Did She Fall Or Was She Pushed? Dangerous Liaisons Readalong 2024

[BishyBarnyBee]

Following a series of successful Fallen Women readalongs - War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Ruth - we continue our exploration of desire, hypocrisy, disgrace and redemption with the earlier (and even more scandalous) Dangerous Liaisons.

Widely adapted in text, film, opera and even ballet, Les Liaisons Dangereuses is an epistolatory novel comprising 175 letters.

Author Chodelos de Laclos "resolved to write a book that would be quite outside the ordinary trend, which would make a sensation and echo over the world after I left it." His book was a succès de scandale on its 1782 publication, reviewed as "diabolique" while becoming an instant bestseller. Marie Antoinette commissioned a blank cover copy for her library, and Virginia Woolf later read it with "great delight".

Readalongs are Mumsnet's best kept secret - a quiet corner of the site where we tackle the books we might not manage alone, sharing our thoughts and reactions, and encouraging each other to keep going when life - or the book - are challenging. It's fine to dip in and out as life permits, very few of us manage to keep up consistently.

We've only heard good things about DL, so do join us for a cracking good read. We start 1st May, 1 letter a day:

1 - 31 May Letters 1 - 31
1 - 30 June Letters 32 - 61
1 - 31 July Letters 62 - 92
1 - 31 August Letters 93 - 123
1- 30 September 124 - 153
1 - 22nd October 154 - 175

There are summaries of each letter at shmoop.com. I'll post them when I can, but anyone is welcome to start us off if you are first here on the day.

Looking forward to it!

Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) Summary

Free summary and analysis of the events in Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos's Les Liaisons dangereus...

Thanks @BishyBarnyBee for the kind words and the summaries, and to everyone for the comments. I keep getting distracted and falling off track with the reading, then catching up again.

Letter 70: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• At a party, Valmont is praising the Marquise for everyone to hear.
• Another partier, Prévan, expresses total disbelief in her virtue.
• He plans to pursue her.
• Valmont clues in the Marquise, hoping she'll agree to ruin the guy.
• Regarding Tourvel, Valmont intends to make her work for his love. He thinks that her "no" means "yes."

I was going to post the Letter 71 summary as well but the website seems to be crashing. Never mind!

Letter 71: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• Valmont's valet leaves his portfolio in Paris. The portfolio has all the letters.
• Fortunately, Valmont has Le iPhone and can text while he waits.
• Or, well, compose a letter anyway.
• And complain about his valet.
• He also tells the Marquise about how he saved a woman from ruin.
• This woman, a Vicomtesse, had a husband and a lover, the latter named Vressac. All three are not on the best of terms and Valmont decides to have some fun.
• He manages to get the Vicomtesse to his room late at night.
• In the morning, the Vicomtesse returns to her room and finds she's locked herself out.
• Valmont kicks in the door after conspiring with her on a story. She screams about an intruder and Valmont breaks in to stop the alleged attack.
• When the husband and lover show up after hearing the noise, Valmont scolds them for the sleeping through their lady's distress.
• Blaming the noise on rats, Valmont helps the husband and wife to reconcile.
• At the end of his letter, Valmont tells the Marquise to watch out for Prévan.

Bishy said, Making letters public - what can possibly go wrong?

Yes! I find it chilling the way Valmont is planning ahead and is ready to use Cecile's letters as a future weapon against her if necessary. There's a chance she might not marry Gercourt, but now, because Valmont has a grudge against Cecile's mother, he is determined to make Cecile lose her reputation regardless, so he wants her letters.

The physical, material letters play an important role in this text. They can forge bonds between people, but also destroy people.

Valmont is so very pleased with himself about his little 'aventure' in Letter 71. Honestly, Valmont, the story isn't that funny. I note also the homoerotic reference at the end of the letter, when he says that he's kissed by both the vicomtesse and her lover Vressac, and he enjoys Vressac's kisses more. OK!

Shmoop also leaves out the bit at the end of the letter where he gives Merteuil permission to circulate the story if she wants to. And (I'm not quite sure I understand this bit) he says it's enough to make the story public for now, but maybe the heroine will have her turn later. So after all that trouble to save the woman's reputation, he's not averse to making her lose it after all?

There are lots of references throughout the text to nasty gossip or 'medisance'. Like written letters, oral gossip can make or break someone's reputation. And virtually all the members of society seem happy to gossip about sex. Which is one reason society is so hypocritical: they supposedly condemn extramarital sex, but they love to gossip about it.

A good line from Valmont at the beginning of Letter 70: '... the conversation languished as it always does when one has nothing but compliments for one's neighbour.'

I know I was just being all judgy about the gossip, but it's so true that when people have only kind things to say about other people, the conversation can be boring 😜

Agreed, cassandre. He isn't saving this woman's reputation* *if he is happy for the story to circulate. Confusing! But he is not an honourable man. He is a rat. Ha!

But he is not an honourable man. He is a rat. 😂 I see what you did there, bravissima!

Too good to pass it up ;)

Letter 72: Le Chevalier Danceny to Cécile Volanges.
Please tell me for the umpteenth time that you love me.

Letter 73: Le Vicomte de Valmont to Cécile Volanges.
Your friend is at hand to serve you and will provide you with writing materials. He advises you to give him the letters from Danceny for safe keeping. He may seem to ignore you in company and treat you as a child. This is only so he can work more effectively and securely for his friend's happiness and for yours.

I thought letter 73 was sinister; Valmont alluding to himself in the third person as the mysterious friend. He also positions himself as the good guy by blaming Mme Volanges for the situation that Cécile and Danceny find themselves in, that she has persecuted them for having fallen in love.
He is only too happy to help out as he is a good friend.

Poor Cecile she doesn't stand a chance.

Thanks so much @FuzzyCaoraDhubh and @cassandre for bringing us up to date. I've had a lot on but also the thread has been a bit quiet so I probably felt less committed to stay on top of it than I had been.

I'm also away from next week and will be cycle touring with only my phone and intermittent internet, so if we can keep it going as a collective effort for the next few weeks that would be great. I did wonder whether daily posting is a bit too much and perhaps moving to posting every 5 letters - in line with the Shmoop sections - might give us more to discuss. But I'm happy to continue on an ad hoc basis if that works best.

Thanks @BishyBarnyBee , I'd be happy to post the summaries while you're away. I also like the idea of posting five letters at a time, in line with the Shmoop chunks. Reading a letter every day is proving difficult for my scatty brain.

By the way, Letter 81 is coming up soonish, and it's one of the most interesting letters in the novel from a feminist perspective. It's kind of a mini-autobiography by Merteuil and gives insight into why and how she has become what she has become. So I'm looking forward to it!

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh , you're so right about the sinister nature of Valmont's letter in the third person to Cecile. I feel more conscious than ever (reading the novel this time round) of how relentlessly Cecile is being groomed. It's chilling.

Her mother lets her down as well, though in a less obvious way. She continues to treat her daughter like a child and effectively leaves her with no way to defend herself. There was a moment in Letter 63 where Merteuil says she has to watch out and prevent Mme de Volanges from gaining the confidence of her daughter. Merteuil says that Mme de V could easily win her daughter's trust, by using a bit of gentleness and kindness, but fortunately (from Merteuil's perspective!) she continues to treat her daughter harshly and thus alienates her. So the mother/daughter relationship remains one of mutual distrust.

I think this insight into parenting remains applicable in the 21st c. as well. Authoritarian parenting and infantisiling your children is not in your interest or theirs.

Btw, Bishy, I'm impressed by the cycle touring! You must be very fit!

Thanks Bishy and cassandre. I'll chime in with a comment whenever it occurs to me as I enjoy it. I'm looking forward to letter 81 now.

Yes, I noticed that too cassandre that Mme Volanges has played into Merteuil's and Valmont's hands with her authoritarian parenting. Also, grooming describes Valmont's behaviour perfectly.

Enjoy the cycle tour Bishy! Hope all goes well.

Letter 74: The Marquise de Merteuil to the Vicomte de Valmont

• Merteuil teases Valmont about his fear of Prévan. Like she can't take care of herself.
• She sees Prévan as a chance for some fun.
• Not to mention a way to annoy Valmont, whom she guesses is jealous.
• She's getting a little bored with her lover, anyway, so this will keep things interesting.
• She decides to play with Prévan and seduces him at the opera.
• From Valmont, she wants all the news about Prévan that Valmont knows, including all the details about a "triple affair" she's heard about.

Letter 75: Cécile de Volanges to Sophie Carney

• In her final letter to Sophie (included in the collection), Cécile tells her friend about Valmont.
• She's grown to like him, but notices not everyone in the house does.
• He's very clever and managed to slip her one of Danceny's letters without anyone noticing.
• She worries that Valmont will get tired of the place and return to Paris.
• Cécile says she's been holding back from telling all her thoughts to Danceny.
• Valmont and Merteuil's plan is working perfectly.

I don't have a lot of thoughts on these two letters. Merteuil, true to type, lets Valmont know that she is one or several steps ahead of him, as usual.

And Cecile continues to view everything without understanding it. She says 'je ne sais pas' / 'je ne sais comment' a couple of times. I think the phrase 'I don't know' comes up in nearly all her letters.

Thanks for the summaries and insightful comments. I’m also finding I’m reading a few ahead, then putting it aside until I’m a few behind. Tbh I’m finding the protracted lamb to the slaughter quite hard to watch.

I thought the illustration of the powerplay between Merteuil and Valmont was good in that letter. They are both useful to each other and they need each other as allies but he comes across as being possessive of her and she takes him to task over it. She is definitely one step or a few steps ahead of him and seems to have the upper hand. I wonder if this will always be the case.

That was a chilling line from Merteuil that describes Valmont's position to be able to choose between love and hate, to choose to caress or to strike as he likes under the same roof, and all this due to Merteuil's orchestration.

That's very true about Cécile and her negative phraseology. Also 'I can't imagine how that will be possible' towards the end of the letter. Also, the editor's note at the end is worth noting, that Sophie will no longer be her confidant from this moment on. It seems like the final thread tying her to her old life has been cut.

We have had one month's worth of correspondence to date (17th August-18th September). It seems longer!

That's a good point, Fuzzy, it seems longer to me as well!

I'll go ahead and post the next summaries now. Hope to be back later this evening to discuss them.

Letter 76: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• In a message that screams "overreaction," Valmont tells the Marquise that she's deranged to think he's frightened of Prévan.
• He's sure that Prévan will brag about his exploits with her and destroy her reputation.
• He tells her that he was afraid Tourvel would escape his advances.
• He made a grand entrance at a dinner Tourvel was attending and as soon as she heard his voice, she looked totally thrown off balance.
• She finally has to leave the table on the pretext of getting some air.
• Later, he and some other guests go out to look for her in the garden.
• He later catches sight of her while going to his room. He spends some time imagining her naked.
• They exchange timid glances—at least, timid on her part, fake-timid on his.
• Needing a diversion to deliver Danceny's letter to Cécile, he jumps up and loudly asks if Madame de Tourvel is ill.
• While the others run over to see what's wrong, he throws the letters in Cécile's lap.

Letter 77: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Présidente de Tourvel

• Valmont continues to heap the guilt on Madame de Tourvel and tells her that her behavior towards him doesn't seem like love or friendship.
• He can't understand what he's done to make her keep avoiding him.

Letter 78: The Présidente de Tourvel to the Vicomte de Valmont

• Madame de Tourvel defends her actions, saying that Valmont's reputation, behavior, and broken promises are the reasons for her coldness to him.
• She wonders how many times she has to explain it to him before he gets the point.

Letter 79: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• Valmont gives some history about Prévan.
• Once upon a time, three young men, the best of friends, each took a lover.
• Society came to know them as the "inseparables."
• Prévan managed to join their social circle and figured out that the three couples weren't as close as they seemed.
• He plotted and carried out a plan to seduce all three mistresses and then turn the three gentlemen against their lovers instead of him. Everyone got to see it happen.
• This should be a lesson for the Marquise that Prévan is quite the dangerous schemer.

Thanks cassandre! Weren't Les Inséparables three young women though?
Shmoop?! Or maybe it's just worded badly.

It's worse that Prévan targeted women. He tricked the three men but they got off lightly. The women's lives were ruined as a consequence. All for what? He sounds like a troublemaker.

You're right, @FuzzyCaoraDhubh , it was the women who were the three 'inseparables'! That's a really rubbish summary by Shmoop. It makes me quite cross! The whole point was a female friendship, which a man then destroyed.

Real female friendship seems very rare in this novel. And when we do find it, it's wrecked and then replaced by male friendship instead: male/male bonding between Prevan and the three male lovers whom HE has wronged. Ugh. This seems very emblematic of how friendship in the novel works.

Again and again, women are shown to be more vulnerable than men.

I can also see a comic side: Prevan saying to the jilted men, fine, I'll fight three duels, but let's just have breakfast first! However, it's chilling for the women, as you say.

Actually the Shmoop summary of letter 79 works if you replace the word 'women' for the word 'men' in the sentence beginning 'Once upon a time.' So an error maybe? Still it seems a revealing error... men rather than women are assumed to be the main protagonists of the story.