Nothing could be more inevitable than that they should marry, and stay under Mother/Auntie's roof where she can continue to treat them as helpless children. Poor semi-orphan is left with her aunt in Paris Auntie is already raising a sickly son, and the two children grow up together, stifled but protected. Ah, young love.The story concept is a good one. They chug some poison and go off into the great beyond together, all under the watchful gaze of Mme Raquin. They break down sobbing and, after sharing a final embrace, they decide to commit suicide together. So they decide, Why make this a double homicide when it can be a double suicide? We bet you didn't see this one coming, though: just seconds before they are about to follow through with their murderous designs, they each realize the other's intention. Gee, guys, maybe you could have tried marriage counseling first? In fact, they grow to find their marriage so intolerable that they plot to kill each other. Thérèse and Laurent keep on hating each other. Mme Raquin tries to denounce the murderers, but her paralysis prevents her from communicating her knowledge. So, sadly, Thérèse and Laurent sometimes forget that she is in the room.ĭuring one of their many arguments, they accidentally reveal their crime in Mme Raquin's presence. She becomes completely paralyzed and mute. One day, Thérèse's aunt, Mme Raquin, suffers a stroke. Which definitely puts a damper on their sexy-time. Womp womp.Įven after they get married, they imagine that Camille's ghost visits them every night in their bedroom. However, with Camille out of the way, the lovers-turned-murderers discover that they are unable to rekindle their former fireworks. It's not long before Thérèse and Laurent decide to drown Camille and ride off-er, boat off-into the sunset. He encourages her to express her sensuous and passionate nature and all. Put 2 + 2 together, and you'll already have guessed that Thérèse and Laurent soon start steaming up the windows of the Raquin residence with their affair.Īnd even though Thérèse is totes boring around her hubby Camille, she's pretty rad when paired with Laurent. Thérèse is immediately attracted to the Laurent, who is stupidly handsome. She hides all her fiery feistiness behind a mask of passivity and calmness.Īnywho, when Camille gets a new job at the Orléans Railway Company, he runs into his childhood friend, Laurent. But this is 1860s France, so she pretends to be content with her marriage. She works hard, and mostly hangs out with her aunt, Madame Raquin and her sickly son, Camille.Īt the age of twenty-one, Thérèse marries her cousin Camille-whee, incest-but she feels completely bored and stifled by her monotonous life at the shop. Thérèse Raquin lives and works in a clothing shop in Paris, but really, but things aren't as glamorous as they might sound-this is no The Devil Wears Prada-Paris.

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola