Dangerous Liaisons is a play about the predatory ambitions of two rival French noblemen, Valmont and Merteuil, who use sex as a weapon to humiliate and destroy their enemies. The two poison many social circles with their predatory behavior before finally setting their sights on the good-hearted Madame Tourvel and the innocent Cecil de Volanges, a young girl stricken by love for an academic. The noblemen are used to symbolize the decay of French society.