Dangerous Liaisons Vs. Cruel Intentions

It is my intention to compare the book, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos, to its modern movie version, Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. I intend to examine how the original French text was modified in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes. I also plan to discuss how these transformations change the meaning of the story and reflect different cultural/historical contexts. There are some major differences between these two works, if only because of when they were written.

First, the plots of both works need to be discussed and explained how they are different. The stories of both works have basically the same structure, until it gets toward the endings. In Dangerous Liaisons, the Vicomte de Valmont dies in a sword battle between him and Danceny. Right before he dies, though, he gives Danceny all of his letters between him and the Marquise de Merteuil and tells him to circulate them in order to ruin Merteuil's reputation. Danceny does this and then moves away for a while. Merteuil ends up becoming disfigured from small pox and her reputation crumbles. She moves to Holland because of this. Cecile moves back into the convent and Madame de Tourvel dies of misery because of the suffering that Valmont put her through.

Because Cruel Intentions is such a modernized version of this story, the ending is a lot different. Sebastian (Valmont) dies by being hit by a car because he pushed Annette (Tourvel) out of the way in order to save her life. Obviously, this is a much more modern way of dying in a movie than dying in a sword fight. Also, it shows the Valmont character as being more heroic, which in Dangerous Liaisons, he was not quite so heroic. In the movie, it does not really say what happens to Ronald (Danceny). He fights with Sebastian, and that is the last we see of him. Catherine (Merteuil), like in the book, also has her reputation ruined, but she gets humiliated in a more dramatic way (in front of the student body and faculty). Also, there is the issue of drugs. Her addiction to cocaine is revealed. The use of drugs is a common issue in today's modern movies, and that is one of the reasons Cruel Intentions is different in terms of its cultural context. Cecile and Annette (Tourvel) worked together to produce copies of Sebastian's journal, which revealed Catherine's true self, and they handed them out to the student body and faculty. Cecile directly gets revenge on Catherine. In Dangerous Liaisons, she does not. This also relates to cultural context. It shows how more independent women are in the modern world. In Dangerous Liaisons, Tourvel dies of misery and Cecile goes into the convent. This shows that women were much weaker and less independent in society in the late 1700s. The last scene in the movie shows Annette driving off in Sebastian's expensive car. This is a typical ending to a modern story. In the book, her character dies, but in the movie, she is the vengeful, independent woman.

It is apparent that the morals and values of both works change because of their cultural and historical context. Dangerous Liaisons was basically written to teach young women in society what not to do. This kind of literature was looked down upon at the time it was written.

"In 1824 a decree of the cour royale de Paris condemned it to be destroyed as 'dangerous'. This verdict remained the official one throughout the later nineteenth century. The book was spoken of only to be deplored: 'a picture of the most odious immortality, that should never have been revealed even supposing it had been true', 'a work of revolting immorality', 'a book to be admired and execrated'."(Laclos, p. 7)

It was considered to be an immoral book. The movie was made mainly for entertainment purposes. Since we basically live in an immoral society, it was well accepted as a good movie. Although the schemes that Catherine and Sebastian thought up and carried out were at times blown out of proportion, I think today's audience is entertained by that sort of character. Catherine and Sebastian were the kinds of people that probably do not exist in real life, and that is why this kind of movie intrigues today's audience.

Next, I intend to discuss some of the themes involving the two works. The theme of appearance is important in both the book and the movie, but it is also different. 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