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Dangerous Liaisons Essay

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Comparison and Differences of Dangerous Liaisons Novel and Film The film Dangerous Liaison, directed by Stephen Frears remains just about faithful to the epistolary novel, Dangerous Liaisons, by Choderlos de Laclos. Stephen Frears does "betray" the novel towards the end of the film but, it makes the ending that much more better and enticing. The film represents what the epistolary novel only hints at us readers. The novel is composed of letters where we only get a sense of the characters thoughts and emotions. The film tries to put those words into action but only showing one version of each scene. It is different in which the writer of the novel is using words while the film maker is using pictures to describe what's happening. …show more content…

The biggest betrayal the film makes to the novel is the ending. The film ends when Merteuil goes to the opera to find out she is hated by everyone there, she goes back to her room and it ends with her removing her makeup, her destiny is left unknown. In the book, she gets a very painful case of small pox and loses sight in one of her eyes after her letters to Valmont have been published. When Merteuil removes her makeup at the end of the film, she is wiping away the surface that made her attractive, her desirability is being wiped away. Her power has been based on her appearance and her destruction of her face symbolizes her destruction of herself. Merteuil no longer is the strong feminist she use to be, she is now a weak woman just like Tourvel. I think the director made a good choice in changing the ending of the film. I was shocked and somewhat happy to see Merteuil finally get what she deserved. The jaw dropper for me was when she fell while leaving the opera it symbolized her reputation falling too. Everyone use to look up to Merteuil and she would control them like puppets and now the roles have been turned. For me the ending of the movie was a lot more satisfying and jaw dropping. Merteuil tried everything in her power to win the game of revenge and it back fired on her. Vicomte de Valmont's character in the novel and film are very faithful to each other. Valmont, who is a

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