# Advertisement from the Editor explained — Dangerous Liaisons

> Chapter companion for Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.

## What happens

The editor disclaims the authenticity of the collection, suggesting it is a fiction. They argue the morals depicted are too corrupt for the current age of philosophy and enlightenment, and that if the events have any truth, they must belong to another time and place. The editor offers as proof that no young lady with a large estate would now become a nun, nor a young and beautiful Presidente die of grief.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Appearance vs. Reality

The editor claims the age is too moral for such corrupt characters, yet the novel itself will reveal deep hypocrisy beneath the surface of polite society.

### Epistolary Form and Unreliable Truth

The editor directly questions the authenticity of the letters, highlighting the tension between fiction and truth that is central to the epistolary form.

## Key lines

> The morals of several of his personages are so corrupt, that it is impossible they should have existed in this age; an age of philosophy, and in which an extensive diffusion of knowledge has had the happy effect to render the men famed for morality and integrity, and the female sex for reserve and modesty.

The characters are too immoral to be believable in our enlightened times, when knowledge has made men virtuous and women modest.

_The editor uses Enlightenment ideals to dismiss the story as implausible, ironically foreshadowing the hypocrisy the novel will expose._

> we cannot now find a young lady, with an estate of 60,000 livres a year, take the veil, nor a Presidente, in the bloom of youth and beauty, die of grief.

No wealthy young woman today would become a nun, nor would a young magistrate's wife die of a broken heart.

_The editor offers this as proof that the story must be fiction, yet these very events will occur in the novel, challenging the editor's claim._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dangerous_liaisons_se/chapters/advertisement-from-the-editor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dangerous_liaisons_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dangerous_liaisons_se/chapters