Enter the drawing rooms of pre-revolutionary Paris and witness the most sophisticated, most cruel, most devastating game of seduction ever played. Read Choderlos de Laclos’s masterpiece of epistolary fiction completely free online.
Published in 1782, Dangerous Connections (original title: Les Liaisons Dangereuses) is one of the most shocking novels ever written. It was banned, condemned, and devoured by readers who recognized themselves in its characters. It remains, two centuries later, a terrifying portrait of the human capacity for manipulation and cruelty.
The novel is told entirely through letters. The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont are former lovers, now collaborators in a game of seduction and destruction. They correspond about their conquests, their strategies, their triumphs. Merteuil wants revenge on a former lover; she asks Valmont to seduce his innocent young fiancée. Valmont, meanwhile, is pursuing the virtuous Madame de Tourvel, a woman renowned for her piety. The game escalates. Innocents are destroyed. The players destroy each other.
On this page, you can experience the novel that has been called “the most complete and terrible picture of the aristocracy in decay.” We offer the complete 1782 text in English translation for online reading.
Book Info
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Dangerous Connections (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) |
| Author | Pierre Choderlos de Laclos |
| Year of Publication | 1782 |
| Genre | Epistolary Novel, Psychological Fiction |
| Language | English Translation (Original: French) |
| Legal Status | Public Domain Worldwide |
| Format | Online Reading |
Read Dangerous Connections Online
Open the letters and enter the game. Begin Laclos’s masterpiece by reading the correspondence of Merteuil and Valmont interactively below.
This preview introduces the two players and their first moves. However, the full, devastating narrative—the seduction of the innocent, the destruction of the virtuous, the final, terrible reckoning—is available in the complete text for our subscribers.
A subscription unlocks this cornerstone of French literature and the complete works of Choderlos de Laclos. Discover the novel that proved words can kill.
About the Novel Dangerous Connections
Dangerous Connections is a novel about power—the power of the strong over the weak, the power of knowledge over ignorance, the power of words over hearts. Its villains are brilliant, charming, utterly without conscience. Its victims are innocent, trusting, doomed.
The Marquise de Merteuil
Merteuil is one of the great villains of literature. She is intelligent, beautiful, utterly amoral. She has constructed herself, created herself from nothing. She learned to hide her feelings, to manipulate appearances, to use men as tools. She wants revenge, power, pleasure. She gets them all—and then loses everything.
The Vicomte de Valmont
Valmont is Merteuil’s equal and her rival. He is a seducer, a libertine, a man who lives for conquest. He pursues Madame de Tourvel not because he desires her—though he does—but because she is a challenge. Her virtue is the ultimate prize. He wins her and destroys her. Then he discovers, too late, that he has destroyed himself.
Madame de Tourvel
Tourvel is the novel’s victim and its saint. She is virtuous, pious, faithful. She resists Valmont as long as she can, but he is too skilled, too patient, too determined. She succumbs, loves him, and is abandoned. She dies of shame and grief.
Cécile Volanges
Cécile is another victim. She is young, innocent, destined for the convent. Merteuil and Valmont use her as a pawn, corrupt her, destroy her future. She is not strong enough to resist, not wise enough to see the trap.
The Game
The novel is structured as a game, with moves and countermoves. Merteuil and Valmont write to each other, reporting their progress, planning their strategies. The reader is drawn into their world, made complicit in their schemes. We want them to succeed even as we know they are evil.
The End
The ending is devastating. Valmont is killed in a duel. Merteuil is exposed, disfigured by smallpox, ruined. Tourvel dies. Cécile enters the convent. The game is over; the players are destroyed. The novel’s final letter is from Madame de Volanges, Tourvel’s friend, who reflects on the wreckage: “I have seen enough to die of grief.”
Why Read the Novel Dangerous Connections Today?
Because it tells the truth about power. Merteuil and Valmont are not monsters; they are us, stripped of restraint, given unlimited freedom. The novel is a warning: this is what we become when we treat others as objects, when we value winning above everything.
FAQ
Is this novel based on real people?
No. But it reflects the society of pre-revolutionary France, an aristocracy that had lost its moral compass and was about to lose everything else.
Is this novel obscene?
It was considered obscene in 1782 and is still shocking today. But its shock is not mere titillation; it is a challenge to complacency.
How long is it?
Approximately 400 pages in standard editions. It is a substantial novel, but the epistolary form makes it quick reading.
Can I read it on my phone?
Yes. The letters are short, the voices are distinct, the plot is gripping. It is ideal for mobile reading.