Important Quotations Explained
1. But
it was above all at mealtimes that she could bear it no longer,
in that little room on the ground floor, with the smoking stove,
the creaking door, the oozing walls, the damp floor-tiles; all the
bitterness of life seemed to be served to her on her plate, and,
with the steam from the boiled beef, there rose from the depths
of her soul other exhalations as it were of disgust. Charles was
a slow eater; she would nibble a few hazel-nuts, or else, leaning
on her elbow, would amuse herself making marks on the oilcloth with
the point of her table-knife.
2. She
hoped for a son; he would be strong and dark; she would call him
George; and this idea of having a male child was like an expected
revenge for all her impotence in the past. A man, at least, is free;
he can explore all passions and all countries, overcome obstacles,
taste of the most distant pleasures. But a woman is always hampered.
Being inert as well as pliable, she has against her the weakness
of the flesh and the inequity of the law. Like the veil held to
her hat by a ribbon, her will flutters in every breeze; she is always
drawn by some desire, restrained by some rule of conduct.
3. The
whitish light of the window-panes was softly wavering. The pieces
of furniture seemed more frozen in their places, about to lose themselves
in the shadow as in an ocean of darkness. The fire was out, the
clock went on ticking, and Emma vaguely wondered at this calm of
all things while within herself there was such a tumult.
4. [Rodolphe]
had heard such stuff so many times that her words meant very little
to him. Emma was just like any other mistress; and the charm of
novelty, falling down slowly like a dress, exposed only the eternal
monotony of passion, always the same forms and the same language.
He did not distinguish, this man of such great expertise, the differences of
sentiment beneath the sameness of their expressions. Because he
had heard such-like phrases murmured to him from the lips of the
licentious or the venal, he hardly believed in hers; you must, he
thought, beware of turgid speeches masking commonplace passions;
as though the soul's abundance does not sometimes spill over in
the most decrepit metaphors, since no one can ever give the exact measure
of their needs, their ideas, their afflictions, and since human
speech is like a cracked cauldron on which we knock out tunes for
dancing-bears, when we wish to conjure pity from the stars.
5. And
besides, should [Rodolphe] hesitate to come to her assistance, she
would know well enough how one single glance would reawaken their
lost love. So she set out towards La Huchette, unaware that she
was hastening to offer what had so angered her a while ago, not
in the least conscious of her prostitution.
