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...

Letter 13: The Marquise de Merteuil to Cécile de Volanges

• Merteuil offers to come over to keep Cécile's mother company.
• She suggests they listen to her and Danceny sing duets.
• Remember, everything's a plot with Merteuil. And with Valmont.

Of course Merteuil's "women like to pretend to be taken by force" speech isn't necessarily what she believes. She's presumably deliberately goading Valmont to rape in order to sabotage his pursuit of Tourvel. She is, after all, pure evil.

Contrast with the appalling "all women love semi-rape" passage in The Spy Who Loved Me, which is written as if by a reliable female first person narrator.

Tourvel has encountered so many men trying to seduce her that she thinks she knows it all. Her overconfidence, and the fact that she obviously fancies the pants off Valmont will (spoiler alert) betray her.

I just caught up, I am really enjoying the speed and directness of the letter style. Also nice quick chapters.

I read the summary and conversations before the letters, when you were all discussing the taking by force I assumed it was all play, society says women should be chase so they need to 'put on a show' of reluctance so as not to be thought less of though actually they want to be liberated. But think that may have been too generous. MM is playing a different game. She really is just nasty, but not unlikable so far.

Letter 14: Cécile de Volanges to Sophie Carney

• Cécile tells Sophie that she cried her eyes out because she couldn't be with Danceny and Merteuil.
• The effects of Merteuil's plotting are becoming apparent.
• Cécile's affections for Danceny are growing and she's excited that he finds her prettier than Merteuil—at least according to Merteuil, who wants to get her excited about Danceny.
• Cécile finds that she's more concerned with her appearance lately. Wonder why.
• A good rule of thumb: don't assume that the information these characters provide is accurate. There's a lot of deception going on. Unreliable narrators abound.

So...I haven't read the book before and have only the broadest idea of where it is heading. The Shmoops summaries are obviously written with the benefit of hindsight, and do seem to be dropping hints/spoilers.

This one makes no sense to me at all. I think we've worked out for ourselves that Merteuil and Valmont are well dodgy and we are not supposed to take them at face value. But is this saying that Cecile ia an unreliable narrator? Other than in that she is clearly very naive and a lot of stuff is going straight over her head?

I'm sure time will tell....

I'm glad you raised this point @BishyBarnyBee as I'm also finding it confusing. I'm assuming the unreliable narrator is Mme Merteuil rather than Cécile as she is more likely to be the conniving one and not a young girl?

I agree.

However, they are all writing letters in their own voice, there is no omnipresent narrator helping to interpret so they are all effectively telling their story and narrative.

It's almost as if Schmoop can't cope without an omniscient narrator so they are trying to be one. I think the summaries are more helpful than not, but they definitely bring an added viewpoint into the mix. When I was doing Ruth I had to sit on my hands not to add my own authorial comments, so I understand the temptation - and Schmoop is definitely going for an irreverent vibe here.

Schmoop is being a bit clunky here, I think -- Cecile's innocent prattle seems like an odd place to get heavy-handed about the fact that everyone writes letters from their own subjective perspective...

The only thing that (I think) is in the background to this particular letter is just that, if Merteuil is encouraging Cecile's flirtation with Danceny, it's for her own ends. Might she, at this point, Valmont having refused the task, be thinking that Danceny will be the one to seduce Cecile before her marriage? Possibly, but it's a bit of a stretch. He's a bit too naive and romantic himself, and the 'revenge' on Gercourt isn't going to work if Danceny and Cecile elope together (or not in the way Merteuil has planned...)

Again, Cecile's naive fascination with other women's looks, and the fact that the older women wear makeup which makes her look less pretty in comparison, she thinks.

Also worth noticing in the previous letters between Madame de Volanges and the Presidente, that Merteuil has escaped the notoriety Valmont has. After a few minor indiscretions when she was newly widowed, she's thought of as virtuous. It's clear Valmont has kept her secrets, and she's thought to have resisted him, but what about her other lovers? How do you keep them all quiet? For instance, why hasn't Gercourt, Cecile's husband to be be, who appears to have left Merteuil rudely for another woman, told anyone he's been her lover?

Letter 15: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• Valmont and Merteuil aren't just playing treacherous games with others; they're playing each other as well.
• Determined not to be impressed by Merteuil's plot against her lover, Valmont tells Merteuil that she's under her lover's power and not the other way around.
• He's shocked that any other man could challenge the power he has over Merteuil.
• Meanwhile, Valmont's valet has, under orders, made love to a chambermaid in Valmont's aunt's place in an effort to get info about the household.
• He's discovered that Madame de Tourvel has been asking about Valmont's activities and told a servant of hers to follow and spy on him.
• Seems everyone's getting in on the intrigue.

So the Vicomte is as jealous of the Marquise's affection for the Chevalier as she is jealous of his attachment to the Presidente. Are they actually just in love with each other and playing these games to hide the depth of their feelings?

And what is the Presidente doing, setting a servant to spy on the Vicomte? Only a few letter ago, she was assuring Mme de Volanges that Valmonte seldom goes out and what he does is none of her business. Why would a happily married woman be so interested in what another man gets up to?

It's all very intriguing...

Everyone's getting in on the intrigue but I missed it or misunderstood the bit about the seduction of the chambermaid by Valmont's valet. Oops de ma part 😳
Thank you Bishy and Shmoop!

"oops de ma part"

😂

Feel like I'll be saying oops a lot 😂

Valmont’s valet sent to seduce the chambermaid in the film adaptation (the one with John Malkovich and Glenn Close) was played by a very young-looking Peter Capaldi!

Letter 16: Cécile de Volanges to Sophie Carney

• Cécile is bursting with good news to tell Sophie.
• Danceny has written to Cécile to express his affections; he hid it in her harp.
• He's dejected because he figures he hasn't got a chance with Cécile
• Cécile returns his feelings, but she's not sure whether she should respond to the letter.
• She wants to encourage him but thinks it might be improper.

Some English translations, slightly oddly, seem to translate 'harpe' as harpsichord (though that's 'clavecin' in French -- admittedly it's difficult to know how anyone could conceal a letter between the strings of a harp, or how a harp could be locked?

I was wondering about that earlier.
The gaps between the strings of a harp can be quite wide, but this is a small harp for a salon, not a concert harp. Presumably the note was threaded in between the strings. The harp has a case or cover so she discovered the note on taking it off. That's how I understand it!

Finally a proper piece of news to tell Sophie!

My kindle books refers to "harpsichord...I found hid among the strings" and my book says "he went to shut up my harp in its case... In the strings I found a letter"
And my book also has illustrations (which I did not realise - bonus!) which shows a harp.

There is the comedic scene in the film where they are practicing singing from the Opera on the harp and while Danceny re-positions Ceciles fingers, he pushes a note between the strings that reads "I love you." Cecile then continues with her singing while Mdm Merteuil winces.

My book says "he went to shut up my harp in its case... in the strings I found a letter"

This is the difference that a good translation can make. I wonder if it is clearer for those who are reading in French?

I was a bit irritated by the footnote in my copy which reads "The letter has not been discovered. There is some reason to believe the evening referred to is the one proposed in Madame de Merteuil's note and mentioned in Cecile Volange's preceding letter."

It seems superfluous to the story and far from adding verisimilitude, draws our attention to the fact that this is a made up story rather than real letters - rather like the Publisher and Editor notes at the start. I wonder if the author is showing that he enjoys playing with us, much as the Vicomte and Marquise enjoy playing with less sophisticated persons?

• Letter 17: The Chevalier Danceny to Cécile de VolangesDanceny professes his love for Cécile. He's a mess.
• He tells Cécile that if she doesn't return his affections then his fate will be eternal misery.
• Basically, if he suffers, it's all her fault. One word from her will restore his happiness.
• Maybe he thinks this sounds romantic?

Hope you don't mind I've posted the summary.
As was pointed out before, Schmoop do seem to try and set the narrative by putting odd comments at the bottom:

Maybe he thinks this sounds romantic?
If you're like us, you're screaming, "Wake up, girlfriend!" right about now.

Phew finally caught up after a few days on holiday. For those asking the french just says "harpe" I had taken this to be a harp because it's the same word!

I already nerdily know what a clavecin is but that seems an odd mistake for a translator to make.

The whole business with the letter and the case is touching and naive, coming straight after Valmonts experienced rakes letter especially so.

What is striking me with every letter is everyone but everyone vousvois each other all the time, mother's, lovers, friends. It adds to the atmosphere of game and artificiality and gives the characters that little bit more reserve and distance. I do know it was totally normal at the time but today it really adds to the sense they're playing a courtly love game.

Another translation effect is some of the wit is definitely smoother in the french as you'd expect, Mme de Merteuils letter about her tryst with the Chevalier fairly zooms along, my penguin classic is a bit ploddy in comparison.

Can't wait to see what comes next.

I'm really grateful you posted the summary, I was out early and didn't get chance. Anyone is welcome to crack on if I haven't managed it first thing.

Totally agree about Schmoop, really helpful but occasionally trying too hard.