Laclos, Rousseau, libertinage, existentialism, social pathology, 18th century literature, aristocracy, Dangerous Liaisons, Vicomte de Valmont, Marquise de Merteuil
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Abstract
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Abstract
Christophe Martin's analysis of Laclos' novel reveals a denunciation of distorted existence and refusal of sentiment, illustrating a social pathology in 18th century aristocracy.
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[...] She reveals notably the way in which her strength and perversion have been founded, also in order not to feel the real: « This useful curiosity, in serving to instruct me, also taught me to conceal; often forced to hide the objects of my attention from the eyes that surrounded me, I tried to guide mine at my will: I obtained from then on to take at will that distracted look that you have praised so often. Encouraged by this first success, I tried to regulate the various movements of my face in the same way. If I felt some sorrow, I studied to take on the air of serenity, even that of joy; I took the zeal to the point of causing myself voluntary pains, in order to seek during this time the expression of pleasure. [...]
[...] Martin analyzes in the article: « One will therefore distinguish an intradiegetic intertextuality when the characters of the fiction model their discourses or practices in reference to Rousseau and his work; and a less localized or more diffuse, but structuring intertextuality for the fiction itself. The first level of analysis can be apprehended as a detournement, or even a perversion. The second level reveals a deep fidelity, however paradoxical it may be: it is no longer a matter of profaning the model, but of writing and thinking the fiction with it.? B. [...]
[...] The latter does not wish to get involved in sentiment, which they denigrate. The use and denigration of Rousseau thus underline their aversion to sentiment, which cruelly distances them from their humanity. Hence, the epistolary form not only allows to show their pathetic state but also to denounce the pathologization of their behaviors. This pathology is the one that is gnawing away at a corrupt aristocracy with particularly ill intentions towards their external worlds. In this respect, Christophe Martin's reading allows for a darker understanding of Chloderlos de Laclos's epistolary novel. [...]
[...] In what ways do the behaviors of the two main protagonists in Laclos' Dangerous Liaisons truly illustrate Christophe Martin's analysis? For the critic and specialist of the 18th century Christophe Martin, the lesson of Dangerous Liaisons consists in its denunciation of "the catastrophe that constitutes a distorted understanding of existence and the refusal to consent to this loss of self that is sentiment" ("Laclos, Rousseau and the novel of libertinage" n°194, 2023) In what ways does this judgment align with your reading of the novel?" Introduction The author Christophe Martin analyzes within an article published in 2023, in the review Poetics that the lesson of the Liaisons dangereuses consists in its denunciation of 'the catastrophe that constitutes a distorted apprehension of existence and the refusal to consent to this loss of self that is sentiment'. [...]
[...] The refusal of sentiment - the Rousseauist distancing Firstly, Christophe Martin talks about the refusal of sentiment, as he fully embodies the trajectory of the Vicomte de Valmont, who in his seduction games with the Présidente de Tourvel, ultimately fell in love with her but refused it. Having fallen in love, he rejects his feelings by sending her a breakup letter dictated by the Marquise de Meurteuil. Not only does Meurteuil flee from sentiment, but he also methodically destroys it, with the support of his accomplice. [...]
