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Joachim Ziemssen
Clavdia Chauchat is a resident of the Berghof. She is of Russian descent but married to a French man, hence her French name. Clavdia’s husband never appears in the novel, however, and she hardly speaks of him. Though sensuous and beautiful, she is also ill-mannered, lazy, and irrational, and she represents (in the book’s oversimplified portrayal) the corrupting force of Eastern sensibilities. She becomes Hans’s romantic interest, and it’s ultimately (if indirectly) because of her that Hans ends up staying at the Berghof as long as he does. Clavdia abruptly departs following her and Hans’s evening of flirtation during the Berghof’s Walpurgis Night festivities, though she coyly suggests that she may return at a later, unspecified time. In consequence, Hans remains at the Berghof for years awaiting her return. When she finally does return, she is not alone, having brought a new lover, Mynheer Peeperkorn, with her. Clavdia confesses to Hans that she is takes pleasure in submitting to Peeperkorn, a trait that contributes to the novel’s negative (and oversimplified) portrayal of Eastern sensibilities.
Clavdia Chauchat Quotes in The Magic Mountain
The The Magic Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Clavdia Chauchat or refer to Clavdia Chauchat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 2, Chapter 2: At the Tienappels’/Hans Castorp’s Moral State
Quotes
For a person to be disposed to more significant deeds that go beyond what is simply required of him—even when his own times may provide no satisfactory answer to the question of why—he needs either a rare, heroic personality that exists in a kind of moral isolation and immediacy, or one characterized by exceptionally robust vitality. Neither the former nor the latter was the case with Hans Castorp, and so he probably was mediocre after all, though in a very honorable sense of that word.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4, Chapter 8: Table Talk
Quotes
One could no longer say that it thudded on its own accord, for no reason, and without any connection to his soul. There was a connection now, or at least it would not have been difficult to establish one—a justifiable emotion could easily be assigned to his body’s overwrought activity. Hans Castorp needed only to think of Frau Chauchat—and he did think of her—and his heart had a suitable emotion to make it pound.
Part 5, Chapter 9: Walpurgis Night
Quotes
“Oh, love is nothing if not foolish, something mad and forbidden, an adventure in evil. Otherwise it is merely a pleasant banality, good for singing calm little songs down on the plains. […]”
Part 6, Chapter 1: Changes
Quotes
“Well, my good engineer, how did you like the pomegranate?”
Part 6, Chapter 2: Someone Else
Quotes
“Oh, you and your learning! You’re always learning up here—about biology and botany and slippery turning points. And you started in on ‘time’ your first day here. When what we’re here to do is to get healthier, not more clever—healthier, until we’re truly healthy, so they can finally let us go free and send us back to the flatlands cured.”
Get the entire The Magic Mountain LitChart as a printable PDF.
Clavdia Chauchat Quotes in The Magic Mountain
The The Magic Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Clavdia Chauchat or refer to Clavdia Chauchat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 2, Chapter 2: At the Tienappels’/Hans Castorp’s Moral State
Quotes
For a person to be disposed to more significant deeds that go beyond what is simply required of him—even when his own times may provide no satisfactory answer to the question of why—he needs either a rare, heroic personality that exists in a kind of moral isolation and immediacy, or one characterized by exceptionally robust vitality. Neither the former nor the latter was the case with Hans Castorp, and so he probably was mediocre after all, though in a very honorable sense of that word.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4, Chapter 8: Table Talk
Quotes
One could no longer say that it thudded on its own accord, for no reason, and without any connection to his soul. There was a connection now, or at least it would not have been difficult to establish one—a justifiable emotion could easily be assigned to his body’s overwrought activity. Hans Castorp needed only to think of Frau Chauchat—and he did think of her—and his heart had a suitable emotion to make it pound.
Part 5, Chapter 9: Walpurgis Night
Quotes
“Oh, love is nothing if not foolish, something mad and forbidden, an adventure in evil. Otherwise it is merely a pleasant banality, good for singing calm little songs down on the plains. […]”
Part 6, Chapter 1: Changes
Quotes
“Well, my good engineer, how did you like the pomegranate?”
Part 6, Chapter 2: Someone Else
Quotes
“Oh, you and your learning! You’re always learning up here—about biology and botany and slippery turning points. And you started in on ‘time’ your first day here. When what we’re here to do is to get healthier, not more clever—healthier, until we’re truly healthy, so they can finally let us go free and send us back to the flatlands cured.”
