The Marquise de Merteuil poet?

This article questions the status of poetry in Les Liaisons dangereuses by Laclos. It focuses especially on two alexandrins blancs by Madame de Merteuil. Is she a poet, the marquise who claims to be her own “work”? What are the implications for the construction of this original character? To answer these questions, we turn to the “original” poet par excellence of La Métromanie ou le poète, Piron. The result is a new view of Merteuil and the novel.