What Is The Primary Purpose Of Dangerous Liaisons

Throughout history, our society has created gender norms that are followed consistently by members of communities. Though they differ from place to place, we recognize trends that seem almost prescribed to certain genders. Specifically, in the 1600s, men and women had explicit roles that were designated by people of stature. These expectations were followed loyally and people who failed to follow suit were shunned or sometimes even suffered seriously punishment including crude public beatings that were mot only pain inflicting but also status damaging (Rocke, Gender and Sexual Culture, 159). Looking deeper into the novel The Return of Martin Guerre, we identify from the start the expectations that are in place and how they play a role in the story. In comparison of Characters, taking into consideration the standard that had been set for men of this era, we notice that Pansette (Arnaud du Tilh) is an almost faultless example of what is expected for men and in contrast, Martin Guerre fails to meet these standards.

Mme de Lafayette’s The Princesse de Clèves was written during the time period known as ‘the Age of Reason.’ Mainly concerned with the discovery of the self, thinkers began to seriously consider the foundation of knowledge on which we understand ourselves during this era. Philosophers at the time thought that in order to understand the self, we must first come to understand our fundamental human nature and the passions that influence our everyday actions. Unlike Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy or Hobbes’ Leviathan where the passions are philosophized and discussed, The Princesse de Clèves gives an entirely new perspective to these human emotions. The psychological novel allows us insight into how these passions can complicate our

The crime fiction texts “A scandal in Bohemia” and “A scandal in Belgravia” explore the historical and cultural position of dominant social values and beliefs in society, shaped by the culture and time of which the texts were written. The audience is invited to consider the ways in which the privileged ideological assumptions which inform our reading, are important to the meaning we make from the text through the dominant social values at the time. The way in which the texts represents people, expectations and behaviours provides the audience with a social commentary in which values are communicated, and

1. “Villefort started in spite of himself. The coincidence shook his usual impassivity and struck a chord of sympathy in the depths of his soul. He, too, was about to be married; and he had now been called upon to destroy the joy of a man who, like himself, was on the point of attaining his supreme happiness”(Dumas 25).

The novel is divided by two ridiculous and yet satirical extremes. One expresses the Enlightenment movement followed by radical optimists and it contradicts the idea of positive acting. The other side rather represents its negative outcome – the result of passive thinking and irrational evaluation of reality. The reader can see the cruel mockery of the Enlightenment philosophy in

This peer-reviewed article Eros and agape in Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess is written by Catherin O’Brien, who is a senior lecturer in Film Studies and French at Kingston University. With a very poetic title, this article focuses on the major conflict in Hitchcock’s I Confess, the love from God to human versus the love between human. In order to analysis and discuss such a tactile and sentimental issue, the author spends a large amount of space describing and interpreting the mise-en-scene. Although this article does not directly argue anything about Lepage’s film La Confessional, I believe it still has the value for providing the interpretation on the visual symbols which are used in both films. More importantly, as my proposed thesis suggests

Since nearly the beginning of time, adultery has been thought of as morally wrong. Marriage, on the other hand, has been thought of as a sacred institution shared by most of the people and religions of the world. In the “Lais” written by Marie de France, we are given insight into the inner workings of five adulterous affairs, six pre-marital sexual encounters, and one instance of impure thoughts. Although Marie de France does not seem to condone adultery, she writes in a manner that allows the reader to feel possible sympathy with it, depending upon the situation. In fact, she seems to separate her lays into two categories. The first category consists of extenuating circumstances in which the reader is made (allowed) to feel empathy and

“The neocolonial, patriarchal oppression of Beatrice leads her to revolt, but violence is the only method of revolution she can use… She slowly poisons Eugene as a reaction to the physical and emotional abuse he has caused.” (22)

Even today there is a very defined tension between men and women. This tension has been around for centuries and is evident in the novel “Dangerous Liaisons” especially in the interactions between the main two characters, Valmont and Merteuil. In many ways, these two have opposing moral with the rest of society. These are greed, conquest, and corruption. These oppose the society because the society values religion and decency, all throughout the story Valmont and Merteuil go against those values with their actions.

The Stranger, Albert Camus' reader gluing book is all about an inane activities of Meursault the protagonist. The setting of this book is in Algiers; in the beginning of this wonderful novel we encounter the death of Maeursault's mother in Marengo. The author of this book wrote it in the first person style thus allowing the reader to view Meursault to be the sole individual that propels all the unfolding in the novel. For this matter, the author relays sequence of events that invokes Meursault to shoot a friend, he is imprisoned and his eventual death. With regard to all that Meursault does and does not do convicts the reader to call him an anti-hero. This paper seeks to discuss the ant-hero theme in The Stranger as written by Albert Camus'.

LaSalle was also a national hero. He was awarded the Silver Star for capturing an “enemy machine gun nest”, a brave, sacrificial, heroic act. Most notably, LaSalle’s gallantry was deliberate, unlike Francis’. Here lies a moral dilemma, in that the reader feels like they owe it to Nicole, the victim of LaSalle’s rape, to hate Larry and yet, they cannot deny that his behaviour in war was more heroic than Francis’, since

John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi can be viewed as a revenge tragedy. The Duchess was murdered on the order of her two brothers, Cardinal and Ferdinand, because of her sexual transgressions and her secret marriage with her subordinate household steward, Antonio, with whom she had also borne two children. Through this play, Webster addresses many issues that were highly prevalent in Jacobean age. This play is a concoction of issues like social mobility, gender norms, revenge and also has violence in large proportions. We see that class status does not protect the Duchess against men’s violent acts. The murder of the Duchess is not really considered a murder by the brothers but an act that is done to protect their family name in the society

Julien soon faces a dilemma when M. de Rênal receives a letter revealing the affair between Julien and Mme. de Rênal. The two wittingly avoid any trouble by sending a second letter to Rênal stating that the initial letter was a ploy to disgrace him. The importance of public opinion is so great to the aristocratic Rênal that he believes the

During this passage, the speaker of the poem encourages others to act in a libertine manner through his combatted word choice, detailed imagery, and heroic stanza pattern. Using a heroic stanza throughout the poem humors the speaker, a retired “brave admiral,” who is comparing sexual acts to warfare. After sharing examples of sexual acts experienced, he proclaims “with tales like these I will such heat inspire,” (41) emboldening others to act with the same “heat.” The speaker suggests that he will make the libertine prospects “long some ancient church to fire” (43), meaning the ancient morals of sexual acts. By setting fire to the old church thought, the libertines have a chance to perform sensual acts without the judgement of the religious. The able will then not fear “lewdness,” lustful acts, that are influenced by being drunk. (44) He is in turn acting as an advocate, “statesman-like” (45), by voicing his opinions and personal experiences for others to act in ways that he used to and no longer can. The speaker is a libertine who explains what he will do when he is no longer able to perform sexually, when he is “safe from danger valiantly advise,” (46). He is safe from the risks of the excessive amount sensual pleasures, including alcoholism and sexually transmitted diseases. Once he is retired from the sexually active lifestyle, he will watch others perform their sexual battles from afar, receiving pleasure by living through others.

The issue of ethics shrouds Christopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris through the moral implications that arise throughout the text as both characters and the audience exhibits different notions of moral judgment through religion and society. Marlowe’s exploration of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre may have been intentional as it was written during the period of Elizabethan rule . In this case, morals and ethics are interplaying with the wrongdoings of the Catholic faith beginning with the Machiavellian Duke of Guise and the satirical and desensitized portrayal of death. Yet the moral foundations of religion and murder are uncertain through the portrayal of Protestant’s idea of justice. Throughout the text murder becomes a motif for the ethical implications of the French massacre, where the Huguenots (French protestants) are persecuted by the French Catholics whom seek to rule the country. Thus, the play highlights notions of ethical and moral implications of the 1572 massacre and the political struggles between the Catholics and Protestants .