- I chose "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" because I knew it has the inspiration for the movie, "Cruel Intentions," which is one of my favorite movies. Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont are villains of self indulgence and the evil that can come from privilege, vanity, and boredom. Still, they are not exactly the same type of villain.
-In the beginning, their motives are the same. They reward their vanity and egos through the conquests and destruction of others. When Merteuil asks Valmont to seduce the young Cecile as revenge against her former lover, who is meant to marry Cecile, Valmont's response is, "What is it that you suggest to me? To seduce a young girl, who has seen nothing, knows nothing, who would be, so to speak, delivered defenseless into my hands, whom a first compliment would not fail to intoxicate, and whom curiosity will perhaps more readily entice than love. Twenty others can succeed and these are as well as I. That is not the case in the adventure which engrosses me; its success ensures me as much as glory as pleasure” (pg. 19) Valmont has reached a point in his conquests that merely sleeping and ruining a girl's life is not enough of a thrill.
-His current "adventure" is the Madame de Tourvel. She is married, pious, and has been warned about his ways. This only makes Valmont want to conquer her more. He writes to Mertuil saying,“I shall possess this woman; I shall steal her from the husband who profanes her: I will even dare ravish her from the God whom she adores. What delight, to be in turns the obect and the victor of her remorse! Far be it from me to destroy prejudices which sway her mind! They will add to my happiness and my triumph… I shall be truly the God whom she has preferred” (pgs. 24-25) By sleeping with Tourvel, his ego will be satisfied on such a level that he will be on a God-like level.
- An important aspect to "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and its characters is that it is told through letters. Therefore, the reader has to decipher for themselves what they believe is true and just rumor. Does Valmont actually fall in love with Madame Tourvel, or is she just another one of his conquests? Is he has bad as Madame de Volanges says in her letters to Madame de Tourvel? That “He can calculate to a nicety how many atrocities a man may allow himself to commit, without compromising himself; and, in order to be cruel and mischievous with impunity, he has selected women to be his victims. I will not stop to count all those whom he has seduced: but how many has he not ruined utterly?” (pg. 29) Merteuil is able to make Valmont leave Madame de Tourvel, even if it was through manipulation, and in the end he is a major factor in her death.
- Besides Valmont and the reader, all of the other characters in the book do not know the extent of Merteuil's villainous schemes and manipulations. Even Madame de Volanges is fooled by her, saying, “The Marquise de Merteuil is the single exception to this general rule; she alone knew how to withstand and disarm his villainy.” (pg. 29) Merteuil becomes the main villain of the story and Valmont a deathbed hero because she not only lies to those around her but to her partner in crime. She alienates herself as the true deceiver. Valmont dies in a duel, a gentleman's death, and exposes Merteuil. She has to live the rest of her life in exile and has lost her beauty, and thus her ego and vanity, to illness. In the case of Merteuil, a scarred appearance and ruined reputation is worse than death.
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