Letter 2: The Marchioness de Merteuil to the Viscount Valmont, at the Castle of ⸻ explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Seduction and Manipulation

  Merteuil's scheme to have Valmont seduce Cecilia Volanges is a calculated act of manipulation, designed to humiliate Gercourt and satisfy her own desire for revenge.

• Revenge and Cruelty

  Merteuil's plot is driven by a desire for revenge against Gercourt for past slights, and she takes cruel pleasure in the prospect of his public humiliation.

Characters to notice

• Marchioness de Merteuil

  Writes to Valmont, revealing her manipulative and vengeful nature as she orchestrates a plot to seduce Cecilia Volanges and humiliate Count Gercourt.

• Viscount de Valmont

  The recipient of the letter; Merteuil commands him to return to Paris and undertake the seduction of Cecilia Volanges as part of her revenge scheme.

• Cecilia Volanges

  Described as a handsome, innocent fifteen-year-old rosebud, recently out of convent, who is to be seduced by Valmont to disgrace her future husband, Gercourt.

• Count Gercourt

  The intended husband of Cecilia Volanges; Merteuil targets him for revenge due to past grievances and his foolish prejudices about convent education and fair complexions.

• Madame de Volanges

  Mother of Cecilia; she has secretly arranged the marriage to Gercourt and is hosting the supper where the plot will unfold.

Key passages

• “Return, my dear Viscount, return! How can you think of idling your days with an old aunt, whose fortune is already settled on you! Set out the moment you receive this letter, for I want you much.”

  Come back immediately, Viscount. Stop wasting time with your elderly aunt, whose inheritance is already yours. Leave as soon as you get this letter—I need you urgently.

  Merteuil's commanding tone establishes her authority and urgency in summoning Valmont.

• “A most enchanting idea has just struck me, and I wish to confide the execution of it to you.”

  I've just had a brilliant idea, and I want you to carry it out.

  Merteuil reveals her manipulative scheme, framing it as an honor for Valmont.

• “You will at once satiate love and revenge. It will be an additional exploit to your memoirs.”

  This plan will satisfy both your romantic desires and your thirst for revenge, and it will make a great story for your memoirs.

  Merteuil appeals to Valmont's vanity and love of adventure, promising both pleasure and notoriety.

• “Madame de Volanges intends to marry her daughter: it is yet a secret; but she yesterday informed me of it. And whom do you think she has chosen for her son-in-law? Count Gercourt.”

  Madame de Volanges plans to marry off her daughter—it's still a secret, but she told me yesterday. And guess who the groom is? Count Gercourt.

  Merteuil reveals the target of her revenge, setting the plot in motion.

• “Let us convince him, he is a most egregious fool, as one day or other he must be: but that's not the business; the jest will be, should he act upon so absurd an opinion.”

  We'll prove he's a fool, which he inevitably will become anyway. The real joke is that he might actually act on his ridiculous beliefs.

  Merteuil mocks Gercourt's prejudices and anticipates the irony of his downfall.

• “The heroine of this new romance merits all your attention; she is really handsome, just turned of fifteen, and a perfect rosebud; awkward as you could wish, and totally unpolished.”

  The girl in this scheme is worth your interest—she's beautiful, just fifteen, innocent and unrefined, like a fresh rosebud.

  Merteuil describes Cecilia as an ideal target for seduction, emphasizing her youth and naivety.