Les Liaisons Dangereuses Analysis

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Les Liaisons Dangereuses Scene Analysis I am playing La Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton. She is a very interesting women to get to dig into for this scene. The play is based in 1780s France, this scene takes place October 1st. Merteuil is a well respected women who when her husband dies was left with vast wealth that she is able to use to entertain herself, if you will. She was married for a rather short time, she says in one line that when she began to tire of her husband, he very graciously died. She is quite ahead of her time. I picture her in current time running some company as the CEO in power suits while still breaking some hearts. However, in Paris, 1780, that wasn’t a woman’s place in society. Because of this, she takes to using her body and mind to play with people’s lives and innocence for her amusement. She is quite good at it. In this scene, Merteuil is meeting with Cecile, after her right hand man, Valmont, has executed their plan of sleeping with Cecile. Cecile is looking for a confidant, Merteuil however, is interested in hearing the fallout from this ruse she has created for her amusement and for that hint of revenge on Gergourt. Merteuil continues with the charade throughout the scene, hiding the fact that she had anything to do with the events …show more content…
Because she has so much going through her head constantly, she works to maintain a neutral face expression. In this scene alone she has about four different plots going she has to maintain. She works to stay “innocent” as Cecile laments about this horrific event, all engineered by Merteuil herself. One of my favorite moments of the scene however, is when Cecile is turned away and unfocused on Merteuil. She allows herself one moment of this pleasure to cross her face as she sees her plan has worked. I think that is so fun for the audience to see as they begin to understand exactly who this woman

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