Dangerous Liaisons · Chapter
Letter 105: The Marchioness de Merteuil to Cecilia Volanges explained
Merteuil writes to Cecilia, mocking her shame and guilt over Valmont's seduction.
What happens
Merteuil writes to Cecilia, mocking her shame and guilt over Valmont's seduction. She advises Cecilia to conceal the affair from her mother, pretend submission, and use the situation to her advantage by maintaining both Danceny and Valmont. Merteuil also criticizes Cecilia's childish writing style and instructs her to deliver the letter to Valmont.
Themes in this chapter
Seduction and Manipulation
Merteuil manipulates Cecilia through mockery and strategic advice, teaching her to use seduction and deceit to control her relationships.
Hypocrisy and Appearance vs. Reality
Merteuil instructs Cecilia to feign virtue and submission to her mother while secretly continuing her affairs, emphasizing the gap between public appearance and private reality.
Gender and Power Dynamics
Merteuil's letter reveals the limited agency of women, who must use cunning and manipulation to exert power within a patriarchal society.
Characters to notice
- Marchioness de Merteuil
Writes a manipulative letter to Cecilia, mocking her innocence and advising her to deceive her mother and lovers.
- Cecilia Volanges
Recipient of the letter; Merteuil scolds her for her shame and naivety, and instructs her on how to manage her affairs.
- Viscount de Valmont
Referenced as the seducer of Cecilia; Merteuil advises Cecilia to reconcile with him and deliver the letter to him.
- Chevalier Danceny
Cecilia's lover; Merteuil suggests Cecilia can keep him by refusing him physical proofs of love while maintaining his affection.
- Madame de Volanges
Cecilia's mother; Merteuil reveals her plan to trick Cecilia into confessing, and advises Cecilia to feign submission to her.
Key passages
“Well, my dear little creature, you are very much vexed and ashamed; and this same Valmont is a wicked man, is he not? How is all this? He dared behave to you as he would to the woman he loved best!”
Merteuil sarcastically chides Cecilia for being upset that Valmont treated her like a beloved lover.
Merteuil uses irony to mock Cecilia's innocence and shame.
“Your tender mama, overjoyed, and to assist your virtue, would have shut you up in a convent for life; and there you might have loved Danceny as much as you pleased, without a rival, and without any sin; you might be afflicted at your leisure; Valmont would not certainly have come to trouble your affliction with his naughty amusements.”
Merteuil warns that if Cecilia had confessed to her mother, she would have been sent to a convent, losing all freedom.
Merteuil highlights the danger of honesty and the need for secrecy.
“Being so circumstanced with a mother, whose affection is of so much importance, and a lover whom you wish ever to enjoy, can you not plainly see the only means to unite successfully those opposite interests is to bring in a third?”
Merteuil advises Cecilia to use Valmont as a third party to balance her mother's demands and her love for Danceny.
Merteuil proposes a manipulative strategy to manage conflicting relationships.
“Take a little more care in your style of writing; you always write so like a child; I know from whence it proceeds; you always write as you think, but do not study what you ought to say.”
Merteuil criticizes Cecilia's naive writing style and advises her to write to please her audience, not to express her true thoughts.
Merteuil emphasizes the importance of artifice in communication.
