Lecture 2. French Novel.
The XVIII century in France is a time of decline, the decomposition of the absolute monarchy and the
rise of the bourgeoisie: the reign of Louis XIV ended with senseless ruinous wars and a financial crisis,
after his death in 1715, since the heir to the throne was only five years old, the Regency of Philip of
Orleans (1715-1723) was established in the country, which was characterized by rampant and immoral
morals; the reign of Louis XV (1723-1774) and Louis XVI (1774-1793) was also unable to carry out
the reforms necessary for the country. In France, there was a very rigid property stratification-the
nobility and the clergy were the privileged classes, while the third was politically disenfranchised: the
bourgeoisie became cramped within the framework of absolutism, peasants and workers, crushed by
taxes, were in distress. New ways of social reconstruction were needed. In the second half of the
1780s, a revolutionary situation developed in the country, which resulted in the Great French
Bourgeois Revolution (1789-1794), which destroyed feudalism in France and led to the complete
victory of the bourgeoisie. The main content of the ideological life of France in the XVIII century was
the struggle against the political, social and cultural system of absolute monarchy. As in other
European countries, the French enlighteners believed in reason, progress, solved the problem of man
and his nature, recognizing that all people are equal by nature, their mental and moral difference is
explained by different upbringing and living conditions. They demanded the reconstruction of human
society on the basis of" natural "laws, believing that evil in society appears as a result of the separation
of man from nature, non-compliance with" natural " rights. The political theories of the French
enlighteners have undergone an evolution: initially, rejecting absolutism, which hindered progress,
they justified the theory of an" enlightened monarchy " and approved a limited constitutional
monarchy of the English model, but by the second half of the century they already recognize the
republic as the most natural and just form of power. The philosophical basis of the ideology of the
French enlighteners was the materialism of the XVIII century, closely connected with the development
of sciences, the accumulation of material in all areas of scientific knowledge of the world (the works of
Melier, Lametri, Diderot, Holbach, Helvetius). French literature of the XVIII century was an integral
part of the educational movement. In France, educational literature was very diverse both in genre and
thematic relations, it was characterized by satirical, journalistic, propagandistic tendencies that led to
the appearance of political philosophical treatises, civil tragedies, philosophical novels in it.
French thinking has also evolved greatly, thanks to major discoveries in the science of Newton, Watt,
Volt, Leibniz, Buffon, Lavoisier, Monge.
The belief in science and progress was the driving force behind the creation of the first French
Encyclopedia by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert. The authority of the Catholic Church
weakened, partly as a result of conflicts between the higher and lower clergy, partly as a result of the
conflict between the state and the Jesuits, who were finally expelled from the Kingdom in 1764.
The exploration of the new world and the first meetings with American Indians brought a new theme
to French and European literature. The exoticism and ideas of the noble savage inspired the work of
Pavel and Virginie, Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre.
The art and architecture of the 18th century is characterized by the style of French Rococo and
Neoclassicism.
The French Enlightenment is the most powerful stream in the general flow of European enlightenment
thought. It is distinguished by its combat, offensive nature. It is closely connected with the liberation
movement of the masses, which undermined the foundations of the feudal-monarchical regime. Hence
the special combativeness of the French enlighteners and their optimism, belief in the possibility of
building a new society on the basis of reason, taking into account the natural needs of man.
In France, enlightenment developed in the most distinct, classical forms, and its theorists were most
revolutionary. Engels valued them extremely highly for their criticism of religion and dilapidated
views on nature, society and the state.
The French enlighteners are characterized by an extraordinary breadth of knowledge and interests.
They actively manifest themselves as philosophers, as publicists, as artists of words, as historians, and
as literary critics. Such an encyclopedic approach is absolutely not accidental, it was due to the dictates
of the time. Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau and other Enlightenment figures were faced
with the task of overthrowing the entire feudal-ecclesiastical ideology, in whatever forms it appeared.
In their articles and works of art, they castigated class and religious prejudices, political and social
oppression, thereby enlightening the people, preparing their consciousness for the perception of the
ideas of the coming revolution.
The most radical French enlighteners did not limit themselves to criticizing feudal society, they went
further, raising a voice of protest against the private property system in general. On the very left flank
of the enlightenment army is Jean Melier (1664-1729), a village priest from the province of
Champagne. In his only work, in the "Testament", Melier, reflecting the mood of the people's lower
classes, with exceptional energy slams the parasite nobles, kings, princes of the church, deceiving and
robbing the people. He criticizes the masses of the people for their passivity, reproaches them that they
"do not have the courage to unite and shake off the tyrannical yoke by common efforts"*.
Melier, unlike other enlighteners, does not rely on the power of words and moral example. It calls for
revolutionary action, for violent reprisals against the rulers. "Overthrow everywhere these thrones of
injustice and wickedness, smash all these crowned heads, knock down the pride and arrogance of all
your despots and do not allow them to ever reign over you."
Melier reveals the reactionary essence of Christian teaching and the church, which sanctions slavery,
the oppression of man by man. He exposes religious superstitions and popish fairy tales about the
afterlife. "I am ready to shout with all my might," writes Melier, addressing the popular audience, " it
is madness on your part to allow yourself to be deceived in this way and so blindly believe so many
absurdities. I would explain to people that they are in error and that those who rule them deceive and
stupefy them."
Melier's socio-political ideal was communism, which he imagined as a society based on collective
property and public labor for all. Of course, Melier's positive program is utopian, but it had a huge
attractive force for its time.
Jean Melier was the only revolutionary democrat in France of the XVIII century. None of the French
enlighteners (neither Diderot, nor Rousseau, nor even Voltaire) he did not rise to the recognition of the
need for a people's revolution. Echoes of Melier's ideas are heard only in the book of the young Marat
"Chains of Slavery" (1774), which calls on the people to revolt against tyrants.
Melier's" testament " was distributed in the lists, but it was well known to the enlighteners and had a
great influence on the formation of their philosophical, atheistic views. Traces of the influence of
Melier's work are visible in the philosophical works of Lametri, Holbach, Diderot. His doctrine of
communism was picked up and interpreted in their own way by the French utopian socialists Mably
and Morelli.
Not all figures of the French Enlightenment shared the rebellious, atheistic thoughts of Jean Melier.
Voltaire, for example, did not accept them. In 1762, he published an abridged version of the"
Testament", in which neither the author's calls for revolution, nor his atheism, nor his propaganda of
the communist system of life found a place for themselves. Voltaire turned Melier from a God-fighter
into a timid religious skeptic, asking God for forgiveness before his death for his mistakes in matters of
the Christian faith. This fact testifies to deep disagreements in the camp of enlighteners, reflecting the
heterogeneity of the social, class base of the enlightenment movement.
The main stages of the French Enlightenment
The French Enlightenment passed through two main stages in its French development. The first
conditional Enlightenment falls on the years 1715-1750. It begins after the death of Louis XIV, as if
symbolizing the power of the absolute monarchy, and ends with the publication of the first volume of
the" Encyclopedia " of Diderot and d'Alembert, which began a systematic assault on the ideological
strongholds of absolutism. The second period (1751 — 1789) takes place in the conditions of the
aggravated crisis of the feudal-monarchical orders, which led to the bourgeois revolution of 17891794. It was marked by an increased activity of enlightenment thought, a more acute criticism of
feudal and ecclesiastical oppression, a powerful attack of the enlighteners on all forms of the old
ideology.
Consequently, the periodization of the Enlightenment is directly determined by the development of the
class struggle in France. The more often the pulse of public life beats, the higher the intensity of
revolutionary passions in the country, the more energetically the ideologists of the "third estate" attack
the feudal-serf system and its political institutions, the more deeply they reveal the contradictions of
feudal reality and the more persistently they defend the interests of the people.
In the first period of Enlightenment, enlightenment thought is characterized by relative moderation.
The leaders of the movement at this time are Voltaire and Montesquieu. Both of them were supporters
of the constitutional monarchy of the English type, and in solving religious issues they tended to
deism, i.e. they recognized God as the first cause and lawgiver of the universe. With his witty criticism
of the church, Voltaire contributed to the spread of freethinking in Europe, he ideologically prepared
an anti-feudal coup, but the revolutionary actions of the masses always frightened him.
In the second period of the Enlightenment, the leading role in the ideological struggle against
feudalism passed to Diderot and Rousseau, although Voltaire still retains a great influence on the
minds and is popular, especially among the frondist, enlightened aristocracy. Diderot and Rousseau are
guided in their work by the tastes not of the nobility, but of the democratic circles of society. Their
political ideal is not a constitutional monarchy, but a republic. As for religion and philosophy, their
beliefs diverged here. Diderot was a materialist and an atheist, Rousseau was inclined to idealism,
believed in God, but did not recognize the dogmas of Christian teaching and denied all church rites.
In the second period, the enlighteners, speaking out against feudal oppression and the official church,
at the same time conduct a sharp polemic among themselves. Their clashes reflect the differences
within the "third estate", which was not homogeneous in its class composition.
There were particularly strong differences between Voltaire and Rousseau. Voltaire was disgusted by
Rousseau's plebeian democracy, his speeches against private property and in defense of social equality.
Rousseau, in turn, did not like Voltaire's flirtations with the titled nobility, did not share his
materialistic views, in particular, ridicule of the belief in the immortality of the soul and in divine
predestination.
In the 18th century, the genre of the novel was popular with readers. Through it, the author, using such
literary techniques as first-person narration, letter exchange and dialogues, could convey the feelings of
the characters. The French novel was influenced by the English novel, thanks to the translation of
Samuel's works Richardson, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe.
The novel of the 18th century explored all possible techniques of the genre, different points of view,
unexpected plot twists, attracting the reader, a thorough psychological analysis, realistic descriptions of
meta-actions, attention to form.
A realistic French novel combined with the techniques of social realism, told about men and women
looking for love. Within this subgenre, realistic novels about love are written under the influence of
Spanish literature.
EPISTOLARY NOVEL
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters,
although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently,
electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use. The
word epistolary is derived from Latin from the Greek word epistolē, meaning a letter.
The epistolary form can add greater realism to a story, because it mimics the workings of real life. It is
thus able to demonstrate differing points of view without recourse to the device of an omniscient
narrator.
Epistolary novel, a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters.
It was one of the earliest forms of novel to be developed and remained one of the most popular up to
the 19th century. The epistolary novel’s reliance on subjective points of view makes it the forerunner
of the modern psychological novel.
The advantages of the novel in letter form are that it presents an intimate view of the character’s
thoughts and feelings without interference from the author and that it conveys the shape of events to
come with dramatic immediacy. Also, the presentation of events from several points of view lends the
story dimension and verisimilitude. Though the method was most often a vehicle for sentimental
novels, it was not limited to them.
Some disadvantages of the form were apparent from the outset. Dependent on the letter writer’s need
to “confess” to virtue, vice, or powerlessness, such confessions were susceptible to suspicion or
ridicule. From 1800 on, the popularity of the form declined, though novels combining letters with
journals and narrative were still common.
There are two theories on the genesis of the epistolary novel. The first claims that the genre originated
from novels with inserted letters, in which the portion containing the third person narrative in between
the letters was gradually reduced. The other theory claims that the epistolary novel arose
from miscellanies of letters and poetry: some of the letters were tied together into a (mostly amorous)
plot. Both claims have some validity. The founder of the epistolary novel in English is said by many to
be James Howell(1594–1666) with "Familiar Letters", who writes of prison, foreign adventure, and the
love of women.
The first novel to expose the complex play that the genre allows was Aphra Behn's Love-Letters
Between a Nobleman and His Sister, which appeared in three volumes in 1684, 1685, and 1687. The
novel shows the genre's results of changing perspectives: individual points were presented by the
individual characters, and the central voice of the author and moral evaluation disappeared (at least in
the first volume; her further volumes introduced a narrator). Behn furthermore explored a realm of
intrigue with letters that fall into the wrong hands, faked letters, letters withheld by protagonists, and
even more complex interaction.
The epistolary novel as a genre became popular in the 18th century in the works of such authors
as Samuel Richardson, with his immensely successful novels Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1749). In
France, there was Laclos' Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782), which used the epistolary form to great
dramatic effect, because the sequence of events was not always related directly or explicitly.
Starting in the 18th century, the epistolary form was subject to much ridicule, resulting in a number of
savage burlesques.
The epistolary novel slowly fell out of use in the late 18th century. Although Jane Austen tried her
hand at the epistolary in juvenile writings and her novella Lady Susan, she abandoned this structure for
her later work. It is thought that her lost novel First Impressions, which was redrafted to become Pride
and Prejudice, may have been epistolary: Pride and Prejudice contains an unusual number of letters
quoted in full and some play a critical role in the plot.
There are three types of epistolary novels: monologic (giving the letters of only one character,
like Letters of a Portuguese Nun and The Sorrow Of Young Werther), dialogic (giving the letters of
two characters, like Mme Marie Jeanne Riccoboni's Letters of Fanni Butlerd (1757), and polylogic
(with three or more letter-writing characters, such as in Bram Stoker's Dracula). In addition, a crucial
element in polylogic epistolary novels like Clarissa, and Dangerous Liaisons is the dramatic device of
'discrepant awareness': the simultaneous but separate correspondences of the heroines and the villains
creating dramatic tension.
The later 18th-century novel, preoccupied with the understanding of the tensions and dangers of a
society about to wake up to the Revolution of 1789—the Great Revolution to which the modern French
state traces its origins—is dominated by the masterpiece of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons
dangereuses (1782; Dangerous Acquaintances), and its stylish account of erotic psychology and its
manipulations. The libertine Valmont and his accomplice and rival, Mme de Merteuil, plot the downfall
of their victims in a Parisian society that illustrates Rousseau's strictures: natural human values have no
place in a world of conformist expediency, cynicism, and vicious exploitation. Laclos's novel is, he
claims, didactic, a moral satire of a dangerous, heartless world; yet he also admires the cold, vengeful
intelligence that invents and directs that world's viciousness, which the highly crafted epistolary
construction of the work, as well as its elegant, sharp-witted, and subtle language, brilliantly exemplify.
A special place in the literary process of the second half of the XVIII century is occupied by the novel
"Dangerous Connections" (1782) by Choderlo de Laclos, which marks an important stage in the
formation of the European realistic novel, thanks to the creation of complex and multifaceted realistic
characters, the ability to reproduce the life of the characters in all contradictions. Written in an epistolary
form and, at first glance, devoted to the analysis of love feelings, the novel, first of all, reveals the
essence of each of the characters, explores the nature of life patterns that determine their fate. In the
center of the story is the image of the immoral nobleman de Valmont - a cynical seducer, mentally
spoiled, self - loving, depraved, but at the same time-a refined secular and intellectual freethinker.
Portraying Valmont, 111. de Laclos continues Moliere's tradition of libertinage, presented in" Don
Juan", however, unlike his literary predecessor, a true libsrtsna, de Valmont directs all his many talents
to settling everyday accounts, turns them into an instrument of vanity and intrigue. Relying on the
traditions of his predecessors (classicism of the XVII century, epistolary and memoir novels, the
moralism of La Rochefoucauld, etc.), the author in "Dangerous Connections" criticizes a civilization
based on the undivided rule of reason and neglecting feelings. According to Laclaux, the refined
intellectualism of his aristocratic heroes (de Merteuil, Valmont), in the complete absence of humanity,
becomes a dangerous force and degenerates into soulless calculation, fruitless searches for a hardened
mind.
Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos was born in Amiens, France on October 18, 1741, to a
respectable family. At age eighteen, he entered the military as an artilleryman and spent some twenty
years in service.
In 1779 he was sent to the island of Aix to supervise the construction of a fort. It was here that he
compsed Dangerous Li- aisons. In 1781 he returned to Paris to supervise the printing and publication of
his novel, which appeared in 1782 to great acclaim and scandal. In 1786 Laclos married Solanges
Duperre, whom he had impregnated some two years earlier, and
thus acted on better morals than those of most of his characters in Dangerous Liaisons. During the
French Revolution, Laclos was imprisoned twice, though he was released on both occasions. In 1800 he
joined Napoleon's army. He was killed
in service in Italy in 1803. Any fame Laclos enjoys today is due entirely to Dangerous Liaisons, his one
great, diabolic masterpiece. Readers will agree that, in this case, one is enough. Some readers might
think one was, in fact, more than enough. The epistolary novel grew in prominence throughout the 18th
century until it finally arrived at the pen of Choderlos de Laclos. Their themes of education, romance,
and the definition of the female self were repeated in Laclos's own work, but with a twist. Laclos
learned from the error of Richardon and Rousseau's ways in that he did not create a novel written from a
single perspective, that and he did not use the letters of
his Dangerous Liaisons solely to report the events of the novel. To combat the lack of depth, Laclos
wrote a kind of drama in letters, where multiple personages vied and schemed with, and against, each
other through what they wrote. It is the portrait of the end of an era, an extremely rarified society gasps
its last breaths on the pages of Dangerous Liaisons. It is the most extreme kind of epistolary novel one
can imagine, a novel that could not be written except in letters, and it seems the last possible book of its
kind. Its plot and its characters so perfectly motivate its own form that the result is terrifying and
seamless. However, what is perhaps more important is that all this writing was going on against a
background of a stirring revolution, or seven years before the
beginning of the French Revolution. Written so close to a time of civil war, Dangerous Liaisons is itself
extremely concerned with conflict and military strategy, even if only in the realm of romance and
personal relationships. Choderlos himself was a military officer at the time of writing the novel. As a
soldier, Choderlos was something of an outsider to the society he described. This was the society of the
aristocracy, a society which, whether it knew it or not at the time, had its back up against the wall. Its
excesses, monetary and otherwise, had progressed to the point where they could go no farther; fashion,
no longer a pastime, had become a profession in
itself. The publication of Dangerous Liaisons produced a scandal, not only because it described the
long success in society of two seemingly depraved individuals who
lacked any trace of morals, but because it was seen as a roman à clef. This is to say that readers of Dang
erous Liaisons claimed to be able to find certain keys in Choder- los de Laclos's descriptions of his
personages which linked them to actual individuals in society. The preface to the novel that describes
how the letters were taken from an actual correspondence did nothing to dispel this belief. It is
interesting that the issue of authenticity or sincerity of intentions is so frequently in question in the
novel, since its own authenticity was frequently the topic of discussion in Parisian society. One can only
be sure that Laclos hoped to make a splash by writing a novel so clearly designed to titillate, amuse, and
criticize. Despite its banning in 1824, Dangerous Liaisons has risen through the ages as one of the most
famous accounts in the French language of affairs of the heart. Though it is without a doubt the product
of its time, produced by societal pressures, it is also an account of the limitations of inter-personal
relationships that no one has yet managed to escape entirely.
Dangerous Liaisons, by Pierre-Ambroise
François Choderlos de Laclos, was first published in Paris in 1782, seven years before the fall of the Anc
ien Régime and the beginning of the civil war now known as the French Revolution. It can be seen
as the quintessential expression of the excesses and evils of that ridiculously wealthy, and soon-to-beheadless, minority of the population of 18th-century France, the aristocracy. But it is also a chronicle of
the timeless difficulties of sex and love, an unrelentingly realistic portrayal of the desires that are
beyond the control of all men and
women. The neverending quest for power and pleasure in Dangerous Liaisons certainly helps the reader
understand why the aristocracy was heading for unhappy end, but it also helps to explain why the novel
had to be written in the epistolary form (in letters). In the world of high society of the time, the letter
was the primary form of literature, and probably the only kind of literature most women would ever be
able to compose. Thus the letter was a hot commodity and a familiar form. And,
although Dangerous Liaisons was conceived in the traditional epistolary form and inherited its tone
from the sentimental novels of literature written in France and England from 1750–1800, it is
completely untraditional in its treatment of multiple, realistic
characters. At the time of its publication, Dangerous Liaisons was so shocking and exciting to Parisian
society that the first edition sold out in under a week. Subsequent editions flew off the shelves in even
less time. However, any respectable young lady who wished to read about the adventures of the Vicomte
de Valmont or the machinations of the Marquise de Merteuil had to lock herself in her bedroom to
even open the novel without fear of a scandal. All of Paris nevertheless found some secret way to enjoy
Laclos's tale of intrigue. As for Laclos, he was referred to everywhere as "that monster." It was said of
the author at the time of the book's publication that, "Because he has portrayed monsters, people will
have it that he is one." But even after the society in which it takes place had long since
disappeared, Dangerous Liaisons continued to earn a reputation as a work of intentional and corrupting
immorality. Parisian authorities even went so far as to ban the book in 1824. Perhaps the tradition of
suppressing this novel began because it does contain something of real danger. A dark pessimism
resides in its faultlessly composed letters. Behind the impeccable conception and execution of the book
lurks a real doubt about the capacity of human beings to love one another with
sincerity. However, in the past two decades Dangerous Liaisons, depressing undercurrents and all, has
been popular with the sunny studios of Hollywood, CA. The 1988 movie of the same name corseted
Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, and Michelle Pfeiffer, and allowed audiences to see what John Malkovich
and Keanu Reeves look like in stockings and very tight sateen breeches. And, for those who prefer the
high- school version, there is always 1999's Cruel Intentions. One warning of possible danger: do not
watch either movie expecting to see the whole, unabridged plot of the novel.
Dangerous Liaisons receives equally universal regard as one the most significant of all the early
attempts by French writers training their talents on this newest literary form which seemed on its way to
being dominated by British writers like Swift, Defoe and Samuel Richardson. Published in 1782, the
British had certainly enjoyed a head start on Laclos and other novelists publishing in the latter decades
of the 18th century, but in truth Laclos was just helping to play catch-up.
Innovations that would take the French novel out of its hybrid state and make something that more
closely resembled those British works recognizable even by today’s forms as genuine novels would not
commence for another century. What makes Dangerous Liaisons such a significant part of the history of
the French novel is the method by which he exploited what had become standard epistolary structure of
telling the story through personal correspondence of characters to explore what eventually come to be
recognized as the dominant strength of the form as compared to poetry and drama.
Rather than using the letter format merely foster a sense of realism and believability, Dangerous
Liaisons foretells the future of the novel as the ideal way to penetrate into the psychology and
motivation in a much more expansive way that could ever be succeeded on stage and in a more personal
way that had ever been suitable for the thematically-dominated epic poem. In addition, while one of the
primary attacks leveled against this new literary form was its vulgar concentration on the lives of
average people dealing with ordinary situations, that perceived weakness is also seized upon by Laclos
as one of the greatest strengths the novel had over poetry. Dangerous Liaisons faces no constraints over
dealing with grandiose themes played out by larger than life characters intended to represent certain
fundamental character traits and as a result, Laclos is able to manipulate the first-person epistolary
conceit to conceal intent, mask motivation and engage in acts of treachery capable of actually surprising
his audience.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses is not written about immoral people so much as amoral ones: people whose
actions are not driven by (or away from) any reliable standard, and people who act without regard of the
consequences their behavior has on others. Although it is possible to interpret it as a criticism of the
aristocratic elite of France prior to the French Revolution, the novel was published in 1782 while there
was no hint of rebellion in France. The French treasury was not empty until 1788, the Bastille was not
stormed until 1789, and outright war did not begin until 1792, a full decade after the book's publication.
Although the antagonists are aristocrats, they are not depicted as preying on the other classes so much as
on one another.
The plot revolves around the manipulative games played by a pair of conniving hedonists, the Marquise
(sometimes translated as "Marchioness") de Merteuil and the Vicomte (Viscount) de Valmont. These
conniving hedonists use sex as a weapon and lack any consideration for other human beings. De
Merteuil's main goal is to corrupt the young fiancée of a man who has angered her, by turning the
fifteen-year-old Cécile Volanges into a manipulative, conniving person like herself. Valmont's goal is to
challenge himself by seducing the Présidente de Tourvel, a chaste and conservative woman. She is
known for her devotion to her husband, her strong religious and moral code, and her resulting lack of
interest in adultery. The innocent and naïve women, along with the young Chevalier Danceny who is
falling in love with young Cécile, are unaware that they are being systematically manipulated. These
three are used and discarded to advance the whims of de Merteuil and Valmont.
The names of some of the characters suggest their natures and foreshadow some of their decisions and
destinies. "Volanges", the surname of young Cécile and her mother, is composed of the French words
for "flight" and "angels", suggesting the flight of angelic protection and guidance. Whether the angelic
protection and guidance is arriving or flying away is left to the reader to deduce. "Valmont", the
surname of the predatory libertine who seduces both Cécile and Mme. de Tourvel, is composed of the
French words for "valley" and "mountain", suggesting a rather low character who happens to be a
member of the hereditary aristocracy. "Tourvel", the surname of Valmont's married target, contains the
French word for "tower", suggesting inaccessibility and inviolability. "Rosemonde", the surname of
Valmont's elderly aunt in whose home the Volanges women are staying, contains the French words for
"rose" (or "pink") and "world", suggesting that she has an idealistic, rosy view of the world. The modern
phrase "seeing the world through rose-colored classes" has similar connotations. Likewise, the idealistic
Chevalier de Danceny contains the French word for "dance". The vile Marquise de Merteuil has a
surname that contains the French word for "sea", which suggests deception, hidden depths, and
changeability. The syllable "merte" has no meaning in French, however it is similar to a vulgar
euphemism in which the letter "t" is replaced with the letter "d".
The novel is written in an epistolary structure. Each letter contains information one character wishes to
impart to another. Not all communication between the characters is included: the author skips over the
various aspects of the characters' lives that are not related to the plot. Accordingly, descriptions of
scenery, other characters, and locations are quite limited. But the character development is striking.
Valmont and de Merteuil present one version of themselves to the people they are trying to seduce, and
another version to each other. Two characters can describe the same incident in radically different ways.
This emphasizes the subjectivity of their respective experiences, but it also creates an opportunity for
misrepresentation.
Each of the characters in the novel acts in accordance with his or her ideology. Danceny challenges
Valmont to a duel (a highly illegal activity) and critically wounds him because of his offenses against
Cécile. Before he dies, Valmont gives Danceny incriminating letters that show Cécile's participation in
the manipulative affair. Shocked and furious, Danceny publishes the letters, destroying Cécile's
reputation and causing her betrothed future husband to reject her. He of course does not publish the
letters related to his own equally illicit affair with the Marquise de Merteuil-- that would have brought
scandal on himself. Satisfied that he has done the "right" thing, and brokenhearted, Danceny retires from
the world to become an ascetic Knight of Malta. Cécile, rejected by her betrothed husband due to the
scandal, retreats to a convent while Mme. de Tourvel contracts a fever and dies from complications
related to extreme emotional upset. The Marquise retreats into the countryside and contracts a
disfiguring disease.
The novel is extremely plot-centric, which means that descriptions, allegories, symbolism, and other
literary devices are limited. They do exist, however. The image of a rose, and particularly a budding
rose, suggests innocence. Keys are related to trust partly because the theft of a key is instrumental in
Cécile's portion of the story.
In an epigraph to the book, Laclos includes the phrase: "J'ai vu les mœurs de mon temps et j'ai publié
ces lettres." In English, the phrase means "I have seen the morals of my times, and I have published
these letters." With this epigraph, which is a quotation from a 1761 work by Rousseau called La
Nouvelle Héloïse (which in itself is a reference to the female protagonist of the medieval classic Héloïse
et Abeilard), Laclos evokes not just the concept of morality and religious duty but also the eternal theme
of forbidden love. He also subtly aligns himself with the character of Danceny.
Power is easily corrupted.
This theme is clearly at the center of this novel. This novel seems to be a criticism of the aristocracy of
pre-revolution France. Money is not enough for the aristocracy. They also want to demonstrate authority
in the private lives of the people around them, just to help make them feel more powerful.
Human evil is often rooted in power.
As the saying goes, "money is the root of all evil." But really, it's the desire for power that is at the root
of evil, at least within the context of this novel. Money allows certain parties to have different types of
influence in the lives of others. Look at Danceny. His lower social status and lack of funds leave him at
the mercy of corrupt, rich people who get bored and try to ruin peoples lives, for fun.
Romance is easily twisted into a terrible weapon that can be used by powerful people.
This novel depicts the thirst for power as a sort of sexual olympics, a kind of game between wealthy
hedonists. This theme is regular in French literature, famously so in fact. But in this novel, it comes into
the foreground. The actual plot structure of the novel is an attempt to demonstrate how sexual seduction
ends up being a powerful tool in the social dominion of the upper class over the lower class, showing
too clearly that romance leaves many vulnerable to blatant manipulation or seduction.
Social perversion harms everyone involved.
At the end of the novel, in true French fashion, everyone dies, more or less. Even the characters who
survive are weakened by society. Merteuil is left ugly and disreputable, and Cécile ends up living as a
dishonored pariah.
Narrator and Point of View
Because this is a "novel of letters", each letter is written in the first person singular and is limited to the
writer's perspective and understanding (or, at least, the impression of the letter writer's perspective he or
she wishes to present to the addressee). There is no external narrator aside from the letter writers.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood vary depending on the letter writer. Cécile's letters are bright and hopeful at the
beginning of the novel but gradually darken as she becomes corrupted by Valmont. Valmont and the
Marquise, when they write to one another, have a cynical and worldly tone.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The three protagonists are the fifteen-year-old Cécile de Volanges, the young married woman known as
Mme. or Presidente de Tourvel, and the naive young Knight of Malta named Chevalier Danceny. The
two antagonists are the Vicomte de Valmont and the even more sadistic and predatory Marquise de
Merteuil.
Major Conflict
Egged on by his friend the Marquise de Merteuil, who assists in manipulating his targets and rendering
them vulnerable while simultaneously seducing their love interests, the Vicomte de Valmont
deliberately seduces and abandons young women.
Climax
The climax of the novel occurs when Valmont's corruption of Cécile is exposed and the Chevalier
Danceny challenges him to a duel.
Foreshadowing
Valmont feigns a nosebleed early in the novel to get Mme. de Tourvel to leave the room so that he can
read through her personal correspondence. Later, he receives stab wounds in a duel and bleeds to death.
Understatement
The Marchioness de Merteuil says to Valmont: "You would have sacrificed a thousand women rather
than be laughed at." She intends the statement to illustrate how little Valmont values women, yet
Valmont has genuinely fallen in love with Mme. de Tourvel, whom he does indeed sacrifice to feed his
vanity and pride.
Allusions
Valmont makes reference to the lance of Achilles, a hero out of Greek legend, and a magic lance that
had the ability to heal the wounds it created. He asserts that love has the same property.
Imagery
Weeping, throughout the novel, is an expression of emotion by a frustrated, angry, upset, or despondent
woman. The tears are invariably caused either by frustrated love or by disappointment or shame, and the
person weeping is subtly placing herself (or, in Danceny's case, himself) at a disadvantage by revealing
the fact. Valmont, by contrast, is unable to weep due in part to his callous attitude toward his victims
and in part to his inability to even feign what he perceives to be emotional weakness. After her
humiliation is complete, Mme. de Tourvel is no longer able to weep, her emotions having exhausted her.
Paradox
To fulfill a challenge set by his friend and former lover the Marquise, Valmont attempts to seduce and
abandon a reportedly unavailable woman, Mme. de Tourvel. To accomplish this goal, he pretends to
have abandoned his libertine ways. He cannot keep his new lover except by maintaining the pretense,
however he cannot keep his libertine reputation except by abandoning her. Either way he loses
something he loves: a cherished mistress whom he actually appreciates, or his reputation.
Parallelism
Valmont's systematic seduction and corruption of Cécile de Volanges parallels his more serious attempt
at seducing his real love interest, Mme. de Tourvel.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Madame de Volanges presents "society" as having a collective response or attitude toward Valmont,
which is an example of metonymy.
Personification
Valmont describes a letter as being "cold and constrained", as though the letter had taken on the
emotional attitude of the person who wrote it.