Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Dangerous Liaisons

Whose letters did you enjoy the most?
Posted by at

9 comments:

cl said...

Definitely the letters of Marquise de Merteuil to Valmont. I found her contrivances and nastiness inexplicably charming. You could feel the affection and mutual admiration between them, especially on her part. In the movie versions I never cared about that couple's relationship very much -- I was more tuned into the flashier showdown between Valmont and Madame Tourvel -- but in this book I actually wished a happy ending for them for some reason because they clearly loved each other.

3:07 PM, July 17, 2007
cl said...

I also like the skilled and subtle way the marquise could lure Valmont to do her bidding (making him jealous with her extensive letter about preparations to give her new lover a key to her hideaway).

3:09 PM, July 17, 2007
cl said...

Did anyone tire of Valmont's letters to Madame Tourvel? I enjoyed them at first for the way the two fenced around ideas of honor and friendship, but after awhile I thought they became somewhat redundant -- they stopped advancing the relationship somehow and instead became Valmont's repeated pleas for her affections.

3:11 PM, July 17, 2007
kc said...

The marquise's letters are my favorite, too. Each time I turned the page and saw that hers was the next letter I experienced a thrill of anticipation. After that, I enjoyed Valmont's. He says to her in one of them, "Really the further I go the more I am tempted to believe that you and I are the only people in the world who are worth anything." I was also at times tempted to believe that, based on wit alone, though I must say Madame de Volanges' letters had a certain je ne sais quoi.

Agreed on Madame de Tourvel's letters — rather tedious in places.

I wish women were stupid enough to duel; if so, I'd challenge you on your assertion that "they clearly loved each other." (I may yet; but right now I have to go to my mom's. Adieu, cherie)

3:35 PM, July 17, 2007
Ben said...

I was amazed by how each writer had a distinct voice.

I probably liked Cecile's letters the best. There was something in her naivete and exuberance that I liked more than the intrigue and calculation of the Vicomte and the Marquise.

4:10 PM, July 17, 2007
Erin said...

I am among the Marquise fans. So witty and haughty and calculated.

6:43 PM, July 17, 2007
kc said...

Cecile did write something at the very beginning of the novel to her convent pal Sophie that was merely charming at the time but turned out to be a gem of prophetic understatement: "I assure you the world is not as amusing as we imagined."

9:14 PM, July 17, 2007
kc said...

cl, the more I think about it, the more willing I am to concede that Valmont and the marquise loved each other, but it was a love ravaged by jealousy and vanity and one-upmanship.

I think the marquise understood that the love Valmont felt for Madame de Tourvel, even though he wouldn't let himself call it that, was something more unblemished, something that could become very powerful and absorbing, something that threatened her own status in his eyes. Valmont's assurances that she was his No. 1 could not allay her fears. His passion for Madame de Tourvel was a betrayal from the start, and she was determined to avenge that betrayal from the start — by ruining Madame de Tourvel and punishing Valmont. I don't think she ever had any intention of rewarding his victory.

9:26 AM, July 18, 2007
Erin said...

I agree. I think she could see what was happening as soon as Valmont started talking about how remarkable Tourvel was, how different from any other woman he'd chosen. I'm sure in the past Valmont had reserved that kind of talk for the marquise alone.

3:11 PM, July 18, 2007

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)