Choderlos de Laclos's Les liaisons dangereuses- translated sometimes as Dangerous Acquaintances but more accurately titled in English with the cognate Dangerous Liaisons is an epistolary novel (published in 1782) that takes as its main theme the corruption of innocence and virtue by the libertine Valmont and his mistress, the vicious and immoral Madame de Mertueil simply for their own amusement. The bookÆs great virtues are the elegance of its language and its finely structured plot along with LaclosÆs ability to examine in such an unflinching way the fascination and power of evil. The battle of the sexes û which is also at the center of the book û is portrayed with deadly seriousness (the only real lack in the book is perhaps a touch of irony and humor). All frivolity and sentimentality have been banished from this book, which depicts a world that is deeply frivolous and even more sentimental. Laclos presents us with two characters who are both brilliant, and he gives us a picture of the evil that they create that sparkles for its lucidity and precision, and that is almost inhuman û even diabolical û in its impassivity. There is no sense in this novel that the unseen narrator behind this collection of letters ever intends to stop the evil he sees unfolding, or even that he would want to if he could.
Letter 78 is one of those moments in the novel when the true nature of ValmontÆs intention and implacability are made most clear. One of the fascinating aspects of Valmont as a character is precisely this implacability. He is certainly not the most evil of characters to appear in the fiction of his time, but he manages nevertheless to accomplish a great deal of harm.
His ability to do so much damage when (at least against the women in the novel) he uses little if any physical coercion is based on his absolute steadfastness in his goals to disrupt relationships and sully honor. He has almost the force and sense of a natural phe...