A shocking tale of manipulation and revenge, Dangerous Liaisons follows the schemes of the Marquise du Merteuil against her former lover, the Vicomte de Valmont.
The pair of aristocrats vie for supremacy in manipulating others; employing seduction and temptation as their weapons, their aim is to disgrace others in the eyes of upper class French society. For her part, Merteuil is determined to sully the reputation of the young Cécile, who has hitherto led a pure life in a convent. Both Cécile and her love interest, music tutor Chevalier Danceny, are unwittingly employed in the cruel schemes of Merteuil and Valmont. What follows is a tension packed story of amorality, deception, jealousy and disgrace.
The story is entirely told through correspondences between the characters, whereby the narrative and events unfold. This format, which mimics the manner in which the reigning French aristocracy would communicate, acted to further stoke the controversy and reaction to the novel when it was originally published in the 1780s.
This translation by Thomas Moore is faithful to the original text, and continues to be considered the authoritative English rendition of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos infamous novel.
