The Student Room Group

les liaisons dangereuses

which letters would people say are the most important in this novel? not so much in terms of plot, but in terms of letters themselves and what they've got to offer, i.e. showing different perspectives/characterisation? i've got quite a few but i'm trying to gather an many examples as possible, so if anyone has any ideas it would be appreciated.
Reply 1
I love this book - so clever and well written. The central characters' pure deviousness is wonderful to behold. Anyway, just flicking through my copy, a couple of examples came to me:

Letters 85-87, showing the reality behind the Marquise de Merteuil's set up of Prévan, and the way she presents it in her letter to Madame de Volanges (letter 86). It's pretty revealing of the Marquise's methods and the complete disparity between her public and private persona.

Letter 81 - the famous letter from the Marquise to Valmont, describing in detail her "education". Very revealing, and not without its irony - she describes how careful she has been never to leave a shred of proof against her, yet here is she pouring out her darkest secrets in writing to someone as unscrupulous as herself. She will, of course, regret this.

Letters 47 and 48 - the first from Valmont to the Marquise, describing the background to letter 48 (from Valmont to the Présidente de Tourvel); the fact that this letter comes second is a very effective way of highlighting the double entendre that is the entire letter - the actual debauchery behind it (as he writes it on a prostitute's body) is a complete antithesis to the way in which the Présidente is intended to (and does) interpret it... Great stuff.

Another obvious thing is the extent to which religious and libertine language mix, and the way in which the characters use the vocabulary of war to talk about love. Plenty of examples throughout.

Hope at least some of this is useful to you.

:smile:
Reply 2
aah thank you! one of the problems i had was remembering which events were in which letters lol. rep will be on your way soon.
Reply 3
silence
aah thank you! one of the problems i had was remembering which events were in which letters lol. rep will be on your way soon.


Merci bien! Any particular events I can help you locate?
Reply 4
think that's all of the ones i needed. it's odd that i'm doing this for an english degree though.
Reply 5
silence
think that's all of the ones i needed. it's odd that i'm doing this for an english degree though.


That is unusual! Well, as long as you're reading it in English and not in French, I guess it counts... :smile:
Reply 6
but i've been trying to read a load of french criticism/secondary courses for it. well not a lot, but a few books. althoguh i did french a level, it's not exactly easy lol.
Reply 7
actually there is one other thing, i can't find the letters mentioning the discovery/revelation of the private letters.
Reply 8
silence
actually there is one other thing, i can't find the letters mentioning the discovery/revelation of the private letters.


Letter 163: Monsieur Bertrand writes to Madame de Rosemonde to announce Valmont's death. The account includes a reference to Valmont handing over to the Chevalier de Danceny "des papiers fort volumineux... auxquelles je sais bien qu'il attachait beaucoup d'importance."

Letter 168: Madame de Volanges writes to Madame de Rosemonde expressing concern over rumours about the Marquise de Merteuil. The letter mentions that, just before the duel, Valmont apparently gave Danceny the correspondence between the Marquise and himself, that Danceny has made that correspondence public and that it's currently doing the rounds in Paris. Letters 81 and 85 (see my first post) are mentioned specifically as being particularly scandalous.
Reply 9
Hi everybody :smile: hope you are all well!
I'm completely new to TSR so as you can imagine it's taken me ages to find anything of relevance to me!!! Anyway, I have a question with regards to the epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, I've attempted to figure it out over and over but I cant seem to make sense of it! What is the relationship between the letters and narcissism in the novel? :smile: