Description

Ferdinand Noziere (Ferdinand Weyl) (1874-1931) was a French playwright who, in addition to many original plays, adapted novels such as Tolstoi's Kreutzer Sonata (1910, translated by Morlock and published by Borgo/Wildside) and The Eternal Husband (1911) based on Dostoevski's novel. Noziere's adaptations are notable for their no-holds-barred power and their fidelity to the originals. This version of the novel by Choderlos de Laclos (1782) written in 1908 precedes the version by Hampton by some 77 years and is as frank as the modern version and no less stage-worthy. The French have never been squeamish about sexual relations, and this was not the first version staged in France. There was an earlier version by Ancelot in the 1830s. The novel described the devious actions of a man and woman who both use sex as a weapon, and help each other in seducing others, and view sex itself as a competitive sport.