Dangerous Liaisons Vs. Cruel Intentions Essays - Free Essays

Dangerous Liaisons Vs. Cruel Intentions Essays - Free Essays Dangerous Liaisons Vs. Cruel Intentions It is my intention to compare the book, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos, to its modern movie version, Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. I intend to examine how the original French text was modified in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes. I also plan to discuss how these transformations change the meaning of the story and reflect different cultural/historical contexts. There are some major differences between these two works, if only because of when they were written. First, the plots of both works need to be discussed and explained how they are different. The stories of both works have basically the same structure, until it gets toward the endings. In Dangerous Liaisons, the Vicomte de Valmont dies in a sword battle between him and Danceny. Right before he dies, though, he gives Danceny all of his letters between him and the Marquise de Merteuil and tells him to circulate them in order to ruin Merteuils reputation. Danceny does this and then moves away for a while. Merteuil ends up becoming disfigured from small pox and her reputation crumbles. She moves to Holland because of this. Cecile moves back into the convent and Madame de Tourvel dies of misery because of the suffering that Valmont put her through. Because Cruel Intentions is such a modernized version of this story, the ending is a lot different. Sebastian (Valmont) dies by being hit by a car because he pushed Annette (Tourvel) out of the way in order to save her life. Obviously, this is a much more modern way of dying in a movie than dying in a sword fight. Also, it shows the Valmont character as being more heroic, which in Dangerous Liaisons, he was not quite so heroic. In the movie, it does not really say what happens to Ronald (Danceny). He fights with Sebastian, and that is the last we see of him. Catherine (Merteuil), like in the book, also has her reputation ruined, but she gets humiliated in a more dramatic way (in front of the student body and faculty). Also, there is the issue of drugs. Her addiction to cocaine is revealed. The use of drugs is a common issue in todays modern movies, and that is one of the reasons Cruel Intentions is different in terms of its cultural context. Cecile and Annette (Tourvel) worked togeth er to produce copies of Sebastians journal, which revealed Catherines true self, and they handed them out to the student body and faculty. Cecile directly gets revenge on Catherine. In Dangerous Liaisons, she does not. This also relates to cultural context. It shows how more independent women are in the modern world. In Dangerous Liaisons, Tourvel dies of misery and Cecile goes into the convent. This shows that women were much weaker and less independent in society in the late 1700s. The last scene in the movie shows Annette driving off in Sebastians expensive car. This is a typical ending to a modern story. In the book, her character dies, but in the movie, she is the vengeful, independent woman. It is apparent that the morals and values of both works change because of their cultural and historical context. Dangerous Liaisons was basically written to teach young women in society what not to do. This kind of literature was looked down upon at the time it was written. In 1824 a decree of the cour royale de Paris condemned it to be destroyed as dangerous. This verdict remained the official one throughout the later nineteenth century. The book was spoken of only to be deplored: a picture of the most odious immortality, that should never have been revealed even supposing it had been true, a work of revolting immorality, a book to be admired and execrated.(Laclos, p. 7) It was considered to be an immoral book. The movie was made mainly for entertainment purposes. Since we basically live in an immoral society, it was well accepted as a good movie. Although the schemes that Catherine and Sebastian thought up and carried out were at times blown out of proportion, I think todays audience is entertained by that sort of character. Catherine and Sebastian were the kinds of people that probably do

The Underworld Adventure of Aeneas in The Aeneid

The Underworld Adventure of Aeneas in The Aeneid Virgil imbues his Hades, as well as his Elysium, with a substantiated and understandable raison detre , and in the process corrects the notions of his predecessor [Homer in the Odyssey]. For Virgil, the Underworld must be categorized and organized as well as justified: thus the grouping of the souls of his Hades by reason or nature of punishment.Interaction and Reaction in Virgil and Homer Underworld Issues Here are some of the unanswered questions about the mythology of the Underworld that are left at the end of the nekuia (Underworld scene) of Book XI of the Odyssey, by Homer: Why was Elpenor upset that he hadnt been buried?Why was it said that Tiresias, of all mortals, was permitted to keep a clear head about mortal matters?Why were the shades of the eternally tortured, Sisyphus, Tityos, and Tantalus, near each other? The view of the Underworld presented in the nekuia is alien from modern views of death. Its hard to understand what went on when one adheres strictly to Judaeo-Christian visions of Hell. On this page and the next are some insights into the Homeric Underworld, based on references to Vergil. The Aeneid, by Vergil (or Virgil), was written many centuries after Homers Odyssey. Despite a few centuries, Vergil is chronologically closer to Homer than we are. Vergil is a good model also because he deliberately patterned his work on Homer and elaborated on it, and he lived in a milieu where Homers writing was still very much a part of the common culture since Homer was at the heart of the routine education of children. Therefore, Vergil tells us something about the Greco-Roman (pagan) Underworld that we should know to understand Homers nekuia. The striking similarities and close contrasts between the Underworlds of the two poets make it painfully obvious that Virgil was strongly affected by the ideas instilled in Homers text. How exactly he reacted to this burden, however, and how he attempted to justify his own work and separate it from that of Homer: these are the difficult yet ever-important questions. In re-creating Homers Hades, and in the process facing up to his predecessor, Virgil exhibits clearly his desire to re-work Homer, to complete and perfect the vision of the earlier poet.Interaction and Reaction in Virgil and Homer Reasons for Going to the Underworld HomerOdysseus goes to the Underworld for help getting home.VergilAeneas goes to pay a duty call on his dead father Anchises. Underworld Guidance HomerThe help Odysseus seeks comes from the prophet, Tiresias, in the Underworld and the sorceress, Circe, among the living.VergilAmong the living, Aeneas seeks the guidance of the Sibyl at Cumae, a priestess of Apollo who speaks inspired prophetic utterances. Among the dead, he seeks the counsel of his father. Warnings HomerCirce calms his fears and instructs Odysseus on how to travel.VergilThe Sibyl tells Aeneas how to proceed but warns him that while the trip to Hades is easy, the return voyage is limited to the select favorites of Jupiter. Aeneas must be divinely chosen if he is to return. This isnt all that terrifying a caveat, however, since he will know in advance whether he will be able to make the trip. In order to start the journey, the Sibyl says he must find a golden bough sacred to Proserpine. Should the gods not want him to proceed, he will fail to find it, but he does find it. In the guise of two doves, Venus, Aeneas mother, guides him. Unburied Dead Like Odysseus, Aeneas has a dead companion to bury, but unlike his predecessor, Aeneas must bury him before proceeding to the Underworld because the death has contaminated Aeneas fleet (totamque incestat funere classem). Aeneas does not initially know which of his companions has died. When he finds Misenus dead, he performs the necessary ceremonies. Misenus lay extended on the shore;Son of the God of Winds: none so renowndThe warrior trumpet in the field to sound;With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms,And rouse to dare their fate in honorable arms.He servd great Hector, and was ever near,Not with his trumpet only, but his spear.But by Pelides arms when Hector fell,He chose Æneas; and he chose as well.Swoln with applause, and aiming still at more,He now provokes the sea gods from the shore;With envy Triton heard the martial sound,And the bold champion, for his challenge, drownd;Then cast his mangled carcass on the strand:The gazing crowd around the body stand.162-175 Slightly different from Odysseus, Aeneas has 2 men for whom he must provide funeral rites, but he doesnt find the second until the Sibyl has taken him to the shores of the River Styx, past the companions of Death: Famine, Pestilence, Old Age, Poverty, Fear, Sleep, and Disease (Curae, Morbi, Senectus, Metus, Fames, Egestas, Letum, Labos, and Sopor). There, on the shore, Aeneas finds his recently deceased helmsman, Palinurus, who cannot cross over until he is given a proper funeral rites. Proper burial is impossible since he was lost at sea.