Dangerous Liaisons

The decreasing passion and love between Danceny and Cécile become more evident in this section of letters, as do the reasons behind this loss. Aside from those already mentioned—namely, Valmont being preoccupied with Tourvel— Valmont admits a sexual attraction to Cécile. Merteuil at first asked Valmont to sleep with Cécile before they thought to use her already-existent attraction to Danceny. Valmont therefore argues that he is asserting the right Merteuil had already granted him.

Cécile is an innocent, naïve young woman who is a mere pawn in their power plays. There is little to argue against the fact that what Valmont did was rape Cécile. The fact that Cécile becomes one of his side lovers afterwards does nothing to ameliorate the facts of their initial encounter. Nevertheless, the novel does go to show how Cécile is (from the perspective of 18th-century French society) ultimately fully “corrupted” by Valmont, who rapes her and becomes her lover, and Merteuil, who coaches her and influences her perspectives on the situation (which will be discussed more in the next section). Cécile’s corruption by Valmont therefore marks her full initiation into the Libertinism in Pre-Revolutionary French Society and the blurring of her ideas about Lust, Love, and Happiness. Her social downfall has now been put in motion and will reach its culmination at the novel’s end.  

Cécile’s situation with Valmont is juxtaposed with Tourvel’s actions. Both women are able to incite anger and frustration in Valmont, who sees his wants and desires subverted to their own, which is something he can neither understand nor deem acceptable. Valmont continues his relentless assault against Tourvel’s emotions and definitions of love, virtue, and friendship. Anything Tourvel uses as an argument against him and The Need for Morality, Valmont is able to twist and use as an argument against her. With Cécile, Valmont tricks and forces; with Tourvel, he argues and reduces.

Whereas Cécile has nowhere to escape and must remain in his proximity, Tourvel runs away before she falters and gives in to his seduction. This angers him to the point that he condemns all women as duplicitous—a reaction both ironic and hypocritical—and increases his desire to ruin her. Valmont, aside from sexual pleasure, and much like Merteuil, enjoys usurping total power and control over another person. Thus, when Tourvel leaves and Cécile locks her door, the two women exercise their own will, which thwarts his, and he is neither able to comprehend nor accept the possibility of someone behaving contrary to his designs. The depiction of this behavior functions as a critique of aristocratic power and privilege during the Ancien Régime, which exercised life-and-death control over members of the third estate, as well as exposing the amorality and dissoluteness believed to be rampant in the aristocratic class.

Letter 96 not only bears witness to Valmont’s temper, but also reveals the height of his ego and the cross-criticizing between him and Merteuil. Valmont compares his increasing power over Tourvel to that of a supplicant offering sacrifices to a deity. He also, on Page 225, states how he has returned man to his rightful place over woman, which Merteuil had briefly usurped through her destruction of Prévan, by obtaining Tourvel’s admittance of requited love. This characterization of love as a conquest ties into the theme of Love, Lust, and Happiness, defining not only the way Merteuil and Valmont view others but also the way they behave towards one another. Their entire correspondence is another act of seduction and power play, which has become increasingly evident. Both are attempting to gain the upper hand over the other, and both are heading toward mutual destruction.