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Les Liaisons Dangereuses
''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu on March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil and the Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont, two amoral lovers-turned-rivals who amuse themselves by ruining others and who ultimately destroy each other. It has been seen as depicting the corruption and depravity of the French nobility shortly before the French Revolution, and thereby attacking the Ancien Régime despite having been written nearly a decade prior to those events. The author aspired to "write a work which departed from the ordinary, which made a noise, and which would remain on earth after his death". As an epistolary novel, the book is composed of letters written by the various characters to each other. In particular, the letters between Valmont and the Marquise make up the majority of the plot, along with those of Cécile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Choderlos De Laclos
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (; 18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel '' Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (''Dangerous Liaisons'') (1782). A unique case in French literature, he was for a long time considered to be as scandalous a writer as the Marquis de Sade or Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne. He was a military officer with no illusions about human relations, and an amateur writer; however, his initial plan was to "write a work which departed from the ordinary, which made a noise, and which would remain on earth after his death"; from this point of view he mostly attained his goals with the fame of his masterwork ''Les Liaisons dangereuses''. It is one of the masterpieces of novelistic literature of the 18th century, which explores the amorous intrigues of the aristocracy. It has inspired many critical and analytic commentaries, plays and films. Biography Born ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seduction
In sexuality, seduction means enticing someone else into sexual intercourse or Human sexual activity, other sexual activity. Strategies of seduction include conversation and Sexual script theory, sexual scripts, paralanguage, paralingual features, non-verbal communication, and short-term behavioural strategies. The word ''seduction'' stems from Latin and means, literally, 'leading astray'. As a result, the term may have a negative connotation. Seen negatively, seduction involves temptation and wikt:enticement, enticement, often sexual in nature, to coerce someone into a behavioural choice they would not have made if they were not in a state of sexual arousal. Seen positively, seduction is synonymous for the act of charming someone—male or female—by an appeal to the senses, often with the goal of reducing unfounded Fear, fears and leading to "sexual emancipation". Some sides in contemporary academic debate state that the morality of seduction depends on the long-term impacts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Hampton
Sir Christopher James Hampton (born 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (play), ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the Les Liaisons dangereuses, novel of the same name and the Dangerous Liaisons, film adaptation. He has thrice received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: for ''Dangerous Liaisons'' (1988), ''Atonement (2007 film), Atonement'' (2007) and ''The Father (2020 film), The Father'' (2020); winning for the former and latter. Hampton is also known for his work in the theatre including ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'', and ''The Philanthropist (play), The Philanthropist''. He also translated the plays ''The Seagull'' (2008), ''God of Carnage'' (2009), ''The Father (Zeller play), The Father'' (2016), and ''The Height of the Storm'' (2019). He also wrote, with Don Black (lyricist), Don Black, the book and lyrics for the musical ''Sunset Bouleva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quartet (Müller)
In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quartets most often consist of two violins, a viola, and a cello. The particular choice and number of instruments derives from the registers of the human voice: soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB). In the string quartet, two violins play the soprano and alto vocal registers, the viola plays the tenor register and the cello plays the bass register. Composers of notable string quartets include Joseph Haydn ( 68 compositions), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (23), Ludwig van Beethoven (16), Franz Schubert (15), Felix Mendelssohn (6), Johannes Brahms (3), Antonín Dvořák (14), Alexander Borodin (2), Béla Bartók (6), Elizabeth Maconchy (13), Darius Milhaud (18), Heitor Villa-Lobos (17), and Dmitri Shostakovich (15). The Italian composer Luigi Boccheri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded
''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' is an epistolary novel, epistolary novel first published in 1740 by the English writer Samuel Richardson. Considered one of the first true English novels, it serves as Richardson's version of conduct book, conduct literature about marriage. ''Pamela'' tells the story of a fifteen-year-old maidservant named Pamela Andrews, whose employer, Mr. B, a wealthy landowner, makes unwanted and inappropriate advances towards her after the death of his mother. Pamela strives to reconcile her strong religious training with her desire for the approval of her employer in a series of letters and, later in the novel, journal entries all addressed to her impoverished parents. After various unsuccessful attempts at seduction, a series of sexual assaults and an extended period of kidnapping, the Rake (stock character), rakish Mr. B eventually reforms and makes Pamela a sincere proposal of marriage. In the novel's second part, Pamela marries Mr. B and tries to acclim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The History of Sir Charles Grandison'' (1753). He printed almost 500 works, including journals and magazines, working periodically with the London bookseller Andrew Millar. Richardson had been apprenticed to a printer, whose daughter he eventually married. He lost her along with their six children, but remarried and had six more children, of whom four daughters reached adulthood, leaving no male heirs to continue the print shop. As it ran down, he wrote his first novel at the age of 51 and joined the admired writers of his day. Leading acquaintances included Samuel Johnson and Sarah Fielding, the physician and Behmenist George Cheyne, and the theologian and writer William Law, whose books he printed. At Law's request, Richardson printed some po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
André Malraux
Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by President Charles de Gaulle as information minister (1945–46) and subsequently as France's first cultural affairs minister during de Gaulle's presidency (1959–1969). Early years Malraux was born in Paris in 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux (1875–1930) and Berthe Félicie Lamy (1877–1932). His parents separated in 1905 and eventually divorced. There are suggestions that Malraux's paternal grandfather committed suicide in 1909."Biographie détaillée" , André Malraux Website, accessed 3 September 2010 Malraux was raised by his mother, his mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libertinism
A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour observed by the larger society. The values and practices of libertines are known collectively as libertinism or ''libertinage'' and are described as an extreme form of hedonism or liberalism. Libertines put value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the senses. As a philosophy, libertinism gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, particularly in France and Great Britain. Notable among these were John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Cyrano de Bergerac, and the Marquis de Sade. History of the term The word ''libertine'' was originally coined by John Calvin to negatively describe opponents of his policies in Geneva, Switzerland. The group, led by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the wife of Louis XVI. Born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, she was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Francis I. She married Louis Auguste, Dauphin of France, in May 1770 at age 14, becoming the Dauphine of France. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI, and she became queen. As queen, Marie Antoinette became increasingly a target of criticism by opponents of the domestic and foreign policies of Louis XVI and those opposed to the monarchy in general. The French accused her of being profligate, promiscuous, having illegitimate children, and harboring sympathies for France's perceived enemies, including her native Habsburg monarchy, Austria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Philippe II, Duke Of Orléans
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Louis Philippe Joseph; 13 April 17476 November 1793), was a French Prince of the Blood who supported the French Revolution. Louis Philippe II was born at the to Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, Louis Philippe I, Duke of Chartres, and his wife, Louise Henriette de Bourbon, Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti. He was titled Duke of Montpensier at birth. When his grandfather Louis, Duke of Orléans (1703–1752), Louis, Duke of Orléans, died in 1752, his father became the new Duke of Orléans and Louis Philippe II became Duke of Chartres. When his father died in 1785, he became Duke of Orléans and First Prince of the Blood. He was styled as Serene Highness (). In 1792, during the French Revolution, Revolution, Louis Philippe changed his name to . He was a cousin of King Louis XVI and one of the wealthiest men in France. He actively supported the Revolution of 1789, and was a strong advocate for the elimination of the present absolute monarch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class with hereditary rank and titles. They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. History In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, or India, aristocratic status came from belonging to a military class. It has also been common, notably in African and Oriental societies, for aristocrats to belong to priestly dynasties. Aristocratic status can involve feudal or legal privileges. Plato’s '' Symposium'' offers a glimpse into the intellectual and cultural life of aristocracy in ancient Athens. The dialogue takes place at a banquet attended by prominent Athenian aristocrats, illustrating how the elite not only wielded political and military power but also shaped philosophic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
