L\u2019intrigue du gouverneur, le gouvernement d\u2019une intrigante? Mme de Genlis et Mme de Merteuil dans les Liaisons Dangereuses de Laclos

Abstract

The two eighteenth-century novelists Choderlos de Laclos and Mme de Genlis were rivals in different fields. They were both employed by the duke of Orléans and thus occupied a public function. They both wrote an epistolary novel in 1782 and they both had very outspoken opinions about the widely debated subject of female education. The main hypothesis ventured in this article is that Laclos has used Mme de Genlis as a model for the immoral character of Mme de Mertueil in his famous novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Mme de Genlis’ contemporaries have mentioned a possible link between her and the character of Mme de Merteuil, but they did not mention which character traits the countess of Genlis could possibly have in common with this character. The above-mentioned, three-folded rivalry between Laclos and Mme de Genlis will serve as a starting point in order to understand why Mme de Genlis’ contemporaries could have made a link between her and Laclos’ character.