100
THERE IS NOTHING MORE
DIFFICULT IN LOVE THAN
EXPRESSING IN WRITING
WHAT ONE DOES NOT FEEL
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (1782),
PIERRE CHODERLOS DE LACLOS
L
etters, diaries, and notes
were the primary written
means by which people
communicated with one another
in both daily life and literature
during the 18th century. Les
Liaisons dangereuses is an example
of a literary style known as the
epistolary novel (from the Greek
for “letter”), which tells a story in
the form of letters and, sometimes,
other documents. Although it
largely died out after the 1800s,
in its heyday the epistolary novel
was a popular and fashionable
genre, reflecting the social world
of a great age of correspondence.Laclos did not simply imitate this
genre, he radically extended it.
The most famous epistolary novels
of the period, such as Samuel
Richardson’s Clarissa and Jean-
Jacques Rousseau’s Julie, or the
New Heloise, were often tedious
in their meticulous and lengthy
descriptions, and moralistic tone.
Unlike his contemporaries, Laclos
used the epistolary form to provide
an exciting pace of action, and his
characters often speak in the witty
and urbane manner of the time.The ruin of innocents
In France, the epistolary novel was
linked with narratives of passion
and the calculated seduction of
women. Key to the success of
these novels was the philosophy
of “libertinage,” in which eroticism,
sexual depravity, and a lifestyle of
excess and vice were intermingled
with sophisticated wordplay.
In Les Liaisons dangereuses
letters between multiple characters
expose the moral decline of the
French aristocracy just before the
Revolution. Laclos’ key “actors” in
this form of seduction as sport are
the libertine Vicomte de Valmont,
and the Marquise de Merteuil—
with her public façade of a virtuousIN CONTEXT
FOCUS
The epistolary novelBEFORE
1669 One of the earliest
epistolary novels is published,
Letters of a Portuguese Nun.
It is attributed to French
author Gabriel-Joseph de La
Vergne, comte de Guilleragues.1740 The hugely popular
novel Pamela, by English
author Samuel Richardson,
details the corruption of an
innocent maidservant.1747– 48 Richardson’s tragic
tale Clarissa is one of the
longest novels in the English
language and considered to
be his masterpiece.1761 Swiss-born philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau writes
Julie, or the New Heloise, in
which he uses the epistolary
form to explore philosophical
questions of rationality,
morality, and autonomy.When one woman stabs
another to the heart ...
she rarely misses the vital
spot and the wound
can never be healed.
Les Liaisons dangereusesUS_100-101_Liaisons.indd 100 08/10/2015 13:04