Kathryn Merteuil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kathryn Merteuil is a fictional character appearing in Cruel Intentions and Cruel Intentions 2, based on the Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons dangereuses. She has been portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amy Adams.
[edit] Cruel Intentions
In the original Cruel Intentions, Kathryn is portrayed as a conniving manipulator, and a cocaine addict.
She makes a bet with her step-brother Sebastian that he cannot seduce the virginal Annette Hargrove. If he loses, he must surrender his car. If he succeeds, he gets to spend a night with Kathryn.
Meanwhile, she takes Cecile Caldwell under her wing, her true motivation being the fact her previous boyfriend dumped her in favour for the geeky Cecile. She proceeds to encourage Cecile to sleep with many different partners, in order to completely destroy her reputation at the high school (of which Kathryn is the head of the student body), whilst telling her the objective is to prepare herself for her cello teacher, Ron, whom she shares an attraction with.
As the bet progresses, Sebastian falls for Annette, but after some malicious coaxing from Kathryn, he dumps her in favour for his step-sister.
She then reveals she has been manipulating the situation all along, revealing she is the true puppeteer behind the entire scheme. After Sebastian leaves, Kathryn manipulates Ronald, making him believe Sebastian forced Cecile into intercourse, and attacked Kathryn.
What results is a brutal fight in the street. Annette, trying to protect Sebastian, throws herself at Ronald, who swats the petite woman away, resulting in her being tossed into the road. Sebastian notices this and shoves her out of the way of a taxi, which results in him being struck, and later dying.
At his memorial service at the school, Kathryn and Annette meet (for the first and only time), during which Annette mocks one of Kathryn's earlier phrases (I turn to Jesus and he helps me out).
During the service, Kathryn is distracted as people begin to leave, so she follows to see what the commotion is about. Upon leaving the church she is presented with a copy of Sebastian's journal, which reveals her for the manipulative, cold hearted, pure evil dictator she is. The new head master adds to her ruin, revealing the cocaine concealed within her pendant.
[edit] Cruel Intentions 2
A prequel to the original film shows a younger Kathryn. She once again uses her powers of manipulation to control the situation, and it is revealed it is her who manipulated Sebastian into the cruel incarnation seen in the first film.
[edit] Cruel Intentions 3
It is revealed in this film that she forced her cousin, Cassidy Merteuil, to move to California to avoid her reputation, and it is also revealed she is in a clinic for methadone addiction.
