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 25: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• Tourvel pretends to be sick to avoid Valmont. Madame de Rosemonde asks him to take Tourvel's pulse, so he has the chance to touch her bare arm.
• She won't even look at him.
• He puts a letter on her bed, but has to retrieve it because Madame de Rosemonde might get a look at it.
• When he gets a chance to speak to Tourvel, she says she's written to him.
• Of course, Valmont encloses the letter for The Marquise to read and evaluate. He says that Tourvel is pretending not to be in love with him.
• He has more to say about Cécile, but that will wait for another time

(I'm away this weekend so posting this now and please feel free to add the summaries if I don't manage it on time.)

Finally managed to catch up and am very much enjoying all the discussions! I thnk the episode of Valmont helping the family is quite nuanced. Of course he does it for selfish reasons but I think we also get glimpses of true sentiment here and the author is teasing us with the possibility that Valmont could be won over to the "moral" side.

The debate about doing good and being recognised for doing good is something that interests me. I was always brought up with the idea that if you do a good deed, it is better to do it in private ("But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you." - Book of Matthew) and it still makes me feel a bit icky when I see videos on social media of people advertising their good deeds and getting praise for it...urgh...makes me a feel a bit funny even thinking about it. 😂 I think this is an important thing to bear in mind too - which is why the whole spy element is so effective. Tourvel really thinks he was doing this privately - she fell right into his trap!

I’m enjoying this immensely still and I don’t know if I am just a horrible person or lack some sort of empathy but I find Valmont and Merteuil highly entertaining, almost like panto villains but a lot better.

I think doing good is probably inherently selfish, because it does make us feel good, but I’m not sure there is anything wrong with your action helping someone and feeling good about it. I do agree with pp that it’s bragging about it or showing your goodness off that is less appealing, unless I suppose in order to raise awareness, then there is some sense in it I suppose.

I am wondering if we might see some twists and turns - so far I don’t feel I’m getting lots from Cecile and the (currently) chaste characters. I wonder is Laclos has something more for us, I feel like the author is very clever with the epistolary style and I wonder if the other characters will become more rounded in time.

Letter 26: Madame de Tourvel to the Vicomte de Valmont

• Tourvel tells Valmont that his feelings aren't returned and that he should never have expressed them.
• She was repulsed and embarrassed by his behavior and says he was mistaking her for one of those women who would get involved with him.
• She wants to stay as far away from him as possible and can't believe he treated her with such disrespect.
• He asked for her guidance and advice, so here it is: get lost.
• She just wanted to be friends, and now he's ruined that.
• His expressions of love were insulting and offensive, and if he keeps it up, she'll refuse to see him again.
• He should forget the incident ever happened.

Letter 27: Cécile de Volanges to the Marquise de Merteuil

• Cécile seeks out the advice of the Marquise.
• Confessing her indiscretions on paper of course gives Merteuil power over her. Exactly what she wants.
• Cécile encloses letter from Danceny and asks how she should proceed. Should she write him back? Is it wrong to love someone?
• She trusts she'll get wise advice.

@AgualusasLover I don't think it makes us horrible that we enjoy the villainy, and we all agreed "Ruth" perked up when Bellingham was up to his tricks and was a bit dull when it was just Ruth being virtuous. But does it make sense that I am enjoying them and finding them repellant at the same time? I am a bit squeamish about abusive seducers though, I found Fleabag almost unwatchable once I decided Hot Priest was abusing his position.

Letter 27 - there are a lot of incriminating letters floating about now, wondering if some of the twists and turns will be incriminating letters finding their way into the wrong hands? Surely M de M has the most to lose, no-one expects anything else from V de V, but she does have a reputation to protect. Cecile's little crush seems fairly harmless if it comes out at this point, though she will not think so, which is what gives M de M her power.

Letter 28: The Chevalier Danceny to Cécile de Volanges

• More manipulation from Danceny: he chides Cécile for not writing to him and leaving him in "perpetual torment."
• Basically, he tells her that her failure to respond to his letter is neither an act or friendship or love. He suffers and it's all her fault.

I wasn't expecting Danceny to be so manipulative - he's as bad as V de V here. Are we to conclude that all men are coercive bastards? Or is it that everyone is at it, so we actually like our our conniving duo more for their lack of hypocrisy?

Letter 29: Cécile de Volanges to Sophie Carney

• Cécile scolds Sophie for advising her not to respond to Danceny. Bad advice.
• Madame de Merteuil will be seeing all the letters between her and Danceny from now on so she can give Cécile the best possible advice.
• She'll also lend Cécile some books—ones her mother wouldn't approve of.
• Shhh—don't tell Mamma about the books.
• Merteuil has confirmed to Cécile that she's going to be married and invites her to her private box at the opera so they can chat to their hearts' content.
• She understands her so much better than her mother.

Don't tell Mama about the books 😅
I dread to think about what's in the books!

Mme de Merteuil's influence on Cécile is worrying. Her mother doesn't have a clue what's going on.

I agree that Danceny sounds manipulative and very much like Valmont with his self-pitying ways.

La Présidente's letter was amazing. She really gave it back to him. I would love if she continues to stand firm and keep him at bay but am not hopeful.

@BishyBarnyBee (and anyone else) I re-read Viv Groskop’s essay on this book (in a book called Au Revoir Tristesse) and she essentially argues that Laclos essentially makes us complicit by drawing us to the Marquise and Valmont as more interesting, so you sort of read it hating that you so invested in them. That’s definitely how I feel reading it, like, dirty, but I keep going back for more - and liking it.

That makes so much sense. Hooked, mildly horrified and totally complicit! Bring it on...

I have enjoyed browsing the reviews of Au Revoir Tristesse, and see that there is also a companion book about Russian literature - both sound well worth reading.

Letter 30: Cécile de Volanges to the Chevalier Danceny

• Cécile finally tells Danceny that she loves him.
• To her credit, she also tells him that his misery isn't her fault.
• Now that she's admitted her feelings, she hopes he'll be happy.

Thank you for the summaries and posts. I’m enjoying reading along.

I agree VdV and MdM are more interesting than their victims but at the moment I wouldn’t say I’m quite cheering them on - VdV perhaps more so after the trick with the indebted family, which was a neat return of MT’s manoeuvring, but Cecile is such a sitting duck and the music teacher such a wet blanket that I’m not sympathetic to MdM. Possibly this is a gender double standard but at least VdV is attracted to his victim rather than it being a wholly cold blooded crime if I’m reading it right?

That's an interesting take, the problem is really with Cécile who's not got much personality at this point, understandably given her youth and sheltered upbringing.

Am trying to think back to reading Clarissa - a very long time ago - and I think she was much more of a character so as a reader I really didn't want her to 'fall' and the whole book was agonisingly tense - even though it is incredibly long it fairly rushed by.

I do remember really enjoying Liaisons at the same time so hopefully the 'victim' characters will pick up a bit.

I also agree that the nefarious pair are the most interesting characters in the book so far.

I'm wondering what Danceny is playing at. He must know that she is out of his league, presumably as he is only a humble chevalier. Is he completely lovestruck or is there a sinister motive in that he is out to seduce her too. We'll see.

Letter 31: The Chevalier Danceny to Cécile de Volanges

• Danceny is now ecstatic even though the two of them have to hide their love from others.
• He promises to love her more every day and devote himself to her forever.

Letter 32: Madame de Volanges to Madame de Tourvel

• Despite Tourvel's account of Valmont's generosity, Volanges still has no illusions about the fact that he's really an evil jerk.
• One good deed can't possibly prove anything. It's outweighed by the hundreds of terrible things he's done and the people he's hurt.
• She warns Tourvel again not to trust him and not to even be in his company.
• She herself only allows him in her home out of social obligation. She knows it seems hypocritical of her.
• She also warns there'd be a huge scandal if people learned they were staying under the same roof. Even the Marquise wouldn't do that.
• She seems desperate to get Tourvel to see the truth about Valmont.

Letter 33: The Marquise de Merteuil to the Vicomte de Valmont

• The Marquise tells the Vicomte that he's wasting his time trying to appeal to Tourvel's heart through letters.
• To really get her to cave in to him, he needs to do it in person. It's too easy to resist in letters.
• It's also too difficult to fake feelings in letters. She thinks his phrasing gives him away.
• It's way easier to be convincing in person—you can cry, have sad eyes, sound sympathetic, etc.
• BTW, she's making good progress with Cécile.

Letter 34: The Vicomte de Valmont to the Marquise de Merteuil

• Valmont disagrees, saying he has no choice except to write because Tourvel, "the monster," won't speak to him.
• Even getting letters to her is impossible. She won't even accept them.
• Valmont sends a letter postmarked from the location of her husband, thinking this will trick her into opening it.
• It works.
• She opens it before Valmont and Madame de Rosemonde.
• She's not pleased, but won't tell Rosemonde who it's from.

So...

the V de V is an absolute rake with a track record of romantic devastation behind him. He has set his sights on a highly moral, innocent and apparently happily married wife. The C de C is scathing of his choice, but now happy to encourage/goad him on.

Surely the only attraction here is the power of the forbidden? And the moment La Presidente caves in, V de V will lose interest?

But what are her choices? Her resistance is driving him crazy and making him worse. But if she gives in he wins.

What else can she do at this point?

I think he has her in a corner, so it's only a matter of time. Will he resort to violence if he doesn't get his way? He refers to his fury. In the French text, he calls her 'mon inhumaine'. He is a creep!

Ooh, if you're reading in French, can you please check whether Mme de Volanges talks about "Liaisons Dangereuse" in letter 32. It's "dangerous acquaintance" in my translation.

Yes she did! I underlined it (see attached photo). It made me smile.

Letter 35: The Vicomte de Valmont to Madame de Tourvel

• In a tone like Danceny's, but with a much more polished and sophisticated style, Valmont places the blame for his love on Tourvel herself.
• If it's a crime to love her, well then, she's the instigator.
• He demands to know who it is that has been telling her terrible things about him and what they've been saying.
• Only then can he really defend himself against their charges.
• Her letter made him feel so miserable that he's tempted to return it to her.

V de V writes that he has enough tact not to reproach her, and promises to obey her request that he stay silent. Then produces endless pages of accusatory drivel.

Surely there is nothing in this manipulative onslaught that would actually convince her to give in?

At this point, I cannot imagine his plan succeeding, he's just too obviously unpleasant. But I'm sure I will be proved wrong...

Letter 36: The Vicomte de Valmont to Madame de Tourvel (postmarked Dijon)

• Valmont argues that his love is genuine and justified and that Madame de Tourvel is wrong to shun him.
• He's postmarked the letter from Dijon (a lie) in hopes that she'd open it and read it (thinking it was from her husband).
• He recounts how when he met her, he first just thought she was beautiful.
• The he fell in love with her character and virtue and tried to make himself worthy of her.
• Only when he couldn't contain his love any longer, did he express it.
• And what did he get? Pity? No, contempt and rejection.
• She needs to think about his suffering and fix it.

Letter 37: The Présidente de Tourvel to Madame de Volanges

• Tourvel wants to take Volanges' advice and get away from Valmont, but she doesn't think she can ask Rosemonde to send him away or leave herself. He'd just follow her.
• She thinks her only option is to convince Valmont to leave.
• If he refuses, then she'll go.