A Red Herring? Laclos (1741–1803)

Abstract

At first sight Laclos’s Les Liaisons dangereuses appears to have much to recommend it as a testimony of the years leading up to the French Revolution. When it appeared in March 1782 it clearly touched a popular chord, for 2000 copies were sold in under two months, there were several reprintings before the end of the year, and fifteen editions of the novel in all saw the light of day during the seven years remaining before the Revolution. The book was much commented upon in salon and press; one is tempted to believe that the public read in these pages the prophetic doom of privileged society, the emptiness of a world which had rights but no obligations.