The
character of Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons was a beautiful woman and she had a
virtuous reputation. But, she had an evil soul. So, on the outside she was the
good, virtuous lady, but on the inside she was devious and immoral. At the end
of the book, when she became disfigured, there is a line that is important to
this theme: “that the disease has turned her inside out, and that her soul is
now visible on her face.”(Laclos, p. 392) In the movie, Catherine’s appearance
is also very important. She is beautiful and she has a good reputation. Everyone
saw her as a person of good faith and she was even class president. But, nobody
knew the real Catherine, who was evil and had a cold heart. Throughout the
movie, we never see Catherine cry. In the end, when she discovers that her
reputation has been ruined, she cries. In theory, this shows that we see her
soul. She finally breaks down and cries. Another theme that I thought was
apparent is that of religion. In the book, religion is important, in reference
to the character of Tourvel. Throughout the book, she was a virtuous, faithful,
and honest character. She relied of God to get her through the days. Also,
Cecile lived in a convent most of her life, and then at the end of the book she
goes back to the convent. In Cruel Intentions, religion is not apparent at all,
except for the fact that Catherine was supposed to be this devout person, but in
reality, she was not. The movie portrayed Annette’s purity through the fact that
she vowed to stay abstinent until she was married. But, in did not have anything
to do with religion. The theme of symbolism is important also. Color and what it
represents was apparent in Cruel Intentions. Throughout the movie, Annette was
always shown wearing white or light colored clothing. White is a symbol of
purity, and this relates to her character. Catherine and Sebastian were always
shown wearing black or dark colored clothing. Black is always associated with
evil, and this was the very nature of both Catherine and Sebastian’s characters.
In the book, this symbolism is not obvious. The characters’ clothing is not
discussed in the book, so I cannot really apply this theme to it.
Lastly, I
would like to discuss the issue of Libertinism. Libertinism was a movement that
started in the eighteenth century; about the time Dangerous Liaisons was
written. It was a movement of questioning religion and God and of scandalous
affairs. The people of this movement no longer thought the world is controlled
by God, but by your own actions. The characters of Valmont and Merteuil were
prominent Libertines. The book is definitely an example of this movement. It
completely represents the values that come from Libertinism. In conclusion, both
of these pieces of work were written in their cultural and historical context. I
attempted to compare the two in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and
themes and explain them in their cultural and historical context. Dangerous
Liaisons was considered to be a condemned piece of literature and Cruel
Intentions emphasized this immorality as a modernized version of the story.
Bibliography
Cruel Intentions. Kumble, Roger. Columbia Pictures, 1998. Laclos, Choderlos de.
Dangerous Liaisons. London: Penguin Classics, 1961.
Words: 1288
