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
Camille comes home from the office one Thursday with a new coworker. He introduces him to Madame Raquin, explaining with glee that the man is Laurent, a young boy he used to play with growing up. Both Madame Raquin and Camille are delighted by this coincidence, finding it astounding that it took so long for Camille and Laurent to recognize each other at work, which Camille interprets as an indication of just how impressively large and “important” the company is. Camille also marvels at the fact that Laurent already earns 1,500 francs per month.
The novel sets Laurent up to be yet another one of Camille’s cronies—someone who earns a decent salary at Camille’s company. What’s humorous about Camille not recognizing Laurent for so long is that he sees it as an indication that he works for a big, “important” company, when—in reality—his failure to recognize Laurent says more about his own obliviousness than anything else. The novel thus subtly mocks Camille’s self-importance and his tendency to focus on things like status to the exclusion of all else.
Themes
Singing Laurent’s praises, Camille adds that his old friend went to law school and that he knows how to paint. As Laurent settles in after accepting an offer to stay for dinner, Thérèse studies him and is struck by his appearance. He is the first “real man” she has ever seen. He’s large and strong, with a powerful air about him and enormous hands. As Thérèse looks at him, a tremble rolls through her entire body. When Camille asks if Laurent knows Thérèse, he looks directly at her and says that he recognized her immediately. They lock eyes with such intensity that Thérèse almost feels ill.
Finally, Thérèse really feels something. In contrast to Camille, Laurent is powerful and seems to emanate a certain vitality that speaks to Thérèse, awakening a passion in her that has been lying dormant since childhood. What’s more, he takes the time to really notice her. His remark that he recognized her immediately shows that he’s very aware of her presence. Unlike Camille, who takes Thérèse for granted, Laurent sees her for the woman she is, and this excites her so much that she’s jolted out of her normal passive state.
Themes
Over dinner, Camille asks how Laurent’s father—a farmer in their hometown—is doing. Laurent says he doesn’t know: they had a falling out five years ago. Because Laurent’s father is constantly getting into disputes with his neighbors, he sent Laurent to law school in the hopes that his son would be able to represent him in court free of charge. But Laurent hated law school. He pretended to attend class for the first two years, but only so that he could take the money his father sent him. Meanwhile, he lived in a studio with a painter and took up painting himself. He liked it, thinking it was easy and enjoyable. But what he really liked was lounging around all day and smoking. But then his father found out he wasn’t attending school and cut him off.
Whereas Camille worships the idea of working in an important office, Laurent doesn’t see the inherent value of work. Instead, he openly acknowledges his fondness of doing very little, ultimately indicating that he’s someone who prioritizes pleasure. In other words, he has no problem with the idea of living a carefree, indulgent lifestyle—yet another thing that sets him apart from seemingly everyone else in Thérèse’s life.
Themes
Laurent’s father told him he could come home and work on the farm, but he refused. Instead, he tried to support himself by selling paintings, but he found it wasn’t easy to make money this way. He therefore looked for a job, which is why he now works at the Orleans Railway, biding his time until his father dies and leaves him with an inheritance, at which point he’ll quit his job so he can live “the idle life.” Laurent is straightforward about what he wants, telling the Raquins his story without the slightest hint of emotion. He is, in short, “lazy” and is hungry for “long-lasting pleasures.”
Even though Laurent doesn’t idealize the idea of making a lot of money in the way that Camille does, there’s no getting around the fact that everyone needs money in order to survive. More to the point, Laurent can’t lead the “idle” lifestyle he yearns for without sufficient funds. Consequently, he has to work just like everyone else—the key difference between him and Camille, though, is that work is not something he cherishes. It’s not something he thinks will bring him honor and respect, nor does he care about either of those things. Rather, work is just something that will sustain him until he inherits enough money to lead a life in which he can seek out the “long-lasting pleasures” that he seems to prioritize above all else.
Themes
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The life Laurent led in school instilled in him an appetite for ease and enjoyment. He doesn’t care about art, so it was easy to give it up—he isn’t very good, anyway. What he really misses these days is the company of the women who used to model for him. They were always willing, for a small fee, to satisfy his sexual cravings. When Laurent talks about the women who used to model, Camille becomes boyish and immature, saying that Laurent must have been embarrassed when the models undressed. But Laurent disagrees, describing how fun it was to see them naked. He talks about one model’s breasts in particular and then suddenly stops, looks up, and makes direct eye contact with Thérèse.
Laurent doesn’t just enjoy leading a life full of pleasure and passion—he seems to need these pleasures, since he has become accustomed to an existence in which it was easy for him to satisfy his every desire. Such ideas seem completely foreign to Camille, who doesn’t yearn for anything other than a fancy job and a respectable salary. But they do resonate with Thérèse, and Laurent seems very aware of the interest she takes in his stories—so aware, in fact, that he makes a point of flirtatiously looking at her as he speaks about sexual matters that Camille would never discuss.
Themes
Entertained by the difference between Thérèse’s and Camille’s reactions to his stories about naked women, Laurent says he’d like to paint Camille’s portrait. Camille is overjoyed and accepts, and they make plans for Laurent to come by after work in the evenings. Then Grivet, Michaud, Olivier, and Suzanne arrive for the weekly game of dominoes, and though they’re hesitant to embrace Laurent, he eventually charms them into liking him. That night, Thérèse doesn’t make excuses to leave the table, instead basking in Laurent’s magnetic presence.
Thérèse’s interest in Laurent is obvious. She normally hates sitting through the Thursday night gatherings, but now she doesn’t want to leave the table, clearly hoping to seize any opportunity to be near Laurent. After a lifetime of ignoring her own desires, then, she now seems to wake up to her burning passion—a passion Laurent has ignited.
Themes
