Book Review: Les Liaisons Dangereuses
I’ve wanted to read this one for a while—ever since I bought it a few years ago, I've been meaning to add it to the reading list. The thing is, I’ve already seen the film(s)—the one with Glenn Close and the one with Reese Witherspoon—so I kind of knew what was going to happen. I knew it was going to be a long read and to be honest; this book took me the longest to read this year - a grand total of 3 weeks, to be honest. It was tough to get through, not just with the language but also because of the material… the book was considered scandalous at the time it was published but was devoured in secret by the very people who renounced it.
The Marquis de Merteuil has recently been abandoned rather cruelly (or so she says) by the Comte de Gercourt, and she wants revenge. She recruits her equally cruel friend, the Vicomte de Valmont, to seduce and ruin Cécile de Volange, the young, naive and virtuous former convent girl who is engaged to the Comte. Valmont also wants to seduce the equally virtuous but married Madame de Tourvel - if he succeeds in seducing both, the marquise will sleep with him. Let me tell you, chaps, I thought the parents of Maisie in ‘What Masie Knew’ were terrible people. I was wrong. This book is full of nothing but conniving people, whilst the perpetrators of this horrible scheme do get their comeuppance, it is bittersweet - for the damage has been done.
But let's move away from Machiavelian machinations for a moment and talk about the structure of the book. The book is formed from letters, so we only know about the events from the perspective of the writers, who is to say that the narrators are reliable? We can literally only take their word for it. We do see how easy it is to manipulate Cécile, as her tone is excessively naive, but then again, we do have a license to forgive her as she was literally sheltered in a convent for most of her life. The use of letters is interesting - it is a vital tool for the plot later on as these letters are essential for Cécile’s and the Marquise's ruin.
We also have to look at social structures in this book; Madame de Tourvel is high-ranking in society but not high ranking but not on the same level as the Marquise and the Vicomte. She deeply cares about religion and the poor - as part of Vicomte’s seduction, he goes to visit the poor and pay their debts, which are only pennies to him. What is crucial to note is that this book is written and set in the final years before the French Revolution, the poverty, as described, is only brief but gives a crucial insight into the plight of the peasants in pre-revolutionary France. Furthermore, the devious plot only occurs because the Marquise and the Vicomte are spoiled, mean, manipulative and, crucially, bored out of their minds. Essentially, people are but play things to them; the downfall of Cécile is played as a delight, a “frisson”, as the French would say. When really it is an assault and a horrible one at that. But as she is young, pretty naive and without rank - What does it matter? I mean, I can see why the French peasants revolted, to be honest.
The downfall of the Marquise and the Vicomte was a delight - we no longer hear from them towards the end and only hear from the victims of their sinister plot. Their victims struggle with the “why”. But they receive justice. The marquise and the covo te are revealed as the reviled creatures they are. It took a while to get there as the plot was thick and the language very rich. It was a great read and one of the best classics I’ve read this year. But be warned, it can be triggering.