The plot is set in motion by a wager: Merteuil challenges Valmont to corrupt the virginal to spite a former lover. Valmont, however, has his sights on a more difficult prize—the saintly and married Madame de Tourvel . For these libertines, seduction is a form of theatre where the ultimate goal is total psychological domination. The Price of Victory

The tragedy of the story lies in its famous conclusion: "everyone loses through winning".

eventually falls in love with Madame de Tourvel, a "purifying" emotion that shatters his cynical worldview and leads to his death in a duel.