Sex and Love Throughout Time Compares movie "Dangerous Liasons" and ancient Greek poem "Birth Control"

Sex and Love Throughout Time

In society sex is an issue that is looked upon different ways by different people. This has been valid in today's age and ancient times. When you are younger you are told sex is an act you do not perform until you are older and more mature. When you are older you are then suppose to wait for the right person. Some people view it as being sacred. Others view it as a game. The poem "Birth Control" and the movie "Dangerous Liaisons" show the way different people view sex in ancient and modern times.

The movie Dangerous Liaisons is based on the 1782 novel by Choderlos De Laclos. It is set in the 18th century in France. The main characters Marquise De Merteuil, played by Glen Close, and Vicomte De Valmont, played by John Malkovich, use sex and love as a game.

The Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Vic...

Illustration of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' Danger...

English: Count Valmont, frontispiece for 'Les Lias...

Through the movie they use sex and love as power and try to manipulate peoples lives with it. They extract the emotion part of these two things. Marquise De Merteuil presents Vicomte De Valmont with a bet to seduce a young virgin, Cecile De Volanges, played by Uma Thurman, because the man Cecile is supposed to marry left Marquise. Vicomte De Valmont agrees but also has his eye set on a married woman, Madame De Tourvel, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Marquise De Merteuil offers Vicomte De Valmont a prize if he succeeds. This prize is her love. Through the movie the two main characters toy with these innocent women's lives just to find satisfaction in theirs. Valmont lures Cecile to bed very quickly, but seducing Madame De Tourvel is much more difficult. In the end the two main characters finally realize that sex and love is more than a...