Character Analysis
Madame de Volanges is a wealthy and pious woman who wants a good match for her daughter Cécile and has agreed to Comte de Gercourt's offer of marriage. When she discovers the liaisons between her daughter and the Chevalier Danceny, she forbids him to see her. On reflection, however, she wonders if she should allow her daughter her choice of husbands. She sees how much Cécile loves him and she suspects a loveless marriage might only result in infidelity and unhappiness. (Major insight for someone in her time.) Her loving maternal instincts overcome her wish for a more socially beneficial match for Cécile.
Madame de Volanges is good friends with Madame de Tourvel and is alarmed by her friend's close proximity to Valmont while the two of them are both staying at the estate of Madame de Rosemonde. Madame de Volanges repeatedly warns the Présidente of the Vicomte's sinister reputation.
When Cécile runs off to the convent, Madame de Volanges is beside herself. She hopes that this is just an impulsive move and that her daughter will come to her senses and come home to be married. Once she realizes what's actually gone down, all she can do is mourn for her daughter. In her letter to Madame de Rosemonde, she has the last words in the book:
Good-bye, my dear and worthy friend; I am now discovering that reason, unable in the first place to prevent our misfortunes, is even less equal to consoling us for them. (4.175.9)
Do you think that's the author's take on the world?