Lucie Character Analysis

Lucie is the charwoman (or cleaning lady) of the Hotel Printania, where Roquentin lives. Early in the novel, he encounters her cleaning the stairs and talking to the proprietress on his way out of the hotel. Roquentin overhears Lucie complaining about her husband Charles, a younger and better-looking man who Roquentin suspects married Lucie for her money. Lucie talks about her marital troubles in a distant, reasonable way, even suggesting that her husband should see other women. When Roquentin later encounters her and Charles on the street at night, however, Lucie’s misery transforms her entire appearance. Even after Charles speaks roughly to her, she desperately begs him to stay with her, suggesting that she’s not as indifferent as she pretended to be earlier. During both incidents, Lucie touches her hand to her throat, as if grief and loneliness are choking her.