3booksaplenty1949
Jeanne’s Japanese costume at the masquerade party underlines the Japonisme of Zola’s visual description of Paris: blocs of colour, bars of light, negative space. The view is the same, yet constantly changes—-presumably mirroring Hélène’s thought about her life.
4labfs39
The difference between Monsieur Rambaud's proposal at the beginning of the chapter and the doctor's impassioned outburst at the end is interesting. Comfort and respectability vs passion and adultery, set against the peasant simplicity of Rosalie and Zephyrin's relationship.
Jeanne seems like a much younger child to me than an 11 year old, especially for the time. And her jealousy over her mother's affections is rather frightening.
The description of the sunset over the city reminds me of Zola's nature descriptions in Fortune of the Rougons, and the way they mirror and foreshadow the plot remind me of the description of the plants in the conservatory in The Kill and in the gardens in The Sin of Father Mouret.
Jeanne seems like a much younger child to me than an 11 year old, especially for the time. And her jealousy over her mother's affections is rather frightening.
The description of the sunset over the city reminds me of Zola's nature descriptions in Fortune of the Rougons, and the way they mirror and foreshadow the plot remind me of the description of the plants in the conservatory in The Kill and in the gardens in The Sin of Father Mouret.
5lilisin
>4 labfs39:
I think it makes sense for her seeming younger than her 11 years. Considering her illness she will have been infantilized and doted upon by everyone. Think about the girl in Interview with the Vampire, who despite, by age, was at least a 30 year old women, was trapped in her girlish body so everyone treated her as a child because she looked like one. Jeanne being sick continues to look like a continuous meek little girl despite being 11.
Plus with having no interaction with the outside world, her only means of interaction is with those around her and acting like a child has proven to gain her all the attention she could want so it'd be extra beneficial to act younger.
I think it makes sense for her seeming younger than her 11 years. Considering her illness she will have been infantilized and doted upon by everyone. Think about the girl in Interview with the Vampire, who despite, by age, was at least a 30 year old women, was trapped in her girlish body so everyone treated her as a child because she looked like one. Jeanne being sick continues to look like a continuous meek little girl despite being 11.
Plus with having no interaction with the outside world, her only means of interaction is with those around her and acting like a child has proven to gain her all the attention she could want so it'd be extra beneficial to act younger.
6labfs39
>5 lilisin: All excellent points. I keep sliding into thinking she's four or five, then get reminded that she's eleven.
Her dreamy delirium in the church reminded me a bit of The Dream, but Jeanne does not work and does not appear to read either, as opposed to Angelique.
Her dreamy delirium in the church reminded me a bit of The Dream, but Jeanne does not work and does not appear to read either, as opposed to Angelique.
