Religious motifs surround Tourvel. She is often described as praying, or as having the air of prayer about her. Her letters are also full of religious imagery. She seems to take everything she does, and her motivations for what she does, to heart. After Valmont leaves her, the metaphor of lost faith and lost chastity casts itself over Tourvel's entire physical being, so that the sadness and regret she feels in her mind becomes manifest in her body. Just as Cécile decides to become a nun and wear a veil to repent for her adultery with Valmont, the Présidente must let her body die to expiate her misdeeds.