th century,takes place nowadays.The names and plot lines are changed.It stars the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” main actress Sarah Michelle Gellar,Ryan Philippe (who played in“Flags of our Fathers” by Clint Eastwood)and Reese Witherspoon (who you might know from the..imperishable masterpiece.. which was “Legally Blonde”). 

I hope this brief review made you want to read this timeless novel and/or watch the screen adaptations,

See you next week in class !

Diane ;)