Renée Mauperin: Analysis of Major Characters
"Renée Mauperin" is a poignant narrative that explores complex family dynamics and societal expectations through its major characters. Renée, the sensitive and lively protagonist, is deeply affected by her brother Henri's scandalous affair with his fiancée’s mother, leading her to take drastic actions that culminate in her tragic demise. Henri is portrayed as ambitious yet selfish, ultimately meeting a fatal end in a duel after his manipulative behavior is exposed. Their mother, Mme Mauperin, embodies the desire for respectability, while their father, M. Mauperin, grapples with profound grief following the loss of his children. The story also highlights the perspectives of Naomi, Renée's friend who is caught in the web of deceit surrounding her engagement, and the societal pressures exerted by her wealthy family, particularly her mother's expectations for a socially advantageous marriage. Each character is intricately linked to themes of honor, family loyalty, and the consequences of personal choices, creating a rich tapestry of human emotion and societal critique. The intertwining fates of the Mauperin family serve as a commentary on the challenges individuals face within the constraints of their social roles and relationships.
Renée Mauperin: Analysis of Major Characters
Authors: Jules de Goncourt and Edmond de Goncourt
First published: 1864 (English translation, 1888)
Genre: Novel
Locale: France
Plot: Naturalism
Time: 1864
Renée Mauperin (reh-NAY moh-peh-RAHN), a French girl. She is a sensitive, lively girl and her father's favorite child. She is in no hurry to settle down in marriage. Like her friend Naomi, Renée is horrified when she learns that her brother Henri is his prospective mother-in-law's lover. In revenge, Renée notifies M. de Villacourt that her brother is taking the man's name. When she thinks her action has been discovered, she has a heart attack and then wastes away to death.
M. Mauperin, Renée's father and a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. Once a scholar and interested in politics, he is now a middle-class businessman. He is grief-stricken when all three of his children die within a short time.
Mme Mauperin, Renée's mother. She is a very proper woman who wants her family to be respectable above all else. She dotes on her son and cannot see his selfishness. Like her husband, she is grief-stricken at the deaths of her children.
Henri Mauperin (ahn-REE), Renée's brother. He is a political economist and a lawyer, a cold, calculating, and extremely selfish man. He becomes the lover of his fiancée's mother in order to further his marriage to the daughter. When his fiancée learns of the affair, he tells her it is none of her business. He fights a duel with the real de Villacourt, whose name he has officially taken, and is killed.
Mme Davarande (dah-vah-RAHND), Renée's sister. She is a quiet, respectable woman who has married dutifully. She dies in childbirth, not long after the deaths of her brother and sister.
Naomi Bourjot (nay-oh-MEE bewr-ZHOH), Renée's friend and Henri's fiancée. She is from a rich family, and her father wants her to marry a man with a title. She is horrified when she discovers that her mother has taken Henri as a lover.
Mme Bourjot, Naomi's mother and Henri's mistress.
M. Denoisel (deh-nwah-ZEHL), a family friend who acts as Henri Mauperin's second at the duel.
M. de Villacourt (deh vee-lah-KEWR), the last member of his family. He fights a duel with Henri Mauperin in order to keep Henri from assuming the family's name.
M. Bourjot, Naomi's father. He is a middle-class man of wealth who wants his daughter to marry higher in the social scale.