
Dangerous relationships or Les liaisons dangereuses
'Dangerous relationships or Les liaisons dangereuses' Summary
The Vicomte de Valmont is determined to seduce the virtuous, married, and therefore inaccessible Madame de Tourvel, who is staying with Valmont's aunt while her husband is away on a court case. At the same time, the Marquise de Merteuil is determined to corrupt the young Cécile de Volanges, whose mother has only recently brought her out of a convent to be married—to Merteuil's previous lover, who has rudely discarded her. Cécile falls in love with the Chevalier Danceny (her young music tutor), and Merteuil and Valmont pretend to help the secret lovers in order to gain their trust and manipulate them later to benefit their own schemes.
Merteuil suggests that the Vicomte should seduce Cécile in order to enact her revenge on Cécile's future husband. Valmont refuses, finding the challenge too easy and preferring to devote himself to seducing Madame de Tourvel. Merteuil promises Valmont that if he seduces Madame de Tourvel and provides her with written proof of seduction, she will spend the night with him. He expects rapid success, but does not find it as easy as his many other conquests. During the course of his pursuit, Valmont discovers that Cécile's mother has written to Madame de Tourvel about his bad reputation. He avenges himself by seducing Cécile as Merteuil had suggested. Meanwhile, Merteuil takes Danceny as her lover.
By the time Valmont has succeeded in seducing Madame de Tourvel, he seems to have fallen in love with her. Jealous, Merteuil tricks him into deserting Madame de Tourvel—and reneges on her promise of spending the night with him. In retaliation, Valmont reveals that he prompted Danceny to reunite with Cécile, leaving Merteuil abandoned yet again. Merteuil declares war on Valmont and reveals to Danceny that Valmont has seduced Cécile.
Danceny and Valmont duel, and Valmont is fatally wounded. Before he dies, he gives Danceny the letters proving Merteuil's own involvement. These letters are sufficient to ruin her reputation so she flees to the countryside, where she contracts smallpox. Her face is left permanently scarred and she is rendered blind in one eye, so she loses her greatest asset: her beauty. But the innocent also suffer from the protagonists’ schemes: desperate with guilt and grief, Madame de Tourvel succumbs to a fever and dies, while Cécile returns to the convent, dishonoured.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
FrenchPublished In
1782Authors

Choderlos de Laclos
France
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official, freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaison...
Books by Choderlos de LaclosDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Bible (DRV) Apocrypha/Deuterocanon: Judith by Douay-Rheims Version
Judith is the 18th book of the Bible and one of the historical books in the Old Testament. The overall theme is the power of prayer. The Israelites ar...

The Power of Sympathy; or, the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown
The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature is an 18th-century American sentimental novel written in epistolary form by William Hill Brown and is...

Thais by Anatole France
An ascetic hermit of the Egyptian desert, journeys to Alexandria to find Thais, the libertine beauty whom he knew as a youth. Masquerading as a dandy,...

The Diary of a Superfluous Man by Ivan Turgenev
The Diary of a Superfluous Man is an 1850 novella by the Russian author Ivan Turgenev. It is written in the first person in the form of a diary by a m...

The Pharaoh and the Priest by Boleslaw Prus
The Pharaoh and the Priest (Polish: Faraon) is the fourth and last major novel by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus. It was the sole historical novel by...

The Black Robe by Wilkie Collins
As the story begins, Romayne and his friend, Major Hynd, are in Boulogne to visit Romayne's aunt, who is dying. While there, Romayne attends a card ga...

Flor de Santidad. Historia milenaria by Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Flor de Santidad es una novela corta que narra la historia de Adega, una pastora inocente que cree haber sido seducida por un peregrino a quien identi...

The Prairie Wife by Arthur Stringer
It tells the story of a young woman named Jessie Drummond, who travels to the Canadian prairies to marry her fiancé, but soon finds herself caught up...

Storia di una capinera by Giovanni Verga
Storia di una capinera racconta la storia di Maria, una giovane donna cresciuta in un convento a Catania. Costretta a diventare suora per motivi di po...

Leader by Murray Leinster
'Leader' is an epistolary science fiction novella by Murray Leinster, originally published in 1960. It follows two scientists, Professor Albrech Aigen...
Reviews for Dangerous relationships or Les liaisons dangereuses
No reviews posted or approved, yet...