Merteuil and Valmont's characters are crafted by Laclos in a subtle and allusive way through the epistolary form so that the reader is not aware of their own seduction until they are entrapped.
As the book develops and these characters orchestrate the seduction, entrapment and destruction of other characters, the reader's dependence on and relationship with them becomes evermore important.Valmont is a character of wit, charm and social graces, unashamedly aware of his role as a libertine in a morally aware society. His audacity is an attractive feature of his character and it quickly revealed. He tells Merteuil in letter 4, 'Je vais vous confier le plus grand projet que j'aie jamais form�,' which immediately draws the reader to his character and intentions. He is an educated, intelligent man who enjoys the present, but plans the immediate future to his advantage. Merteuil is equally as enterprising, if not more so, a quality which is obvious even from her first letter to Valmont, 'il m'est venu une excellent id�e.
' This description of her plan to corrupt the young na�ve virgin C�cile has a hint of humour, a prevalent feature in the correspondence between her and Valmont, and one that the reader is inevitably drawn to as the book develops and her character is more deeply understood.Through this 'bonne id�e', in a series of manipulative and immoral schemes, the action develops. We take the most from their letters; they inform, entertain and empower us. In comparison we learn almost nothing from the letters of C�cile, 'Je ne sais encore rien, ma bonne amie,' and she has revealed everything about her character very quickly, thus removing her ability to create intrigue and suspense. This lack of intrigue about her character makes it hard to consider her a real victim because we do not identify with her. We are more interested in Merteuil and Valmont's correspondence and the reader is very quickly forced to rely on it.
We have been seduced by their attractive characters and entrapped by their power and knowledge; just as the other characters in the book are to be.
