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Chapter 15: 7.00 p.m.
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Nausea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Existence vs. Essence
Time
Love and Sexuality
Art and Legacy
Summary
Analysis
Roquentin visits Françoise at the Rendezvous des Cheminots and kisses her through a feeling of disgust. As he touches her genitals, his mind wanders to the prospect of writing a novel about the Marquis de Rollebon. Roquentin’s hand moves to Françoise’s thigh, and he begins to imagine a dense garden full of insects and horrifying hybrid animals. Seeing a woman pointing between her legs, Roquentin shouts at her that the garden smells like vomit. Then, the woman wakes him up, telling him that she has to leave.
Although Roquentin has previously scolded himself for his flights of fancy, he grows increasingly interested in the prospect of writing non-historical literature. Here, his preoccupation with the idea underlines his apathy toward Françoise. Moreover, though, he becomes utterly disgusted by her sexuality in this section. His intense reaction seems like a symptom of his mounting dislike of the superficiality of their relationship, in which they have sex without any actual intimacy. Roquentin is, after all, frequently disturbed by facades and disguises. The imagery that he chooses perhaps also indicates disgust at Françoise’s femininity and promiscuity, since the thick garden sounds a lot like pubic hair, and the scuttling insects and foul smell call to mind STIs.
Themes
