Robineau Character Analysis

Robineau is the buyer of the silk department at the Ladies’ Paradise. After his department conspires against him, hoping to usurp his job, he is fired by Mouret. He goes to set up his own small drapery shop with his wife’s—Madame Robineau’s—family money. In an attempt to succeed, he joins forces with Gaujean and other small business owners in the area. However, he soon goes bankrupt. Distraught to have wasted his wife’s money, Robineau tries to kill himself by throwing himself under a bus. However, he only breaks one of his legs, and then he and his wife—who is by that time pregnant—decide to retire to the country. Throughout the novel, Robineau shows unprecedented kindness to Denise, first helping her get a job at the Ladies’ Paradise, then helping her make some extra money on the side, and finally employing her at his drapery shop when she is fired from the Ladies’ Paradise.