Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Thérèse Raquin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Passion and Pleasure
Consequences and Delusion
Dependency and Resentment
Money, Greed, and Class
Summary
Analysis
Back at the haberdashery, Madame Raquin and Thérèse both stay in bed for three days. Thérèse doesn’t want to confront Madame, who keeps crying inconsolably. Finally, though, Thérèse gets out of bed on the third day, feeling as if she has aged multiple years in the course of just a few days. She then goes to her aunt, who hugs her tight and weeps. That night, Thérèse encourages the old woman to get up for dinner, and then the two women open the store once again the following morning.
Thérèse deals with the aftermath of Camille’s murder by staying in bed, but not necessarily because she feels guilty. Rather, she largely stays in bed because she’s afraid of facing Madame Raquin. Her reaction to the entire incident is therefore not quite as dissimilar to Laurent’s reaction as it first seemed. Although she seems a bit more remorseful, her main concern is whether or not she’ll be able to act convincingly sad when she confronts Madame Raquin, suggesting that she’s mainly thinking about herself and her own wellbeing rather than dwelling on the moral consequences of having murdered her husband.
Themes
