Dangerous Liaisons and the epistolary novel

As I’m enjoying Les Liaisons dangereuses or Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (translated by Helen Constantine), I’ve been thinking about the epistolary form. Sometimes it’s rather clumsy and awkward, like The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Frankenstein too, I think. Sometimes it works quite well, like Dracula (series of documents in different forms) or The Moonstone (witnesses’ statements). The epistolary form can show different—and clashing—perspectives, like Lady Susan or The Lady in White.

But it’s in Dangerous Liaisons that I can see the author exploit the full potential of the form. We see the clashing perspectives. We read the sender’s words and imagine the receiver’s reaction, and if there is a second reader, also imagine the effect on them. We see the lies, the manipulation, the face-saving untruths. We read between the lines and examine the layers of meaning. We get different voices from different characters, but sometimes the same character—such as Valmont—can also put on different voices and play roles. We watch the schemer lay out her plan and embark on her project. We see the manipulator at work, as he explains his tactics and manoeuvres his way into a virtuous woman’s heart.

I think of Mansfield Park, for example. Jane Austen focuses on Fanny Price—she writes in the third person but always focuses mainly on one perspective in the 6 novels. It would be interesting, would it not, if we could enter the Crawfords’ minds, as Henry plays games with both Maria and Julia and also wants to capture Fanny’s heart but ends up falling for her, or if we had access to Maria’s thoughts, as she cheats on her dull husband with the charming Henry.  

In Dangerous Liaisons, we have two characters—Valmont and Merteuil—who are more evil, more demonic, more dangerous than the Crawfords. And it’s—should I say this?—thrilling to watch these manipulators at work! 

With Dangerous Liaisons, I have a situation similar to Anna Karenina: I watched multiple film adaptations before reading the book.

The 1988 American film: the film’s good; Glenn Close’s brilliant; but to this day, I still don’t understand how John Malkovich could have been cast as the irresistible womaniser. I don’t mean Valmont has to have good looks. Handsome and sexy are two different things. In the general sense, not in the should-be-cast-as-Valmont sense, Vincent Cassel is not handsome, but he is hot; Henry Cavill is handsome, but not charismatic; Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch aren’t particularly good-looking, but they’re charming. No disrespect to his acting skills, but I have never thought John Malkovich has the seductive qualities to play Valmont, I don’t buy it. 

Cruel Intentions: I frankly don’t remember the film, but it has always fascinated me that Les Liaisons dangereuses is moved to a modern setting and it works. 

Untold Scandal: I don’t remember the film (what’s up with my memory?), but I remember liking it. Bae Yong-joon is a heartthrob in East and Southeast Asia—he should be convincing as Valmont—I can’t remember. But again, it’s intriguing that Les Liaisons dangereuses is transported to South Korea and it works. 

Let’s hope I’ll have something more interesting to say about Laclos’s novel.