Morality in Choderlos de Laclos Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Essay Example

?I. (a) Morality in Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses Considering the characters and events in the novel, one can say that Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a story of morality wherein de Laclos projects the consequences of revenge and mad love. The story also introduces readers to another form of mad love, which portrays the character of Valmont in his efforts at pursuing Tourvel. Further, it is also noticeable that the epistolary narrative form of the novel hides the actual intentions of the narrator although one can also say that it is basically a criticism against outward sexuality and revenge. Specifically, the characters of Valmont, Tourvel, and Cecile show these ideas. The novel elaborates the value of morality in the light of love. In his letter to Vicomte de Valmont, de Merteuil states, “Old ladies must never be crossed: in their hands lie the reputations of the young ones” (de Laclos 115). Although Merteuil’s character is one of the mischievous and tricksters in the story, her warming to Valmont is true in light to the supposedly good education that young women should receive from their female elders. For instance, Cecile could have benefitted the advice of elder females before Valmont takes her. This corresponds to the value of education and awareness of morals in the society; this value also aligns with Levin’s idea of hedonism as becoming a manner of living, which morality awareness can be a remedy (Levin 8). Considering the exposition of Cecile’s and Valmont’s characters, one can say that the value of morality emanates throughout the novel. In defending herself against Valmont, Tourvel states that “happiness is nothing but a tumult of the mind, a tempest of passion, frightful to behold even for the spectator on the shore” (de Laclos 124). Tourvel points her refusal to Valmont’s aggressions due to her fear of the potential effect of their illicit love affairs, considering her perceptions of love and religiosity. Also, her refusal is a convincing one because she points out the potential consequences if she agrees with Valmont’s propositions. However, considering that Tourvel also gave in to Valmont’s temptation, it is evident that her reasonable defense did not protect her from Valmont’s allure as she falls in love with him. While de Laclos presents the value of morality, in retrospect, it is also likely that he illustrates the inevitability of temptations and the weakness of human beings to sometimes resist such temptations. Conclusively, the interplay of letters in the story brings readers to a comprehensive insight concerning the attitudes, intentions, and frailties of the characters particularly with Tourvel, de Mertueil, and Cecile. Through Valmont’s character, de Laclos also presents the persistence of temptations in the world either physically, mentally, or emotionally. For instance, Tourvel's letters present her perception against Valmont while de Mertueil's letter shows the latter's frailties as a human being.Taken together, as the entirety of the novel revolves around the sexual exploits of Valmont, one can say that the underlying intention of de Laclos in writing the story is to elaborate the emerging hedonistic way of life in France during those times. Works Cited Levin, Harry. Foreword. Les Liaisons Dangereuses. de Laclos, Choderlos. Trans. Richard Arlington. London: Penguin Books, 1961. Print. de Laclos, Choderlos. Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Trans. Richard Arlington. London: Penguin Books, 1961. Print. II. (b) The Depiction of Nature in von Goethe’s The Suffering of Young Werther In reading the novel, one can say that von Goethe’s use of “pathetic fallacy” allows readers to associate the condition of nature with the condition of Werther. Specifically, in highlighting the personified feelings and capacities of nature, von Goethe also presents the feelings of Werther. Further, the comparison between Werther’s feelings and the nature projects the essence of the text as a work of art, especially in highlighting the realism of nature and human feelings. Relatively, von Goethe also uses such literary technique in shaping the entirety of the novel, particularly in concretizing the idea of love and the sublime. On the other hand, von Goethe’s novella presents this literary idea through associating the seasons of nature and the life of Werther. For instance, in describing his positive feelings, Werther writes in his May 10 diary, “A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which is I enjoy with my whole heart” (von Goethe 5). This line comes in the initial parts of the novella wherein Werther is still hopeful about his love and life; it also presents the beautiful and sublime in the novel, which is both nature and the initial, youthful and hopeful life stages of Werther. The beauty of spring and Werther’s positive perceptions on life allow readers to trace the cause and consequences of his love for Lotte because of von Goethe’s outward descriptions of his changes. However, considering that the novella is a coming of age story, von Goethe also presents the devastating effects of a failed love on Werther’s life. Specifically, von Goethe presents Werther’s nature of loving, and how his mad love ruins him both physically and emotionally. For instance, the line “As nature puts on her autumn tints it becomes autumn with me and around me. My leaves are sere and yellow” (von Goethe 65). This line follows Werther’s sentiment on her love having found another lover in her diary dated September 3, and it is likely that such a line corresponds to his heartache and hopelessness in attaining the attention of his love. Nature’s shedding of leaves mirrors Werther’s slow physical and mental deterioration due to his failure in love. With von Goethe’s descriptions of change undergoing in nature and the life of Werther, one can say that he presents the realities of life and nature, as well. For instance, with von Goethe’s use of parallelism between Werther’s life and nature, it is likely that von Goethe highlights the realism of human feelings, which is as perennial as the seasons of nature. Also, he underlines the inevitability of change, happiness, love, and failures either in nature or human lives. Conclusively, the entirety of von Goethe’s novella revolves around the transitions in human life, particularly failures and love. In this case, one can say that although von Goethe’s use of pathetic fallacy may reduce the novel into its metaphorical nature, it still mirrors the realities of human life wherein people experience both ups and downs of existence. Work Cited von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Minnesota: Filiquarian Publishing, 2007. Print. III. (a) Attention to Ideas in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice The most interesting aspect of Mann’s novella is the emphasis of ideas rather than characters. Specifically, Mann’s use of mythology and descriptive narrative of Aschenbach’s life gives hints on his preference for ideas, particularly in relation to art, human life, and love. Mann presents Aschenbach’s life, particularly his relationship with Tadzio, as a parable that objectifies the influence of myths, beauty, art, and love on human life. In the context of its presentation of nature, one can also compare Aschenbach’s life with Goethe’s presentation of Werther because those two works present nature as a transformative force that affects the life of humans. With the psychological and physical transformations of Aschenbach, it is likely that Mann intends to portray change as inevitable in life as much as seasonal change is perennially existent in nature. The initial parts of the novella present Aschenbach's existing stagnancy, exhaustion, and lack of inspiration in his writing (Mann 95). The succeeding parts narrate how Aschenbach meets the young boy Tadzio and the sudden changes that the former felt when he gazed on the god-like appearance of the young boy (Mann 116). At their first meeting, Aschenbach describes the boy as bearing the likeness of Greek carving that exemplifies physical perfection. Aschenbach’s perception of the boy presents the mythological aspects of the novella wherein, in the latter parts of the novel, Tadzio’s impression on Aschenbach is comparable to the influence of Bacchae to the women of Tmolus. Mann’s use of mythologies supports his thesis that beauty gives out beauty. Specifically, Mann’s presentation of Tadzio’s character, as a parallel to Bacchae, presents the transformative idea of mythological characters as sources of inspiration in the creation of arts. Tadzio’s beauty inspires Aschenbach to write although he restrains his subjective feelings to Tadzio. Further, the interplay between Aschenbach and Tadzio introduces the concept of a person’s quest for inspiration and purpose wherein human beings draw inspiration from whatever we perceive as beautiful and inspiring. The existence of beauty allows human beings to strive, to better their creation, and to aspire for beauty in their art. Although not entirely similar, Aschenbach’s death is comparable to Werther’s death in a way that the death of both characters is attributable to the loss of inspirations. In both characters, the loss of their inspiration and hopelessness drives them to succumb to their weakness, which leads to their eventual death. In studying Aschenbach’s character, one can say that Mann presents the idea of hope and love as the fuel of life while distress, failure, and unrequited love ruin a person in the physical and psychological sense. Conclusively, in analyzing the characters of Tadzio and Aschenbach, one can say that the central idea of the novella, particularly in Mann’s use of mythologies, is the transformative influence of beauty wherein people perceive it as an inspiration. For instance, Aschenbach regains his inspiration when he saw Tadzio in one of his solitary walks. This is also true in Werther’s case wherein the latter finds inspiration and hope through his love for Lotte. However, Mann also portrays the idea of loss and unreciprocated love, as the primary influence of physical and mental deterioration, wherein people tend to succumb to their weaknesses and fears when they lose their will to live. Work Cited Mann, Thomas. Death in Venice, Tonio Kroger, and Other Writings. Ed. Frederick A. Lubich. New York: Continuum, 1999. Print. IV. (a) Literature and Morality in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita Nabokov’s defense for his work is reasonable enough when taking the argument on the role of authors in creating literary works. Specifically, Nabokov asserts his detachment from the emotional and morality issues presented in his work, considering his stance against being a “writer of didactic fiction” (314). Further, he also contends that his intention in writing Lolita is to express his “aesthetic bliss” of having identified himself with other societies whose norms are art and artistic work (314-15). This relates to the objectivity of literature wherein authors distance themselves from the emotions that they illustrate in their work. Nabokov’s argument on the moral stance of Lolita relates the neutrality of writing wherein authors maintain an objective distance from their work to avoid personal biases. This is because the emotional distance between the author and his or her creation fuels the objectivity of literary text wherein readers are left to derive their own understanding of the entire text. In this case, the author resigns in the backdrop of his writing and satisfies him/herself with the mere idea of producing an acceptable work of art, at last. This relates to the concept of aesthetic distance wherein authors detach themselves from the emotional aspects and context of their works for them to identify and integrate the objective elements of art. In Lolita, Nabokov manifests the concept of aesthetic distance wherein he portrays the different characters as they are, regardless of social perceptions on morality and sensuality. This leaves the audience analyzing the objective elements of his work, particularly the impact of the characterization, plot, and point of view on the entirety of the novel. This is also true in Celestina by Fernando de Rojas and Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Laclos. In Celestina, de Rojas portrays the concept of mad love through the interplay between Celestina, Calisto, and Melibea without preaching his personal stance on mad love and morality. Relatively, when readers aim to derive the moral value of Celestina, they may derive the moral underpinnings of the work through the objective analysis of the characters and plot. In Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Laclos presents his ambiguous stance on morality through the characters of Tourvel and de Merteuil, considering that Laclos illustrates both faults and weaknesses of characters. In this case, it is likely that such ambiguity presents the objective intention of the authors in creating their art, regardless of the sidetracked social relevance of their works. Hence, considering that love and morality are subjective and culturally dependent topics, one can say that writing about love in relation to morality defeats the value of literature as a stand-alone art. This is because preaching morality through literature makes the latter an avenue of personal principles; this makes literature an author’s confession instead of being a thought-provoking art. Consequently, Lolita, as an individual fictional character, stands as an objectification of Nabokov’s conception of art as comprising of objective elements including attitudes, preferences, values, and experiences. As a literary work, Lolita consists of the objective literary elements including the plot, characterization, point of view, and theme. Thus, in relation to morality, art, and mad love, one can say that Lolita is neither a personal manifestation of the writer’s moral principles. Instead, it is a standalone object of art that gives humanity the inspiration to evaluate their values and moral principles. Work Cited Nabokov, Vladimir. The Annotated Lolita. Ed. Alfred Appel, Jr. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Print. Read More