Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Ladies’ Paradise, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Consumerism and Excess
Women, Exploitation, and Power
Tradition vs. Modernity
Class and Mobility
Summary
Analysis
Denise stands on the sidewalk, dazed at having been dismissed so suddenly. She starts walking, wondering how it is possible that she suddenly has no place to sleep. She finds herself in front of the Ladies’ Paradise again, unable to stop being obsessed with it. She can’t go to Baudu’s; he ignores her now when he sees her. Then she sees a “room to let” sign at Bourras’s umbrella shop.
Even after she is fired from the Ladies’ Paradise, Denise is drawn to it just as she was when she walked by it the first time. This suggests that, even though The Paradise is soul-crushing in many ways, it has never ceased to provide Denise with the hope for a better future.
Themes
When Denise inquires after the room, Bourras says it won’t suit her; he recognizes her as a salesgirl from the Ladies’ Paradise. Denise asks to see the room anyway, so Bourras takes a key from the wall and leads her up a dark, dirty staircase. He leads her to a back room with a view onto the street. The room is tiny and decrepit, but Denise says she’ll take it.
Bourras thinks that since she worked at The Paradise, Denise will have high standards. This shows that Denise is an exception to the kind of person The Paradise creates: one obsessed with material things.
Themes
Denise is unable to pay for Pépé’s room and board, so she brings him to live with her. She finds the necktie seller and gets her money back, but then is unable to find a job. She often skips dinner herself so that Pépé can eat. When Jean shows up in another predicament, Denise gives him what money she can. She never cries in front of Pépé or Jean but lies awake all night anxious and afraid. The girl renting the room next to hers welcomes male visitors at night, and sometimes these men bang on Denise’s door.
Denise sinks into a life of poverty that makes her life at the Ladies’ Paradise—although still one in which she experienced financial hardship—seem like a life of luxury. The contrast of her life living alone without a job shows that The Paradise provides a certain level of sophistication and stability to even its poorest employees.
Themes
One night, Denise slams her door in the face of a man who is pursuing her. She has nothing for Pépé to eat that night and thinks of the women who avoid poverty by sleeping with men. But no matter how desperate she is, her good conduct and courage keep her from this lifestyle. She feels that her bravery comes from some love in her heart. She sometimes sees Hutin pass by and is hurt by his vanity. When Mouret passes, Denise hides, her heart beating. Occasionally she runs into Pauline and Deloche, but she keeps both of them from seeing where she lives. Colomban often visits Denise, asking for details about Clara.
After making the connection between her refusal to resort to sex work and the presence of “some love in her heart,” Hutin and Mouret walk by. This raises the possibility that her feelings for one of these men keep her going. In the past, Denise found herself moved to assure Mouret that she leads a chaste life. In this instance, it seems likely that her feelings for Mouret reinforce her determination not to sleep with anyone even if she is desperate.
Themes
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At the end of the summer, Pépé catches a cold. One night, Bourras takes pity on Denise and comes up with broth to stop Pépé from crying. The next day, even though he has no business and no staff, Bourras gives Denise some mending and pays her two francs a day. While she works, Bourras sits in the doorway carving umbrella handles and gesturing angrily at the big stores and their customers. With the pride of an artist, Bourras shouts insults at the big stores.
Whereas at The Paradise Denise made commission on sales, at Bourras’s she is paid a small salary to do unnecessary work. In this way, the Paradise’s modern model allows the opportunity for success while the traditional model provides no opportunity for growth.
Themes
Bourras loves children and lets Denise bring Pépé to work with her. He rants about how long he’s been at his shop and how he will hold out for a while yet, pausing to show Pépé the animals he has carved. Sometimes, Denise remarks that the Ladies’ Paradise has made Bourras a reasonable offer for his lease. Bourras shouts that he won’t sell for any amount of money and won’t leave, even if his landlord sells. He shakes his fist at the sounds of the Paradise coming through his wall. He rejoices when he hears silence and foreshadows the fall of the Paradise. He repeatedly asks Denise to recount how badly she was treated in the ladieswear department.
In contrast to The Paradise, which sells mass-produced goods, Bourras’s shop sells one-of-a-kind pieces. Moreover, while Mouret’s one goal in life is to make money, Bourras operates his business on other principles, refusing to sell no matter the price. However, although Bourras’s umbrellas are beautiful and his non-mercurial principles admirable, his business is still failing. This suggests that only a concern for money leads to success in these modern times.
Themes
Denise is grateful to Bourras for giving her a job, but she wants to find better-paying work. One day, Deloche suggests she work for Robineau, who has bought Vinçard’s business. He did so with the support of Gaujean, who hopes to form an alliance of small manufacturers. Gaujean is unable to meet the demand of big shops like the Ladies’ Paradise because he is a small manufacturer with only a few looms. Denise calls on Robineau’s shop and finds Robineau’s wife, Madame Robineau, who hires Denise immediately. Denise tells Bourras the news, and he offers to watch Pépé while Denise is at work.
Although Denise likes Bourras and appreciates his kindness, she is motivated by her need for more money to find another job. This shows that the need for money overrides all the other virtues that come along with a small business. In this way, as society moves towards bigger businesses that provide more financial opportunity, all other virtues besides the virtue of making money become worthless—they become antiquated qualities of the past.
Themes
At Robineau’s, Denise gets a salary and meals but not commission. Everyone treats her kindly, especially Madame Robineau. One day, Gaujean comes for lunch and complains about how the Ladies’ Paradise reserves the rights to fabric from big manufacturers who can supply their demand, making it impossible for smaller manufacturers to compete. Robineau says that the Paradise’s low prices are the death of small businesses. Madame Robineau, who doesn’t understand business, looks at her husband tenderly.
At Robineau’s, Denise gets something she didn’t get at the Ladies’ Paradise: kindness, and the feeling of a family. However, she doesn’t get commission at the Robineau’s, a fact which the warm, familial atmosphere does not seem to make up for. Moreover, the Robineau’s conversation about immanent failure is identical to the conversations the Baudu’s had which depressed Denise and led her to The Paradise.
Themes
Denise, who has “an instinctive love of logic and life,” remarks that the public doesn’t complain. Pretending to joke, she illustrates the natural development of business: if small manufacturers want to survive, they will work for the big businesses whether they like it or not. When Gaujean and Robineau accuse her of siding with the enemy, Denise denies the accusation. Robineau thinks privately that it might not be wise to resist the powerful current that Denise is talking about. Gaujean says he is making a silk for Robineau to sell just under the price of the Ladies’ Paradise’s Paris-Paradise. Gaujean shows the table a sample, and everyone declares it nicer than the Paris-Paradise.
Denise’s support of The Paradise comes from her love of logic and life, suggesting that the small businessowners’ loyalty to the old-fashioned ways is both illogical and contrary to the facts of life. Denise makes the argument that the change in business is part of a natural development, insinuating that the small businessowners are not embracing change (loving life). She also insinuates that their obstinance is illogical. In keeping themselves behind the changes, they are creating their own failure.
Themes
Vinçard arrives, and he also praises the silk. After selling his business to Robineau, Vinçard started a restaurant, a business that allowed him to profit from rich people. Vinçard is privately happy to have foisted his business on the Robineaus, but he continues to pretend that his bad health had forced him to sell.
Vinçard’s transition into a more lucrative business shows that the traditional retail business is disappearing, and not just because of the Ladies’ Paradise; many tradesmen seek the opportunity to make more money.
Themes
Two weeks later, a battle starts between Robineau’s and the Ladies’ Paradise. Robineau puts ads in the newspaper and prices his silk lower than the silk at the Ladies’ Paradise. The first few days, he has a rush of customers. Then, Mouret lowers the price of his silk. Robineau responds by lowering his price, and this continues until Robineau surrenders and prices his equal to Mouret’s. Every day, Robineau loses more customers and slips closer to bankruptcy.
Mouret wins the battle of lowering prices because he has a huge customer base. The sheer size of the Ladies’ Paradise and the amount that it sells ensures that Mouret makes a net profit even if he sells some items at a loss. On the other hand, Robineau’s small customer base causes him to rely on profit from every item.
Themes
One day, Madame de Boves shops at Robineau’s. She examines a coat and remarks that the Paris-Paradise is stronger than Robineau’s silk. Robineau made his coats from Paris-Paradise, removing the distinctive trim so as to conceal the trick. Losing his temper, Robineau tells Madame de Boves that the coat is Paris-Paradise. Madame de Boves spreads the story, and Robineau loses more customers. Robineau feels bad for investing his wife’s money in a failing business, but she tells him that she loves him no matter what.
This scene shows it is not the particular product (in this case the Paris-Paradise silk) but the low prices that the customers are after. Madame de Boves does not want to buy the Paris-Paradise at Robineau’s but rather at the Ladies’ Paradise where it is cheaper, and more vibrantly displayed. This shows that a consumer culture is created not from a love of things, but from a love of low prices and advertising.
Themes
Denise grows fond of the Robineaus. However, she feels excited about the new business methods that are transforming Paris. She is maturing from a child into a woman. On Sundays, she cleans her room and then takes Pépé for a walk. When Jean stops by, Denise gives him a little money. He starts to tell her of his affairs, but she hushes him. Pauline tells Denise she’s thinking of marrying Baugé, while Colomban begs Denise to ask Clara if she’ll marry him. Denise thinks these stories are silly and is glad she isn’t in love.
Although Denise has been forced to backtrack into the traditional business world, she continues to support the development of big business. She also maintains her modern independence even while in the traditional world. She doesn’t start looking for someone to marry, and instead continues to find all the expressions of love around her frivolous.
Themes
One day, Bourras tells Denise that the Ladies’ Paradise has bought the old hotel on the other side of his shop from Baron Hartmann. Bourras raves and gesticulates, saying that he is being surrounded by “the colossus.” Mouret starts proposing Bourras with more offers to buy his store. Bourras refuses to sell, and instead he pays to remodel his shop. He invents a new ruffled umbrella, but the Ladies’ Paradise steals the idea and sells it for a cheaper price.
Bourras calls the Ladies’ Paradise a “colossus,” meaning that it is larger than life. In planning to expand beyond a row of storefronts into an entire street front, The Paradise is becoming larger than any store ever before. Moreover, in expanding, The Paradise physically threatens the territory of the small shops.
Themes
One day, Denise is walking in a park with Pépé when she sees Mouret walking towards her, on his way to Madame Desforges’s. Denise tries to avoid him, but he sees her and greets her. Mouret asks polite questions then apologizes for how hastily he fired her. He says that he knows that the teenager in the basement was her brother. Denise is overjoyed that Mouret knows she had not been romantically involved with anyone. Mouret offers Denise her job back, but she says that she has another job.
Denise’s joy suggests strongly that she has feelings for Mouret. Significantly, these feelings are expressed in an attitude of fidelity, something which stands out in the current society of sexual liberation in which everyone is engaging in casual affairs. This suggests that Denise has feelings of true love for Mouret, the kind which he never feels towards women.
Themes
Mouret walks with Denise and Pépé under some trees. Mouret knows that Denise is working for Robineau. He commends Robineau’s character, but he says that his business will fail. Denise agrees, and she starts talking enthusiastically of the new business methods. Mouret is delighted by her sensibility and passion. He says that Bourras is a madman for resisting big business and asks Denise to urge him to accept Mouret’s offer. She agrees and they fall silent. They say goodnight but Mouret lingers, wondering why he is attracted to Denise, who is skinny compared to Madame Desforges. He says goodnight again and walks away.
Combined with Denise’s outlook, Mouret’s pressure on the small tradespeople to sell their businesses and join the department stores comes off as compassionate rather than cruel. Both Mouret and Denise see that the development of business is natural and unstoppable. While Mouret appears to want to defeat the small shops for his benefit, his and Denise’s agreement suggests that he would ideally like to save the small businessman from inevitable bankruptcy like she does.
Themes
After Mouret leaves, Denise’s heart pounds. She sits down on a bench, and Pépé falls asleep in her lap. When they return, Bourras says that his landlord sold the building to Mouret, using Bourras’s renovation to get more money. Denise listens to Bourras rave, then tells him that Mouret plans to offer him a huge sum for his lease and advises him to accept it.
Denise advised Bourras to accept the money because she believes that, at the end of the day, money means more than one’s principles. Clearly, if Bourras sticks to his traditions, he will soon become homeless and bankrupt.
Themes
The door opens and Baudu comes in. Bourras tells Baudu the news, and yells that he’ll never leave his shop. Denise says that he’ll be forced to leave when his lease is up. Bourras tells Baudu that his niece has sided with the enemy. Denise starts to cry but realizes that Baudu feels remorse for not helping her. He invites Denise over for lunch the next day. She kisses him and he leaves, saying to Bourras that they will be buried in their fallen-down houses soon.
Denise’s kindness bridges the gap between the small businesses and the big businesses. She understands the obstinance of the small tradespeople and empathizes with their suffering, while still believing in big business. Her compassion for both sides reveals the lack of a clear answer as to who—the big or small shops—is in the right or wrong.
Themes
