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Dangerous Liaisons: Love, War & Sexual Deception
At the end of 2022, two adaptations of Choderlos de Laclos’ Dangerous Liaisons were released. Laclos’ novel, which was published in 1782, has been adapted for the screen several times, including the 1988 version (starring John Malkovich and Glenn Close) and the 1999 cult-classic Cruel Intentions (starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe). To see two adaptations in the same year, however, speaks to the present relevance of Laclos’ novel — which he hoped would ‘still cause a stir through the world’ long after he left it.
Why is Dangerous Liaisons still so relevant? The novel stages a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ between two libertine ex-lovers — the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. The two playfully compete to see who can seduce and manipulate better. The novel is often seen as an indictment against decadent high society, which amuses itself by playing with people’s lives. Some even argue that it helped spark the French Revolution. Baudelaire, for instance, calls Dangerous Liaisons ‘an ‘historical book’ and an…
