Clémence was living in her parent’s luxurious apartment in the 16th arrondissement, only steps away from the Damour flagship patisserie at Place de Trocadero. Her parents were away in Asia for months, possibly up to a year, and she was there to dog-sit Miffy and keep tabs on all the stores in Paris to make sure that everything was running smoothly. The apartment took up the entire fifth floor of the building. It had three bedrooms: her parent’s main bedroom and two guest rooms. Clémence had an older brother and sister who lived in other cities, but they had lived in this apartment when they were growing up, but rather a humble house in Romainville, which was why the two rooms weren’t personalized with any of their childhood belongings. Clémence had taken over one of the guest bedrooms—the one connected to the spacious bathroom where she frequently took bubble baths. Her bathroom was her sanitary and it had blue, green and gold tiles that made her feel as if she was on vacation in Morocco. She offered the other guest room to Rose. It was not connected to a bathroom, but it was bigger, with pale blue wallpaper and a faux fireplace. With its tall windows draped with opulent green and pink satin curtains and a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling, Clémence was sure that Rose would be comfortable there. When Clémence got up early Monday morning, Rose was still sleeping. The night before, she had helped Rose call the boss at her PR company to explain why Rose needed to take the week off. As Rose slept, Clémence thought she could make a quick trip to Berenice’s house to pick up Miffy. Miffy was a happy Highland Terrier who would cheer Rose up, at least a little bit. Clémence would’ve asked the Dubois family on the third floor... ... middle of paper ... ...ir.” Clémence answered eagerly, hoping he had the answers they were waiting for. “Brain hemorrhage,” Cyril boomed into the phone. “Due to blunt impact. Pierre Colombier was killed.” Clémence stopped in her tracks so suddenly that Miffy was pulled back by the leash. “What? Mais non!” “Si. I tried calling your friend—what’s her name?—the victim’s girlfriend?” “Rose Viard.” “Right, but she’s not picking up. I have questions. Is she home?” “I suppose,” said Clémence. “She was sleeping the last I checked, but I’m not at my house with her at the moment” “You can tell her the news then.” “Are you sure it was murder?” “I wasn’t the one doing the test,” Cyril said. “Now that you know that it is murder, stay out of my case, all right Damour?” Cyril hung up. “What is it?” Berenice asked. Clémence took a deep breath. “Well, Pierre was murdered after all.”
The narrator begins the story by recounting how she speculates there may be something wrong with the mansion they will be living in for three months. According to her the price of rent was way too cheap and she even goes on to describe it as “queer”. However she is quickly laughed at and dismissed by her husband who as she puts it “is practical in the extreme.” As the story continues the reader learns that the narrator is thought to be sick by her husband John yet she is not as convinced as him. According
And with good reason! The sheer luxury of the property is overwhelming. The mansion has 34 beautifully decorated rooms that boast 15th through 19th century art and furnishings. While blending together harmoniously, there is nothing subtle about the elaborately carved furniture, voluminous drapes, ornate carvings, and the richly colored tiles. The intent is to convey the excesses of wealth, which it does, albeit with grace and elegance.
Her selfish antics and complaints are patiently absorbed by Ma, who tolerates her primarily because of her condition. Rose Sharon knows that she is now an exception to the normal rules and exploits her position to its fullest potential. During the journey, Rose, Sharon and Connie pass the time by dreaming of the idyllic life they will lead when they reach California. Connie says he will open a repair shop and buy a white house with a fence and an icebox and a car and a crib, all before the baby is born; all hopelessly idealistic and almost completely detached from reality. Every intention, though, is for the baby so that it may have a perfect life from the very moment it is born.
lines two and three she describes the house with “unlit rooms” and a “hot fireplace”. She goes on
But the teachers don’t last long when her mother and father are constantly taking them on “adventures” to live in new places, thrusting them out of their routines and into an unknown town. Even when Jeannette’s family seems to have a good setup, like in Phoenix, her mother finds some way to ruin it. Jeannette’s mother inherits a nice house and small fortune after her mother passes away, which allows the Walls family to relax for a time, to live in an actual house close to a good school. The children, Jeanette especially, love Phoenix. However her mother soon stops paying bills, and focuses only on buying art and writing supplies without any profit from her pieces, holing herself in a room to work, leaving the children to
Lori was the first one to leave for New York City after graduation, later, Jeanette followed her and moved into her habitat with her. Jeanette promptly found a job as a reporter, the two sisters were both living their dream life away from their miserable parents. It wasn’t difficult for them since they cultured to be independent and tough. Everything was turning out great for them and decided to tell their younger siblings to move in with them, and they did. Jeanette was finally happy for once, enjoying the freedom she had and not having to be moved every two weeks. She then found a guy whom she married and accustomed her lifestyle. Furthermore, her parents still couldn’t have the funds for a household or to stay in stable occupation, so they decided to move in with Jeanette and her siblings. Jeanette at that moment felt like she was never going to have an ordinary life because her parents were going to shadow her.
“She grieved over the shabbiness of her apartment, the dinginess of the walls, the worn-out appearance of the chairs, the ugliness of the draperies. All these things, which another woman of her class would not even have noticed, gnawed at her and made her furious.”
perspective. The room is austerely decorated in period style with heavy cypress-green curtains on the back and side walls. The gold of the curtain tresses is revisited...
Rose Mary is a selfish woman and decides not to go to school some mornings because she does not feel up to it. Jeannette takes the initiative in making sure that her mother is prepared for school each morning because she knows how much her family needs money. Even though Rose Mary starts to go to school every day, she does not do her job properly and thus the family suffers financially again. When Maureen’s birthday approaches, Jeannette takes it upon herself to find a gift for her because she does not think their parents will be able to provide her with one. Jeannette says, “at times I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her - the promise I’d made to her when I held her on the way home from the hospital after she’d been born. I couldn’t get her what she needed most- hot
Like the real-life apartment, the impossibly wealthy setting of her daydreams about owning a mansion strengthens her unhappiness and her avoidance of reality. All the rooms of her fantasies are large and expensive, draped in silk and filled with nothing but the best furniture and bric-a-brac. M...
Blanche, the key catalyst for the play, presents herself as a lost character, entirely out of place in New Orleans and the setting her sister lives in. When first introduced, the narrator describes her as “incongruous” to the setting because of her high-end clothes and jewelry in a normal New Orleans neighborhood. Blanche also looks visible “uncertain” of her sister’s abode, appearing “lost” to Eunice because of her foreignness to the setting. Even after told by Eunice she has arrived, Blanche still feels uncertain whether this can be her sister’s home. She faces a severe culture shock, as she grew up in a “big place with white columns” in luxury compared to her sister’s status. She continually shows surprise at how small her sister’s house is, at Stanley’s crudity and general lack of sophistication, and at his
At the beginning of the story, the narrator is moving into a house that she is renting while her house in being renovated. She describes the house as "The most beautiful place! It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people" (105). This quote reflects that she considers this house as a place only the noble could live in. She has only read about homes like this, and she never thought that she would be living in one. She seems happy that she will be able to rent such a house. She adds that "There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden--large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them" (105). This adds to the elegant and royal qualities that the narrator believes the house has.
Jeanette mentions that her mom is homeless, and digs through dumpsters. On the other hand, Jeanette has Persian rugs, and a leather armchair in her apartment (6). The writer wears pearls, while her mom is searching for something to eat (6). Jeanette and her mother are extreme opposites because Jeanette 's mother enjoys being homeless, and Jeanette worries about her parents being homeless. It is difficult for the writer to enjoy her apartment, without worrying about her parents being homeless (6). Jeanette 's mother tells her not to worry about them, and to tell people the truth about her parent 's situation (26). The author mentions that her mom had grime on her neck and that she made an effort to fix herself up (9).
As this short drama goes on the reader can witness how they change the room and furniture around trying to get it arranged perfectly to keep their guests visiting as long as possible.
The narrator of the story goes with her doctor/husband to stay in a colonial mansion for the summer. The house is supposed to be a place where she can recover from severe postpartum depression. She loves her baby, but knows she is not able to take care of him. "It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous" (Gilman 642). The symbolism utilized by Gilman is somewhat askew from the conventional. A house usually symbolizes security. In this story the opposite is true. The protagonist, whose name we never learn, feels trapped by the walls of the house, just as she is trapped by her mental illness. The windows of her room, which normally would symbolize a sense of freedom, are barred, holding her in. (Biedermann 179, 382). From the outset the reader is ...