Home > Les Liaisons dangereuses

The book fascinates for its dark undertones. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two characters whose games use sex as a weapon to humiliate and degrade others. It also depicts the decadence of the French aristocracy shortly before the French Revolution.

Valmont is determined to seduce the virtuous (and married) Madame de Tourvel, who is living with Madame Rosemonde while M. Trouvel is traveling. At the same time, the Marquise is determined to corrupt the young Cecile Volanges, who has only recently been brought out of a convent by her mother, Madame Volanges, who wants to marry her off to a former lover of the Marquise. Instead, Cecile falls in love with the Chevalier Darcency, and Merteuil and Valmonte pretend to want to help the secret lovers in order to use them in their schemes.

The novel has been translated into English several times with Douglas Parmée's recent translation (Oxford: OUP, 1995) generally being the preferred version.

The novel has been made into a play by Christopher Hampton. It has also been filmed various times, under many different names:

• Les Liaisons dangereuses ( 1959), directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Philipe and Annette Vadim.
• Dangerous Liaisons ( 1988), directed by Stephen FrearsStephen Frears (born June 20 1941 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK) is a British film director. His initial career was in television, where he contributed to several high-profile series such as the BBC's Play for Today strand. His first film was and starring Glenn CloseGlenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. She was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended the College of William and Mary, becoming a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Broadway productions Musicals Rex ( 1976) Richard Rodgers musi, John MalkovichJohn Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953 in Christopher, Illinois) is an American actor, producer, and director. Biography As a youngster, Malkovich was reportedly heavy set. By High School, he had transformed himself physically and was a star athlete. and Michelle PfeifferMichelle Pfeiffer (born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and singer. Born in Santa Ana, Orange County, California to Dick and Donna Pfeiffer, she has three siblings, an older brother and two younger sisters. In 1981, she married actor Peter Horton, (based on Hampton's play)
• Valmont ( 19891989 is a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 7 Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins January 8 the Kegworth Air Disaster A British Midland Boeing 737 cra), directed by Milos FormanJan Tomas Forman (born February 18, 1932), better known as Milos Forman is a film director, actor and script writer. Forman was born in Caslav, Czechoslovakia and was orphaned at a very young age as his parents died at the concentration camp in Auschwitz and starring Annette BeningAnnette Bening (born May 29 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, USA) is an American actress. Biography Bening's family moved to San Diego, California in 1965. In junior high, she played the lead in The Sound of Music''. She finished high school in three years and att, Colin FirthJennifer Ehle in 'Pride and Prejudice' Colin Firth (born September 10, 1960) is a popular British actor. Since taking the starring role of Mr. Darcy in the BBC's 1995 dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice Firth has become known as a heart-throb, but in rea, and Meg Tilly
• Cruel Intentions ( 1999), directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Philippe and Reese Witherspoon (a modern reworking)
• Untold Scandal ( 2003), directed by Je-yong Lee and starring Mik-suk Lee , Do-yeon Jeon and Yong-jun Bae (transposes the novel to eighteenth-century Korea, not unlike how Akira Kurosawa retold King Lear as Ran )

There have also been many television adaptations of the novel.