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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Thérèse Raquin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Passion and Pleasure
Consequences and Delusion
Dependency and Resentment
Money, Greed, and Class
Summary
Analysis
In a dark, grimy alley in Paris there is an old haberdashery. The light during the day is dim in the corridor, but passersby can just make out the solemn face of Thérèse Raquin as she sits inside the shop. An elderly woman sits next to her, asleep in the wan lamplight. In the evenings, Thérèse’s husband passes the time with them in the shop, chatting or reading and always shaking with a slight fever. When they close the store at 10, they make their way to their living quarters above the shop, where the old woman goes to one bedroom and the married couple goes to the other. Before bed each night, Thérèse spends a moment gazing out the window, a look of contempt and dissatisfaction on her face.
The beginning of Thérèse Raquin establishes the novel’s somber tone. It also foregrounds Thérèse’s discontent—she’s clearly dissatisfied with her life in the dreary haberdashery, though the specific factors contributing to her unhappiness aren’t yet all that apparent. Suffice it to say, though, it’s obvious that her marriage doesn’t bring her any kind of joy or relief from her otherwise depressing life.
Themes
