The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
Sentimental Education
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Sentimental Education Week 4: Part 2 Chapters 3 and 4
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Riding in your carriage and seeing who is in the other carriages was a popular social activity among the idle nobility and haute bourgeoisie.
In the chapter, the main social activity was a horse, where you went to see and be seen.
Frederic sees Mme Arnoux with a certain Milord and is upset and jealous.
After the race is over, Frederic and his friends go out to dine at a cafe. The Baron de Cisy makes some insulting remarks about Mme Arnoux and Frederic throws a plate at him.
Result: The Duel.
The Baron chooses swords, receive a small scratch and faints. The duel is over, since blood has been drawn.
Frederic, disgusted by everything, especially his greedy friends all asking for his money, goes home to Nogent.
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Please feel free to comment on anything, big or small, that occurs in these chapters.
We're familiar with Frederic now, who still doesn't seem to have learned much, especially how to manage money.
Any surprises in this chapter?
The chapters in this section were entertaining and enjoyable. Entertaining and enjoyable for the reader that is, not for Frederic. Can I keep thinking of this man as a ‘young fool’ because the years pass by and he seems to gain no maturity through his experiences?The section’s main themes seem to be Frederic’s calamitous endeavours with the women in his life and the multiple ways he is exploited by the men in relieving him of his money.
After building up to it for years, when Frederic finally confesses his passionate love for Madame Arnoux, his reward is a knowing frown from the woman he loves and a trip around the pottery factory.
’Madame Arnoux led Frederic into the yard attached to the works and then explained to him in a grave tone how different clays were ground, cleaned and sifted.
“The most important thing is the preparation of the pastes.”
And she introduced him into a hall with vats, in which a vertical axis with horizontal arms kept turning. Frederic felt some regret that he had not flatly declined her offer a little while before.
“These things are merely the slobberings,” said she.
He thought the word grotesque and in a measure, unbecoming on her lips.’
Frederic's ardour was well and truly dampened by the slobberings.
After Madame Arnoux’ vigorous condemnation of her husband’s deceitful adultery, did Frederic really expect Sophie to hypocritically fall into his arms like a Rosanette? Instead she kept him at arms length until he scuttled back to Paris like a savaged mongrel.
And his exploits with Rosanette at the Café Anglais were hilarious.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%...
I have named that episode ‘Frederic fleeced at the Café Anglais.’
(If you are a lover of visual arts as well as literature you might enjoy this article about Paris bistros/cafés - https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/art-...)
Arnoux might be a scoundrel but the rest of Frederic’s ‘friends’ and hangers-on are not far behind in the way they find every opportunity to part Frederic with his money. Even the great Monsieur Dambreuse’s mining scheme seems a bit dodgy to me.
Like everything else in his life, even the duel with Cisy was an anticlimax. More slapstick than sword stick, perhaps this time for the best.
Could little Louise become his saving grace?
‘You at any rate, will love me.’
Mod
Thanks for the links, Trev. I was amazed at the number of Authors who wrote about the Café Anglais in their novels, not only French but Henry James too!
Trev, your summation of these chapters is excellent, as always. Frederic is such a fool about both women and money, and he never seems to learn. Since the novel's title is Sentimental Education, I can only hope that the education comes soon!
Frederic spends a lot of time at the Arnoux's where he learns about Mme's earlier life, before she married Arnoux. Arnoux is shown to be a real scoundrel and is being abandoned by many of his friends, but not Frederic(who is still in love with Mme A.).
There's much talk about money, or lack there-of. Everyone seems to want Frederic's 15 000 francs, and knowing Frederic, he'll make the wrong decision.
We meet Rosanette again, with a new admirer, the Baron de Cisy, and a new lover, the actor Delmar. Rumours fly about Frederic's involvement with Rosanette, even though so far there is no relationship between them.
Frederic meets Mme Arnoux at the factory, a dismal place overall, and finds that Senecal is now a manager there.
Mme Arnoux tells Frederic that even though she knows her husband is unfaithful, adultery is not a option for her.