Bonjour Tristesse

Cécile, as narrator, takes a step back to reflect on Raymond’s character. She describes him as “neither vain nor selfish, but just incurably frivolous.” She values her relationship to her father above all others, and the devastation she felt when it seemed he was “abandoning” her was more painful than anything she had experienced in life up to that point. Cécile knows that whenever Raymond left a social event to take her home on their evenings out together, he must surely have been missing out on what Charles Webb would call “a fine chance.”

Cécile describes Raymond as being totally honest and practical about his emotions. She knows that he considered his longing for Elsa as “a nuisance” rather than a moral plight. She also knows that Anne, with her smarts and subdued temperament, offers a distinct but welcome change from the type of woman Raymond usually goes for. Looking back, though, Cécile doesn’t think her father really understood the depth of Anne’s feelings for him: “He thought of her as the ideal mistress and an ideal mother for me, but I do not think he visualized her as the ideal wife for himself, with all this implied.” Cécile admits that she didn’t consider Raymond when she formulated her plan to get rid of Anne, having assumed that Raymond would simply start a new affair with a new woman.

Cécile guesses it was Raymond’s fear of aging that compelled him to pine for Elsa. She thinks he must have wished to tell Anne to let him be with Elsa “for just one day” in order to “prove to [him]self” that he is “not an old fogey.” Cécile knows this would have been impossible however, as Anne had chosen to live with Raymond “on her own terms.” Cécile recognizes, in retrospect, that Anne’s perspective is totally reasonable. Looking back, Cécile knows she could have orchestrated a situation that would allow Raymond to satisfy his craving for Elsa once and for all—she could have invited Anne to accompany her to Nice, leaving Raymond alone to do as he pleased. They would have returned to Raymond, and he and Anne could have forged ahead with their life together as planned. But that’s not what happened.  

The holiday continues. Encouraged by her simmering hatred for Anne’s disapproval of Cécile and Raymond’s carefree lifestyle, Cécile does everything she can to stoke Raymond’s attraction to Elsa, and she no longer feels guilty about it. Meanwhile, Cécile continues to see Cyril and have sex with him in secret. Cyril feels increasingly guilty for the role he has played in coming between Anne and Raymond. Cécile tries to convince him that they need Anne out of the picture if they want to continue their relationship.