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 suffer

Cruel Intentions. Kumble, Roger. Columbia Pictures, 1998.

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.

"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)

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.

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.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1366
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)