Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist and military officer, best known for his seminal work, "Les Liaisons dangereuses." Born in 1741 into a family of Spanish descent, Laclos pursued a military career after attending the La Fère Academy, eventually becoming a second lieutenant. His time stationed in Grenoble, where he mingled with influential societal figures, greatly influenced the characters and themes in his writing. Laclos's literary style was shaped by earlier epistolary novels, incorporating elements of passion and social realism, while also providing a critical lens on the moral complexities and hypocrisies of 18th-century French society.
During the French Revolution, he aligned himself with the Jacobin Party and faced imprisonment during the Reign of Terror, later supporting Napoleon and achieving the rank of General of the Artillery. Although Laclos's life ended in 1803, his legacy endures, particularly through "Les Liaisons dangereuses," which explores themes of manipulation and seduction, and has been adapted into various stage and film productions. His writings, including speeches and letters, were compiled posthumously, reflecting his multifaceted contributions to literature and military service.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
French novelist
- Born: October 18, 1741
- Birthplace: Amiens, France
- Died: November 5, 1803
- Place of death: Taranto (now in Italy)
Biography
Pierre-Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (lah-kloh) was born into a family of Spanish descent that inherited a title from an attendant to Louis XIV. Although his relatives were financial administrators, Laclos chose a military career and entered the La Fère Academy in 1759. By the time of graduation in 1763 he held the position of second lieutenant; in a span of fifteen years he was unable to advance beyond the rank of second captain during a time of relative peace in Europe.
While stationed in Grenoble between 1769 and 1775, Laclos apparently met several society figures who contributed to the formation of the principal characters in Les Liaisons dangereuses. The psychology behind this work is derived from Laclos’s reworking of Samuel Richardson’s History of Clarissa Harlowe (1748) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The New Héloïse (1761)—epistolary novels renowned for intense passion, social realism, and elevated language. As a military commander, Laclos was in a unique position to view the game of seduction as a series of maneuvers and strategies. Based on his political choices during the French Revolution, it is reasonable to conclude that Laclos meant to hold a mirror to the French ancien régime society of the 1770’s, noted for its excessive promiscuity, nefarious scheming, cynical worldliness, and blatant hypocrisy.
In the years before the fall of the Bastille, Laclos married (two years after the birth of a son) and served as a secretary to Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of Orléans, before joining the Jacobin Party in 1790. During the Reign of Terror, he was imprisoned but later released on house arrest. He was reinstated into the army, supported Napoleon, and was subsequently appointed a general of the artillery in 1800. During the Napoleonic Wars he died in Taranto, probably from dysentery. In 1903, a collection of his writings—mostly speeches, treatises, letters, and poems—was published. Les Liaisons dangereuses, popularized in stage and film adaptations, remains a classic representation of diabolical subtlety and Machiavellian subterfuge.
Bibliography
Becker-Theye, Betty. The Seducer as Mythic Figure in Richardson, Laclos, and Kierkegaard. New York: Garland, 1988.
Byrne, Patrick. “Les Liaisons Dangereuses”: A Study of Motive and Moral. Glasgow: University of Glasgow French and German Publications, 1989.
Conroy, Peter V. Intimate, Intrusive, and Triumphant: Readers in the “Liaisons Dangereuses.” Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, 1987.
Davies, Simon. Laclos: “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” Wolfboro, N.H.: Grant and Cutler, 1987.
DeJean, Joan E. Literary Fortifications: Rousseau, Laclos, Sade. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Michael, Collette Verger. Choderlos de Laclos, the Man, His Works, and His Critics: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1982.
Roulston, Christine. Virtue, Gender, and the Authentic Self in Eighteenth Century Fiction: Richardson, Rousseau, and Laclos. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1998.
Sol, Antoinette Marie. Textual Promiscuities: Eighteenth Century Critical Rewriting. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2002.