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amararossi 's review for:
Femme Fatale
by Guy de Maupassant
I’ll review the other short stories in time, but I have to start with the first one, Cockcrow, because it was my favourite by far.
This short story is about the thrill of the chase. How some people find excitement in the pursuit and manipulation of others, yet lose interest as soon as they’ve won. Madame craved the thrill of the chase, rather than lasting connection, and the story ends in the exact same cycle of Madame waking up bored of the man sleeping beside her.
The story starts with Madame complaining about her husband. She claims he’s boring and unattractive, describing his “short arms, short legs, short neck, short nose, short everything in fact”. The Madame has an admirer, the Baron, who has been rejected by her so many times that he’s described to be in agony. The Madame says he will have her, if he “kills the beast”. At first, it’s assumed that she wishes for the Baron to kill her husband, but we learn that she meant a literal beast, as they’re in the middle of a hunting season. The hunt happens on page, though it’s clear that the real hunt is her. He is chasing her and she finds thrill and excitement in it.
However, once he wins, she teases him further, saying she’s too tired and tells him to wait in his room. However, she waits too long and he falls asleep after the exhaustion of the hunt. When he wakes up, he sees Madame hasn’t slept once all night. He’s confused and asks her where he is and what the problem is. Madame answers in the same dismissive tone she reserves for her husband, telling him to “Go back to sleep” and that it’s none of his business.
She took the chase too far. She didn’t get what she wanted and now she’s bored of him. The same cycle repeats itself. The Baron who was initially described as "good looking, healthy, manly and full of vigour" is by the end
"puffy, red-eyed and dishevelled". The thrill is in the chase and now it is over, she’s bored of him.
This story was more deserving of the name “Femme Fatale” than the second story, though I’m glad it was included in this collection as it is definitely femme fatale, and fits in well.
The other stories were decent but didn’t impact me as much.
This short story is about the thrill of the chase. How some people find excitement in the pursuit and manipulation of others, yet lose interest as soon as they’ve won. Madame craved the thrill of the chase, rather than lasting connection, and the story ends in the exact same cycle of Madame waking up bored of the man sleeping beside her.
The story starts with Madame complaining about her husband. She claims he’s boring and unattractive, describing his “short arms, short legs, short neck, short nose, short everything in fact”. The Madame has an admirer, the Baron, who has been rejected by her so many times that he’s described to be in agony. The Madame says he will have her, if he “kills the beast”. At first, it’s assumed that she wishes for the Baron to kill her husband, but we learn that she meant a literal beast, as they’re in the middle of a hunting season. The hunt happens on page, though it’s clear that the real hunt is her. He is chasing her and she finds thrill and excitement in it.
However, once he wins, she teases him further, saying she’s too tired and tells him to wait in his room. However, she waits too long and he falls asleep after the exhaustion of the hunt. When he wakes up, he sees Madame hasn’t slept once all night. He’s confused and asks her where he is and what the problem is. Madame answers in the same dismissive tone she reserves for her husband, telling him to “Go back to sleep” and that it’s none of his business.
She took the chase too far. She didn’t get what she wanted and now she’s bored of him. The same cycle repeats itself. The Baron who was initially described as "good looking, healthy, manly and full of vigour" is by the end
"puffy, red-eyed and dishevelled". The thrill is in the chase and now it is over, she’s bored of him.
This story was more deserving of the name “Femme Fatale” than the second story, though I’m glad it was included in this collection as it is definitely femme fatale, and fits in well.
The other stories were decent but didn’t impact me as much.