Bonjour!! I guess there's never been a better time to read a book with so much French in it.
I do have a question though... who the heck are " the lovers." They seem to be referred to very often, but I don't understand who they are. Maybe I missed some sort of explanation at the beginning, but I don't know.
The "lovers" are simply a young couple who go down to the seaside and sit in the tent that is reserved for small children to play in. They stare lovingly into each other's eyes, whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears - all the while some miserable woman dressed in black follows them while praying the rosary.
ReplyDeleteI liken it to what I see in the freshmen hall between classes. Young couple make the most of their five minutes (ignoring their lockers and what they might need for the next class) by hugging each other as if the other is about to go off to war or emigrate to a foreign country.
I'll throw this back at the rest of you now. Do "the lovers" seem to symbolize anything significant?
Every time they appear in the book I KNOW that something is symbolized by them being there, I feel like it is when Edna is thinking about Robert, and her love for him is apparent. Like at the dinner when Robert announces his leaving and the lovers are withdrawn and ignoring the conversation going on, talking about what they want to. I feel like that was the unspoken communication happening between Edna and Robert. I probably should consult Sparknotes on my theory. Also, what's with that woman that always dresses in black that stalks them? It is the middle of summer and she is creeping out.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. That's pretty much what I thought about the lovers, but I had that feeling that they symbolized something.. I just couldn't seem to get it into my head quite right, so thanks to Jilly!
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book in the preread there's a bit about the children and the young and how they symbolize innocence and whatnot. check that out
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the book, I had a random thought about the lovers. It was before Edna and Robert went to the church service. The lady in black was following the lovers and had all of her religious possessions with her. To me, this could be symbolic of organized religion's oppression of love and physical intimacy in those times.
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