French Literature Reviews - 2026

B. Fontana, Du boudoir à la Révolution. Laclos & Les Liaisons dangereuses dans leur siècle  (reissued)
Novel and Narrative Prose

Biancamaria Fontana, Du boudoir à la Révolution. Laclos & Les Liaisons dangereuses dans leur siècle

Translated from English by the author
New expanded and updated edition

Éditions Agone

January 16, 2013, 224 pages

• ISBN: 978-2-7489-0177-1
• 20 euros

Publisher's overview

Les Liaisons dangereuses is one of the masterpieces of French literature. Yet this "scandalous novel" is also a compendium of "wisdom focused on romantic relationships, the basic rules that govern them, and the ways in which they can be manipulated to one's advantage": a narrative remarkable for its clarity, unparalleled frankness, simplicity, detachment, and the "rigor of an approach that, despite its aristocratic sophistication and the passage of time, makes it eminently accessible to the modern reader."
While Du boudoir à la Révolution revisits all of these themes, placing them within their context of production and reception, this short, incisive essay intertwines fictional characters with the biography of Laclos (young captain, husband, then Jacobin revolutionary, and finally Napoleon's officer) to bring to light the intellectual qualities and core thought of a writer immersed in an era of experimentation with moral and political questions that continue to challenge our own.
While writings on Les Liaisons dangereuses are naturally numerous (not to mention film and theatrical adaptations, etc.), and some possess unquestionable scholarly value and erudition, the majority of these studies adopt a highly academic style and a somewhat technical approach, "as if the novel's captivating content had to be offset by the cryptic and abstruse nature of the commentaries it inspires." Drawing on every resource that best conveys Laclos's personal vision—history, biography, philosophy, literary criticism, and fiction—the author crafts a narrative accessible to readers who are simply interested in literature (or love) and politics, without requiring any specialized knowledge of eighteenth-century history or literary theory.
A former teacher and researcher in the history of political thought at Cambridge (1978–1991), Biancamaria Fontana is currently a professor at the University of Lausanne. A fellow of King's College (Cambridge, UK), she specializes in the post-revolutionary period and liberal political thinkers (Benjamin Constant and Madame de Staël). Notably the author of The Invention of the Modern Republic (Cambridge UP, 1994), she recently co-edited Les Usages de la séparation des pouvoirs (2008) and regularly contributes to the Times Literary Supplement.

The late eighteenth century in France was defined by profound intellectual transformations, as traditional structures of authority and morality faced sustained critique from writers, philosophers, and political actors. Within this climate of transition, literature frequently served as a laboratory for examining human motivation, power dynamics, and the shifting boundaries between public and private life. Authors of the period engaged deeply with the psychological complexities of desire and social hierarchy, producing works that interrogated the foundations of the ancien régime while anticipating the radical upheavals of the revolutionary era. Readers interested in the intersections of literature, biography, and political thought during the Enlightenment may find this volume relevant.

This study examines Choderlos de Laclos and his work Les Liaisons dangereuses by connecting the text to the author's life as a military officer and revolutionary participant. The commentary addresses the novel's depiction of romantic strategy and manipulation, setting these themes against the broader intellectual debates of the eighteenth century. By combining historical background with close attention to the writer's personal trajectory, the volume engages with questions concerning the relationship between literature and political ideology. The discussion avoids highly technical academic jargon, offering an accessible approach to the study of a French text and its author's worldview.