Dangerous Liaisons · Chapter
Letter 126: Madame de Rosemonde to the Presidente de Tourvel explained
Madame de Rosemonde responds to Tourvel's letter, expressing relief at the news of Valmont's apparent reformation and Tourvel's own recovery from her passion.
What happens
Madame de Rosemonde responds to Tourvel's letter, expressing relief at the news of Valmont's apparent reformation and Tourvel's own recovery from her passion. She frames Tourvel's suffering as a divine trial, praises her resistance as the cause of Valmont's change, and invites her to return to the chateau to find peace.
Themes in this chapter
Love, Virtue, and Corruption
Rosemonde frames Tourvel's passion as a dangerous disorder that virtue has overcome, linking love to moral peril and redemption.
Hypocrisy and Appearance vs. Reality
Rosemonde praises Valmont's apparent reformation, but the reader knows his true character, highlighting the gap between appearance and reality.
Characters to notice
- Madame de Rosemonde
Writes to Tourvel as a physician and friend, advising her on spiritual and emotional recovery.
- Madame de Tourvel
The recipient; praised for her virtuous resistance and invited to return to the chateau.
- Viscount de Valmont
Discussed as the object of Tourvel's passion; Rosemonde suggests he may be reformed by her example.
Key passages
“Here the interposition of Providence is visible, that touching the heart of the one has also saved the other.”
Rosemonde sees divine intervention in both Valmont's change of heart and Tourvel's escape from sin.
Highlights the religious framing of events as providential.
“It is cruel to frighten a sick person that is despaired of, to whom palliatives only and consolations should be administered: but it is the part of wisdom to remind those on the recovery, of the dangers they escaped.”
Rosemonde justifies her frank advice by comparing Tourvel to a convalescent who can now bear the truth.
Establishes Rosemonde's role as a moral physician.