Dangerous Connections

See also: dangerous Connections (homonymy)

the dangerous Connections is a epistolary Roman, written by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos in 1782 and telling the perverse duel and libertine of two members of the French nobility of the 18th century.

This major literary work of the east regarded as a chief of work of the French traditional literature.

General presentation

The Marchioness of Merteuil and the Vicomte of Valmont, which were lovers in the past, are played of the company prude and privileged in which they live. Delivering itself to the vice, they do not cease, throughout the book, telling their exploits through the letters which they are sent and which constitute the body of the intrigue. But, for rivals who they are, they are not for as much with equality. The Viscount of Valmont is a man and, for this reason, it can be the blazing libertine who it is, at the great day and without reserve. The letters which he writes with the marchioness of Merteuil are only the account of its adventures.

It does not go from there in the same way for the latter. If it must compete with the Viscount on the ground of the adventures of alcove, the marchioness of Merteuil, moreover, is forced with the dissimulation. Its social status (it is marchioness), matrimonial (it is widowed) and its sex (it is a woman in a world dominated by the men) oblige it with duplicity and the Machiavellism. If the Viscount also uses of these weapons, it is to only allure then to lose, by dishonouring them, the women of which it makes the conquest. It does nothing but run on an angle of rest which transgresses only the morals of its time.

To be its equal, the marchioness of Merteuil must, moreover, to succeed in being extracted from the role which is reserved for him. All the force of the novel resides in the double narration of these two intermingled intrigues. The account of their adventures respective libertines, their strategies and their adventures but also the combat which they deliver one against the other. A combat which will first of all seem a play of seduction for then transforming itself into destroying competition. With final, the two combatants will be mutually caught what they have of more invaluable. The Viscount will die in duel after having succumbed to the love of Madam de Tourvel of which it will however have caused the loss. The brilliance libertine will fail of in love desperate to have destroyed that which he liked. The marchioness of Merteuil will lose the reputation, that all its life it had attempted to preserve, and its femininity that a small pox will fade by disfiguring it.

Interactions between main characters

The characters are divided into two groups: libertines and their victims

The marchioness of Merteuil

The Marquise of Merteuil is an accomplished libertine who passed her life to be played of the men while preserving her honor under appearances of virtue. It decides, to be avenged for Gercourt, to make of Cecile de Volanges her pupil by giving him an against-education libertine. With the wire of the letters, we discover in Merteuil a complex character who very quickly decided " to avenge its sexe". Its adventures in love then become conquests which it has with its own way. Married young person and widowed very quickly, she enjoys an important fortune. In the past, it was the amante of Valmont and the novel will teach us that it was the only woman able to hold head to him. At the beginning of the novel, it maintains a connection with a Knight but quickly finds the means of getting rid some to devote itself to Danceny. Its art of the dissimulation enables him to be perceived like a virtuous woman and it then becomes the confidante of its own victims, like illustrates it the example of Cecile de Volanges. She even manages to handle Valmont by forcing it to leave the only woman whom he ever loved, the president de Tourvel. At the end of the novel, all its machinations are discovered and, disfigured by the small pox, it is exiled in Holland.

Cecile de Volanges

Left the convent to marry somebody whom she does not know (Gercourt), she lives at her mother, Madam de Volanges. She is bored and written with her friend remained with the convent: Sophie Carnay. She adores the marchioness of Merteuil, the latter often comes to the house in company from the Danceny Knight with which Cécile falls in love. Under the councils of the marchioness, she acknowledges her love to him, but is with despair vis-a-vis her future with Gercourt whose marchioness made him a horrible portrait: the marchioness is hypocritical and influences Cécile enormously. She writes however in Danceny to say to him that she does not have the choice, she must forget it even if they is very unhappy. Surprised, a little later, (under the influence of the marchioness but without the knowledge), it remakes promises of love in Danceny. When his/her mother discovers this secret love, it will seek consolation near the marchioness! (it is the latter which betrayed it, but it does not know it). It gives the key of its room to the Viscount so that he can play the intermediaries and transmit the letters, but this last between the night and the constrained one to sleep with him. It does not know where it is and refers about it to the marchioness. The marchioness, in its answer, handles it by encouraging it to think that it will draw advantage from its connection with Valmont without compromising its feelings for Danceny. It suggests to him being reconciled with him and moves away it from his/her mother (the marchioness wants to be the only confidante). The marchioness acknowledges later with the Viscount that the next one on its list is neither more nor less than Danceny! This last in a letter with the marchioness clearly lets see its love! It is a character denied, as its first letter with Sophie proves it: she is happy because she has a secretary whom she can close with key, and she confuses a shoe-maker with her husband. Its silliness leads to good the plan of Merteuil, because it allows Valmont " former".

Madam de Volanges

Is arranging the marriage of his/her daughter, maintains the relations with the marchioness of Merteuil (she wants that she attends the marriage) as with the president de Tourvel which she warns against the Viscount of Valmont: seducer and libertine. She learns the love between her daughter and Danceny, and requires of this last that it return the letters of his daughter to him: she wants to put a term at their relation. This love, it learned it by the marchioness, and it is near it that it seeks consolation! Cecile, after being embraced by the Viscount had a terrible mine, Madam de Volanges believed that it was because of its distance of the man that she likes, and she thus thinks of cancelling the marriage with Gercourt to prefer Danceny to him, she writes her torments with the marchioness who advises to him to maintain the marriage with Gercourt.

The Viscount of Valmont

The Vicomte of Valmont acts hypocritically and sets up a whole strategy to allure the president de Tourvel: it quickly is discovered libertine. Its relations with the marchioness of Merteuil are not very explicit: they were together a few years ago and, although wishing the president, it makes advances with the marchioness (this one is with a knight). They come to a pact: if it manages to conquer the President de Tourvel, then it will be able to have the marchioness which will mislead its knight then. At the beginning of the book, the marchioness explains that she wishes to be avenged for Gercourt, and this is why she tries to urge the Viscount to allure Cécile: but it is too occupied with the president. Its love being driven back, it still tries to turn over the things and conceives as a proof of love the fact that she still authorizes it to write to him against her departure. He discovers that Madam de Volanges slandered on her account near the president and, consequently, to be avenged some he accepts the old mission which the marchioness entrusted to him: he goes on Paris to discharge his daughter: he wants to allure Cécile. While returning towards Paris, it allures a woman (Emilie). It is given the responsability by the marchioness “to seize” Danceny as she seized Cecile. It then will be charged by the marchioness to play the intermediaries between Cécile and the Danceny knight after the mother of Cecile discovered the relation linking her daughter with the knight. It receives the key of the room of Cecile, is introduced one evening into its room and spends the night with her…

The president de Tourvel

She affirms all it although she thinks of the Viscount of Madam de Volanges, but as soon as the Viscount makes him his statement, she changes speech and known as “since you insist, Madam de Volanges, yes I will move away it” (she does not say to the latter the declaration of love of the Viscount). As soon as it receives the declaration of love it ignores the Viscount, tries not to receive its letters, however it accepts that he writes to him when he will have left and when the Viscount excavates at her he finds tears on his letters. She nevertheless asks him to leave. She says once or the other this is my last letter again thereafter, but written. She says also in particular “I must be happy” (She speaks about her husband), one does not feel it insensitive with the Viscount but tries to protect herself some. A whole series of letters follows where she entreats it to stop writing to him, to forget it, etc One evening however, she cracks, acknowledges her love to him, but escapes! Learning however so-called the bad health condition from the Viscount, it worries some. It then will succumb to its love for Valmont and will maintain a connection with him. This last, to satisfy the marchioness of Merteuil, will leave the president de Tourvel. Despaired, Tourvel is withdrawn in a convent where it becomes insane and dies by learning the fine tragedy from Valmont. The president de Tourvel is a character torn between her puritan convictions and her feelings for the Viscount. Its resistance during all the novel shows the power of its ideas, but its too powerful love beats it and it falls into its arms ready to be given to him (with ardor).

  • “ Combatant without risk, you must act without precaution. ”
  • “ I then to say that I am my work ”
  • “ the love that one praises us as the cause of our pleasures is not with more that the pretext ”
  • “ one seldom acquires qualities which one can do ”
  • “ For you other men, the defeats are only successes of less. ”
  • “ when you write with somebody, it is for him and not for you: you must thus less seek to say to him what you, that what it thinks likes more ”
  • “ This charm that one always believes to find in the others, it is in us who exists; and it is the love alone which embellishes so much the liked object. ”
  • “ never you are neither the Lover nor the friend of a woman; but always its tyrant or his slave. ” (Merteuil, letter 141)
  • “ Our reason, already insufficient to prevent our misfortunes, is still more for us to comfort some. and to lose you is to buy one moment of happiness by an eternity of regrets ” (Valmont with Merteuil, letter 115)
  • “ here it is thus overcome this superb woman who had dared to believe that it could resist to me ” (Valmont in connection with Tourvel, letter 125)
  • “ the man enjoys the happiness which he feels, the woman of that which she gets ” (Rosemonde, letter 130)
  • “ He well! the war! ” (response of Merteuil to Valmont, letter 153)
  • “ When I have to feel sorry for me somebody, I it persifle not; I do better: I am avenged ” (Merteuil, letter 159)
  • “ One can quote the bad one towards, when they are of a large poet ” (Valmont, letter 7)

    • -->==Adaptations cinématographiques==

    Televisual adaptations

    External bonds

    • a study of the novel on site-magister.com
    • the free audio version in the course of recording, under creative license let us commons, librivox.org

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