Mademoiselle Michonneau is an elderly spinster who lives in the Maison Vauquer, Madame Vauquer’s boarding house. She is skeletally thin and wears a menacing expression. She appears to have a romantic understanding with Poiret. She betrays Vautrin to the police for a monetary reward, and the rest of the boarders kick her out for this betrayal.
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Mademoiselle Michonneau Character Timeline in Père Goriot
The timeline below shows where the character Mademoiselle Michonneau appears in Père Goriot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: A Family Boarding House
...and goes by Monsieur Vautrin. On the third floor live an elderly spinster named Mademoiselle Michonneau and, finally, a retired manufacturer of vermicelli (Italian pasta) who goes by Père Goriot.
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Mademoiselle Michonneau is a skeletal-looking elderly lady with a menacing expression and a shrill voice, though she...
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Chapter 3: Death-Dodger
Two days later, Poiret and Mademoiselle Michonneau sit in the boarding house garden, talking to a detective named Monsieur Gondureau. Slyly discerning...
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...Minister wants to be sure he’s got the right man, so he needs Poiret and Michonneau to work undercover for him. Gondureau will give them a phial of a drug that,...
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After Gondureau leaves, Mademoiselle Michonneau and Poiret discuss the ethics of the whole situation. Should she forewarn Vautrin, Mademoiselle wonders?...
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...go downstairs to dinner together. Vautrin is in high spirits, dismaying Rastignac and drawing Mademoiselle Michonneau’s keen glance. Vautrin has brought a bottle of Bordeaux to share with the other boarders....
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...out to be costly for him, too. Bianchon, after getting drunk, forgot to ask Mademoiselle Michonneau about what he’d overhead on his way home. If Bianchon had said the name “Death-Dodger”...
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...a momentous one for the Maison Vauquer. Most of the residents sleep late, and Mademoiselle Michonneau uses this opportunity to pour the potion into Vautrin’s usual cup. When breakfast finally begins,...
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...Furious, he mutters to himself that “there’s no evidence.” Vautrin smiles, but right then, Madame Michonneau’s potion takes effect, and he falls over. Thinking Vautrin has had a stroke, Madame Vauquer...
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...given Vautrin an emetic and sent the results to his hospital for chemical analysis. Mademoiselle Michonneau tries to stop him, confirming Bianchon’s suspicions. By the time Rastignac returns, Vautrin is recovered...
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Vautrin correctly guesses that Mademoiselle Michonneau is his betrayer and says that he would have paid her off handsomely if she...
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