Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Glenn Close as the Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears’ 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons.Įven though the central axis of the Laclos novel revolves around the correspondence between the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont as they rigorously plan their seduction of various characters, we are given the contrasting viewpoints of many others, with a variety of letter-writers communicating with a range of correspondents. While Rousseau only includes letters exchanged between two lovers, Laclos brings in several correspondents, giving his book a much more multilayered texture. The major difference between the Rousseau and Laclos texts, however, is in the way each writer exploits the letter format. In France, the renowned 18th-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau had published an epistolary novel, Julie, ou la Nouvelle Héloïse, in 1761, which became the best-selling book of the age.

One of the characters in the Liaisons, the Présidente de Tourvel, even has a copy of Clarissa on her bedside table. Samuel Richardson had already published his Pamela and Clarissa, which Laclos certainly knew about. The epistolary novel was particularly popular in the 18th century in both France and Britain. The element that makes Les Liaisons Dangereuses such a complex and effective book is the fact that it is an epistolary novel, that is, a novel made up entirely of letters. But I would hazard a guess that relatively few of their viewers have gone to the source of the story: the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782.Īs wonderful as all those famous adaptations are, I would argue that they only manage to recapture a small part of the novel’s essence, and this is just one reason why I would urge anybody who has not read the original book to take advantage of the current enforced lockdown to read it. Slightly younger readers might well know it from the 1999 updated cinematic version, Cruel Intentions. Paris Update readers of a certain age will undoubtedly know Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) from Stephen Frears’ 1988 movie adaptation, starring Glenn Close, John Malkovitch, Michelle Pfeiffer, Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman, or from Christopher Hampton’s earlier stage version. Note to readers: You may choose to read this analysis of Les Liaisons Dangereuses here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article. John Malkovich as the Vicomte de Valmont and Glenn Close as the Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears’ 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons.

Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos