Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Which letter-writers do you trust? Which writers are unreliable narrators?
- How is sexism present the world of the novel? Is the book itself sexist?
- Do you feel that what ultimately happens to the Vicomte and the Marquise is fair? Why or why not?
- How are wealth and boredom related in the lives of the characters?
- Why does Cécile stop confiding in Sophie?
- What is Madame de Merteuil's underlying motivation? What about Valmont's?
- Why does Madame de Merteuil ultimately refuse to sleep with Valmont?
- If you could give advice to Cécile and Danceny, what would you say?
- Who do we know the best after reading these letters?
- What makes Madame de Tourvel eventually fall in love with Valmont?
- What does the author's writing the novel as a series of letters allow him to do that he wouldn't have been able to do in a more traditional novelistic structure?
- Which character would make the best Jerry Springer guest?
- Does this novel ridicule religious devotion? Admire it?