Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a complex and disturbing portrayal of the noble class in pre-revolutionary France. Set in the late eighteenth century during the latter part of the Ancien Regime, Les Liaisons weaves a web of cold, calculated betrayal of the most immoral kind.
The story unfolds in the form of letters written between the principal characters, giving it a unique literary texture. By using this style, de Laclos is able to give the reader a shockingly intimate look at these people as they divulge their most intimate secrets and bring to fruition their sinister plans.
The protagonists, The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, consider it their life’s ambition to sadistically control and dominate those around them through sexual intrigue. These two villains are indeed locked in psychological combat to see who can actually ‘out-do’ the other in stalking, capturing and destroying the souls of others. Taking absolute pleasure in ripping any virtue from the hearts of their prey, Merteuil and Valmont wave their accomplishments in front of each other like spoils of war. The less the chance of surrender, the more relentless is the pursuit.
The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.
Valmont eventually beds the virgin Cecile in order to humor Merteuil, however, the conquest of Madam de Tourvel is his passion and he indulges in this pursuit until he reaches the intended conclusion.
Although, it would be a mistake to depict Valmont as anything but the monster that he is, there seems to be a small measure of actual ‘affection’ for Tourvel, however short-lived. Once Valmont shares this strange and unexpected interest in Madame de Tourvel, The Marquise de Merteuil is enraged, considering it an appalling sign of weakness. In order to save face, Valmont returns to his ruthless ways, thus completing the destruction of Madame de Tourvel, who had ultimately fallen madly in love with Valmont.
The Return of Martin Guerre, written by Natalie Zemon Davis, is the tale of a court case that takes place in sixteenth century France. Martin Guerre is a peasant who deserted his wife and family for many years. While Martin Guerre is gone, a man named Arnaud du Tilh arrives at Martin’s village and claims to be Martin Guerre. Bertrande, who is Guerre’s wife, Guerre’s sisters, and many of the villagers, accepts the imposter. After almost three years of being happily married, Bertrande takes the fraud to court under pressure of Pierre Guerre, her stepfather and Guerre’s brother. Arnaud du Tilh is almost declared innocent, but the real Martin Guerre appears in the courthouse. Throughout this tale, many factors of the peasant life are highlighted. The author gives a very effective and detailed insight to a peasant’s life during the time of Martin Guerre. Davis does a successful job of portraying the peasant lifestyle in sixteenth century France by accentuating the social, cultural, and judicial factors of everyday peasant life.
However, what really frames Francine du Plessix Gray’s biography is not so much the “fin du dix huitième siècle” but the “fin du vingtième siècle” and the “reality” material from Sade’s life that made it possible to represent the Marquis, his sons, his wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and uncle as so many of the people who populate the running narrative of criminals, deadbeat dads, incestuous relatives, date-raping playboys, and battered women that fill soap operas, day-time talk, women’s magazines, talk radio, and the tabloids. This paper, then, explores Sade’s biography not as a narrative of (the Marquis de Sade’s) his life, but as a narrative that pleases today’s reader because it serves up a voyeur’s view of (in) his “dysfunctional” family life “at home” that we are all too familiar with. This becomes abundantly apparent when du Plessix-Gray’s rendering of the Marquis and the Marquise’s lives are superimposed over the récit of lives that we read about all the time in the popular press and observe in television soaps and other series. Ultimately, we are interested in what such a reading, writing and representation of Sade’s life does to Sade’s persona and status, both in the world of letters, but more importantly, in the world at large.
Here, again, reception theory comes to our rescue. By looking at our own literary and non-literary conventions, we begin to feel more confident about the proposition that Valmont really is in love with the Presidente and that the Marquise really is in love with Valmont. After all, that's what makes it good, isn't it? Without having love rear it's ugly head at some point, the book would be a monotone, an unrewarding and depressing look at people at once glamourous and depraved.
Zilia offers her critique of French society – its love of luxury, social customs, the disparity of rich and poor, how it’s all looks great and beautiful but in really it’s all artificial. Even their politeness is not real, the more you look at their life and exterior aspect, the more you discovers
Ziad K. Abdelnour, the CEO of a private investment firm, states that, “Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.” This quote in two sentences speaks volume to the reader. Trust is an important and key component to any relationship. Whether you are married, have a mutual relationship, a friendship, or just a family member; trust plays a key part in the relationship. Without trust relationships crumble.
Choderlos de Laclos’s epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses is a complex novel filled with morally unsound characters. Even the more innocent characters, such as Cécile de Volanges, The Chevalier Danceny, and the chaste Madame de Tourvel, lose their sense of morality when they become pawns in Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont’s game of sexual domination and ruin. Several interesting relationships begin between the innocent and sadistic characters, but none of these relationships are as important as the one between Tourvel and Valmont.
Violence and death are all around us in our society today. Whether it is seen on the television in the news, in a film, or read about in the newspaper, the descriptiveness of these incidents is absolutely horrifying. The punishment of such crimes that we read about today are simply minute compared to the events that occurred during the fifteenth century. In the poem “La Ballade des pendus” written by François Villon, the gruesome description of the images are far from ordinary, but serves it’s purpose brilliantly.
Vichy France is a period of French history that has only fairly recently begun to be examined for what it truly is: a period in which many of the French turned against their own state and collaborated with the German forces to betray their own country. Until the eighties, the Vichy Regime was regarded as “an aberration in the evolution of the French Republic” (Munholland, 1994) , repressed by the French in an attempt to regain their national pride. ‘Lacombe Lucien’ (1974), directed by Louis Malle is a film which aims to capture the ambiguity of the era through the documentation of fictional collaborateur, Lucien.
Center of the novel, this ex-convict is shown compassion by the the Bishop of Digne and begins a journey to become an honest man. Adopting new identities wherever he goes, Valjean’s frequent selfless acts allow him to accomplish the redemption he seeks despite constant pursuit by Javert.
A white and pretty smile is not the same as healthy mouth. Since we are child, parents have told us about the importance of brushing our teeth after every meal, but do they name the importance of the daily floss with that frequency? As water and food are essential for our survival, Flossing is tremendously important for our health. Avoiding the use of dental floss during the childhood can bring some implications in the health after people reaches adulthood. Have you ever ask why people have more diseases after the 30s or 40s? In some cases, we said that this happened owing to the fact that we are getting old, but many of those diseases are caused because people did not take two minutes of their life to use 18 inches of dental floss at day. The daily use of dental floss can prevent periodontal disease and more.
Tooth brushing is a necessary skill that should be acquired through early childhood because oral health is one of the most important factors for the prevention of oral cavity and periodontal diseases and general health. Tooth brushing is one of the ADL’s that I perform on a daily basis. I perform this individualized activity twice a day. In performing this activity, the objects/tools required to complete this task are tooth brush, toothpaste, water, and sink. While brushing my teeth, I stood in the bathroom, a foot away from the mirror, in front of the sink, standing close to the compartment where the toothbrush and toothpaste were so that I could reach and grab them at ease. Inside the bathroom, the light was bright and my face was clear in
What does trust mean to you? People in today’s society often have a hard time trusting others due to questioning whether they are confident others will keep personal information about them. One must be intentional about building trust. This process takes time because one must learn to get to know the person before they can trust them. According to Walker, (2013) this is known as self-disclosure which is important when forming relationships (p.3). The more others know about you the more they can trust you. This means that one must have courage to reveal their true self in order to form a connection with one another. We assume the reason to trust is to form a relationship. Once a connection is formed, people start to rely on each other which then eventually leads to trust. This can occur due to the benefits a relationship brings or simply for love and friendship.
Your dentist can tell exactly how you brush your teeth. It can be seen by the way the gums wear down, and if some areas are better cleaned than others. If it looks like you may be missing some spots, or if your gums are wearing away unevenly, you will be given a short review on the recommended brushing and flossing techniques.
The use fluoridated products by children and adults is extremely effective in reducing dental caries (World Health Organisation, n.d.). Brushing teeth twice a day using fluoridated toothpaste is an easy and manageable way to introduce fluoride into a community which does not have it in their drinking water.
What does trust mean? It means to believe someone when they say or do something. Trust is important because if you have trust then you can rely on the person for anything. But if you have trust it can be lost very easily and it’s harder to gain back. That’s why you shouldn't burn any bridges with anyone, doesn't matter how close you are. Trust is one of the strongest or most important virtue in life.