Deslauriers sends a letter to Frédéric announcing that
he is returning to Paris. But on the day he is to arrive, Arnoux
invites Frédéric to dinner, and Frédéric can think of nothing else.
When Deslauriers arrives, Frédéric doesn’t tell him he’s made other
plans for the evening and feels guilty. The two sit down and talk.
New clothes are delivered for Frédéric, who has ordered a new outfit
in anticipation of his dinner. He confesses to Deslauriers that
he is going to dinner.
Frédéric arrives at the Arnouxes’ home and finally sees
Madame Arnoux, who claims to remember him. The meal is lavish, and
the conversation about travel and art is engrossing. Madame Arnoux leaves
the table when liquor is served, and the men discuss women. Frédéric
is surprised by the vulgarity. Later, in the drawing room, Madame
Arnoux returns and shows the men a romantic gift Arnoux gave her—a
piece of Renaissance art. Arnoux kisses her.
When Madame Arnoux eventually talks to Frédéric, he is thrilled,
but he cannot look her in the face. Then she is asked by one of
the guests to sing. She sings a song in Italian, which Frédéric
does not understand. She offers Frédéric her hand before he leaves.
He goes out into the darkened streets, certain that he is meant
to be a painter and that this vocation will lead him to Madame Arnoux. When
he arrives home, he finds Deslauriers sleeping in a closet. He had
forgotten he was there.
Analysis: Part One, Chapters 3 and 4
As winter settles onto Paris, Frédéric’s confidence is
shaken by a series of rejections that leave him lonely, defeated,
and depressed, feelings that are mirrored in the way Flaubert describes
the scenes. As Frédéric is rejected or ignored by the wealthy Monsieur
Dambreuse and Arnoux, he loses his energy, and life becomes dull. Flaubert
presents a series of small dissatisfactions that illustrate his general
unhappiness: he has to deal with annoyances such as laundry and
the unpleasant concierge; he doesn’t like his room; he doesn’t like
overhearing the happy students next door. He spends time with his
happy friend Martinon, but he is annoyed by Martinon’s happiness
in his simple domestic pleasures. As Frédéric reaches a low point,
Flaubert describes a haunting street scene complete with glowing
gas lamps, shadows, slimy pavement, a mist, and darkness. Frédéric
himself has become part of this bleak Parisian landscape.
Frédéric attempts to use art as a way of lifting him out
of his depression, but his efforts fail. He tries to write a novel,
but he gets discouraged at its lack of originality. He rents a piano
and composes German waltzes, but this doesn’t help either. He attends
the theater, but this only serves to agitate him more: this is where
he spots Arnoux and suspects (incorrectly) that Madame Arnoux has
died. No matter what strategies he tries, he fails to lighten his
psychological load. In the absence of a passion for anything at
all, even his interest in Madame Arnoux starts to disappear.
Frédéric’s chance meeting with Hussonnet sets his life
on a new path and lifts him out of his bleak depression. The world
of Madame Arnoux, which had seemed permanently closed to him, suddenly
reopens at the news that Hussonnet has worked for Arnoux on his
magazine. Seizing the moment with an energy that had been dormant,
Frédéric ingratiates himself with Hussonnet and wrangles an invitation
to Arnoux’s home. Until now, Frédéric has been idle, flitting from
one activity to the next and discarding one unsatisfactory endeavor
after another. He has lacked focus and drive. With Hussonnet, however,
and in the evenings at the Arnoux residence that follow, Frédéric
displays a singular drive and vision: he wants to see Madame Arnoux
again, and this desire sustains him. He defends Arnoux against detractors
and is rewarded—finally—with a dinner invitation that gives him
his second face-to-face encounter with Madame Arnoux.
