Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos
de Laclos (18 October 1741 – 5
September 1803) was a French novelist,
official and army general, best known
for writing the epistolary novel Les
Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous
Liaisons).
A unique case in French literature,
he was for a long time considered to be
as scandalous a writer as the Marquis de
Sade or Nicolas-Edme Rétif. He was a
military officer with no illusions about
human relations, and an amateur writer;
however, his initial plan was to "write
a work which departed from the ordinary,
which made a noise, and which would
remain on earth after his death"; from
this point of view he mostly attained
his goals, with the fame of his
masterwork Les Liaisons dangereuses . It
is one of the masterpieces of novelistic
literature of the 18th century, which
explores the amorous intrigues of the
aristocracy. It has inspired a large
number of critical and analytic
commentaries, plays, and films.
Laclos was born in Amiens into a
bourgeois family, and in 1760 was sent
to the École royale d'artillerie de La
Fère, ancestor of the École
polytechnique. As a young lieutenant, he
briefly served in a garrison at La
Rochelle until the end of the Seven
Years War (1763). Later he was assigned
to Strasbourg (1765–1769), Grenoble
(1769–1775) and Besançon (1775–1776).
Despite being promoted to captain
(1771), Laclos grew increasingly bored
with his artillery garrison duties and
the company of the soldiers, and began
to devote his free time to writing. His
first works, several light poems, were
published on the Almanach des Muses.
Later he wrote an Opéra-comique,
Ernestine, inspired by a novel by
Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni. Its premiere on
19 July 1777, in presence of Queen
Marie-Antoinette, was a failure. In the
same year he created a new artillery
school in Valence, which was to include
Napoleon among its students. At his
return at Besançon in 1778, Laclos was
promoted second captain of the
Engineers. In this period he wrote
several works, which showed his great
admiration of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
In 1779 he was sent to Île-d'Aix to
assist Marc-René de Montalembert in the
construction of fortifications there
against the British. He however spent
most of his time writing his new
epistolary novel, Les Liaisons
Dangereuses, as well as a Letter to
Madame de Montalembert. When he asked
for and was granted six months of
vacation, he spent the time in Paris
writing.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses was
published by Durand Neveu in four
volumes on 23 March 1782, turning into a
widespread success (1,000 copies sold in
a month, an exceptional result for the
times). Laclos was immediately ordered
to return to his garrison in Brittany;
in 1783 he was sent to La Rochelle to
collaborate in the construction of the
new arsenal. Here he met Marie-Soulange
Duperré, 18 years his junior, whom he
would marry in 1786. The following year
he began a project of numbering Paris'
streets.
In 1788 Laclos left the army,
entering the service of Louis Philippe,
Duke of Orléans, for whom, after the
outbreak of the French Revolution, he
carried forward with intense diplomatic
activity. Captured by the Republic
ideals, he left the Duke to obtain a
place as commissar in the Ministry of
War. His reorganization has been
credited as having a role in the
Revolutionary Army victory in the Battle
of Valmy. Later, after the desertion of
general Charles François Dumouriez, he
was however arrested as "Orleaniste",
being freed after the Thermidorian
Reaction.
He thenceforth spent some time in
ballistic studies, which led him to the
invention of the modern artillery shell.
In 1795 he requested of the Committee of
Public Safety reintegration in the army,
which was ignored. His attempts to
obtain a diplomatic position and to
found a bank were also unsuccessful.
Eventually, Laclos met the young general
and recent First Consul, Napoleon
Bonaparte, and joined his party. On 16
January 1800 he was reinstated in the
Army as Brigadier General in the Armée
du Rhin, taking part in the Battle of
Biberach.
Made commander-in-chief of Reserve
Artillery in Italy (1803), Laclos died
shortly afterward in the former convent
of St. Francis of Assisi at Taranto,
probably of dysentery and malaria. He
was buried in the fort still bearing his
name (Forte de Laclos) in the Isola di
San Paolo near the city, built under his
direction. Following the restoration of
the House of Bourbon in southern Italy,
his burial tomb was destroyed; it is
believed that his bones were tossed into
the sea.
Dangerous Liaisons
Les Liaisons dangereuses
(Dangerous Liaisons) is a French
epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de
Laclos, first published in four volumes
by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782.
It is the story of the Marquise de
Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two
rivals (and ex-lovers) who use sex as a
weapon to humiliate and degrade others,
all the while enjoying their cruel
games. It has been claimed to depict the
decadence of the French aristocracy
shortly before the French Revolution,
thereby exposing the perversions of the
so-called Ancien Régime. However, it has
also been described as a vague, amoral
story.
The book is an epistolary novel,
composed entirely of letters written by
the various characters to each other. In
particular, the letters between Valmont
and the Marquise drive the plot, with
those of other characters serving as
illustrations to give the story its
depth.
It is often claimed to be the source
of the saying "Revenge is a dish best
served cold", a paraphrased translation
of "La vengeance est un plat qui se
mange froid" (more literally, "Revenge
is a dish that is eaten cold"). However
the expression does not actually occur
in the original novel.
Plot summary
The Vicomte de Valmont is determined to
seduce the virtuous (and married) Madame
de Tourvel, who is living with Valmont's
aunt while Monsieur de Tourvel is away
for a court case. At the same time, the
Marquise de Merteuil is determined to
corrupt the young Cécile de Volanges,
whose mother has only recently brought
her out of a convent to be married to a
former lover of Merteuil. Cécile falls
in love with the Chevalier Danceny (her
music tutor) and Merteuil and Valmont
pretend to want to help the secret
lovers in order to gain their trust, so
that they can use them later in their
own schemes.
Merteuil suggests that the Vicomte
seduce Cécile in order to exact her
revenge on Cécile's future husband.
Valmont refuses, finding the task too
easy, and preferring to devote himself
to seducing Madame de Tourvel. Merteuil
promises Valmont that if he seduces
Madame de Tourvel and provides her with
written proof, she will spend the night
with him. He expects rapid success, but
does not find it as easy as his many
other conquests. During the course of
his pursuit, he discovers that Cécile's
mother has written to Madame de Tourvel
about his bad reputation. He avenges
himself in seducing Cécile as Merteuil
had suggested. In the meantime, Merteuil
takes Danceny as a lover.
By the time Valmont has succeeded in
seducing Madame de Tourvel, it is
suggested that he might have fallen in
love with her. Jealous, Merteuil tricks
him into deserting Madame de Tourvel —
and reneges on her promise of spending
the night with him. In response Valmont
reveals that he prompted Danceny to
reunite with Cécile, thus abandoning
Merteuil. Merteuil declares war on
Valmont, as such she reveals to Danceny
that Valmont seduced Cécile. Danceny and
Valmont duel. Valmont is fatally
wounded, but before he dies he is
reconciled with Danceny, giving him the
letters proving Merteuil's own
involvement. Two of these letters are
sufficient to ruin her health and her
reputation, and she flees the country.
Furthermore, her face is left
permanently scarred by illness, and so
she loses her greatest asset: her
beauty. But the innocent still suffer:
hearing of Valmont's death, Madame de
Tourvel succumbs to a fever, while
Cécile returns to the convent.
