Book Cases: The manipulated

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Which victim excited the most pity in you? Did you ever have the feeling, along with a sense of pity, that one of them got what he/she deserved?

Ben said...: I think Tourvel may be the character I most pitied. The Vicomte was relentless, their sexual affair began with rape, she never felt good at all about loving him, and then she had to die.

Several of the other characters were to be pitied to some extent: Cecile and Rosemonde in particular.; 4:21 PM, July 17, 2007
Erin said...: I didn't pity the victims, really. I'm not saying Tourvel or Cecile deserved to be raped, but I didn't feel that sorry for them. Actually, I probably pitied Valmont the most. He was so manipulated by Merteuil, with her using his own character flaws against him, and he clearly didn't know what he really wanted.; 6:55 PM, July 17, 2007
kc said...: I wasn't brimming with pity either. I tended to see the marquise and Valmont as capricious Greek gods toying with the mere mortals, who hadn't a clue of what the fuck they were up against or who was pulling their puppet strings.; 9:02 PM, July 17, 2007
Erin said...: Yeah, I guess that's kind of how I saw it, too. Valmont and Merteuil were the ones I cared about; the others were trifles.; 9:20 PM, July 17, 2007
cl said...: I also couldn't pity the victims. Madame de Tourvel could be sneaky in her own right (I love how Valmont could always detect her ruses), and Cecile was, as Erin so accurately put it, a "dolt." I love that, Erin!

In regards to the rapes, my own post is forthcoming.; 10:28 AM, July 19, 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007