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
Laurent doesn’t mind visiting the Raquin household every evening, even though he’s having an affair with Thérèse. To the contrary, he enjoys coming over. Madame Raquin spoils him with food and affection, and Camille entertains him to a certain degree. Thérèse, meanwhile, has no problem acting in the same cold and passive way that she always acts around Camille and his friends, since she’s used to hiding her emotions. Whereas Laurent simply enjoys what the Raquins give him without thinking about right and wrong, Thérèse is acutely aware of what she’s doing by deceiving Camille—but she doesn’t care. In fact, she likes knowing that she’s doing something dishonest.
Despite the fact that Laurent feels unnerved by François in a way that hints at a certain feeling of guilt, he otherwise doesn’t seem to care whether or not what he and Thérèse are doing is right or wrong. He doesn’t think in those terms. Instead, he thinks exclusively about his own pleasures, always calculating what will bring him the most satisfaction. Accordingly, he visits the Raquin household frequently, realizing that he can gain pleasure from the family in more ways than simply sleeping with Thérèse. As for Thérèse herself, she is aware that what she and Laurent are doing is unfair to Camille, but she doesn’t care—after all these years of submitting to the Raquins, she seems to take pleasure in finally prioritizing her own desires.
Themes
Each night, Laurent comes over for dinner. When Camille and Madame Raquin aren’t looking, he and Thérèse steal short, passionate kisses, though they’re careful not to overdo it, since they don’t want to get caught. Just to be sure nobody suspects him of anything, Laurent attends the Thursday night social gatherings, wanting to win over the Raquins’ friends. He thus has to tolerate Michaud’s repetitive stories about police work and Grivet’s long, boring anecdotes about people at the Orleans Railway. As long as Laurent can keep seeing Thérèse, though, these things don’t bother him—the only thing he dreads is the idea of their affair ever ending.
The mundanity of life in the Raquin household continues like normal, even as Thérèse and Laurent delight in their affair. Their bond therefore becomes a small oasis in an otherwise dreary life, which is why it feels important to them to make sure it continues—the idea of losing the pleasure that comes along with their affair is unthinkable. In a way, then, they come to depend on each other for contentment and satisfaction.
Themes
