Dangerous Liaisons · Chapter
Letter 80: Chevalier Danceny to Cecilia Volanges explained
Danceny writes a desperate letter to Cecilia, lamenting their separation and expressing his growing misery.
What happens
Danceny writes a desperate letter to Cecilia, lamenting their separation and expressing his growing misery. He complains that Valmont has neglected him and that Cecilia herself has not mentioned any plan for them to meet. He contrasts his current despair with the happiness he felt when they were together, and pleads for even a moment's reunion.
Themes in this chapter
Love, Virtue, and Corruption
Danceny's passionate and idealized love for Cecilia is contrasted with his growing despair and the corrupting influence of absence and neglect.
Epistolary Form and Unreliable Truth
The letter reveals Danceny's subjective emotional state, but his accusations against Valmont and Cecilia may be distorted by his own suffering and jealousy.
Characters to notice
- Chevalier Danceny
The author of the letter, expressing deep anguish over separation from Cecilia and feeling abandoned by Valmont.
- Cecilia Volanges
The recipient of the letter; Danceny accuses her of silence and questions whether she still wishes to see him.
- Viscount de Valmont
Mentioned as a friend who promised help but has become neglectful and silent, absorbed in his own love affair.
Key passages
“Valmont, who had promised me assistance and consolation; Valmont neglects, and, perhaps, forgets me.”
Valmont, who pledged to help and comfort me, now ignores me and may have forgotten my plight.
Danceny feels abandoned by his supposed ally, Valmont.
“Ten leagues only separate us: and yet this short space becomes an insurmountable obstacle to me.”
We are only thirty miles apart, yet that small distance feels like an impossible barrier.
Danceny laments the physical separation that prevents their meeting.
“I remember, sometimes I found myself obliged to sacrifice them to considerations and to duties. What did you then not say to me?”
I recall times when I had to set aside our meetings for practical reasons, and you argued passionately against my decisions.
Danceny reminds Cecilia of her former eagerness to see him, contrasting it with her current silence.