Germinie Lacerteux · Chapter
LXVII explained
Mademoiselle de Varandeuil, prostrated by the excitement of identifying Germinie's body, takes to her bed after arranging for the burial.
What happens
Mademoiselle de Varandeuil, prostrated by the excitement of identifying Germinie's body, takes to her bed after arranging for the burial. She is haunted by the ghastly image of Germinie's corpse, particularly her hair, which she superstitiously associates with crime. On Sunday she is too ill to leave her bed, and on Monday she attempts to rise for the funeral but faints and must return to bed.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Decay
The chapter dwells on the horrifying physical details of Germinie's corpse and Mademoiselle's traumatic memory of it.
Hypocrisy and Secrecy
Mademoiselle's superstitious thought that Germinie's hair might indicate a crime carried to the grave hints at hidden secrets and moral judgment.
Characters to notice
- Mademoiselle de Varandeuil
Prostrated by the ordeal, she takes to her bed and is haunted by the image of Germinie's corpse, especially her hair.
- Germinie Lacerteux
Her dead body is vividly recalled by Mademoiselle, with distorted features and hair standing on end.
Key passages
“Prostrated by the excitement and by this last spectacle, Mademoiselle de Varandeuil took to her bed on returning home, after she had given the concierge the money for the purchase of a burial lot, and for the burial.”
Overwhelmed by the shock of seeing Germinie's body, Mademoiselle de Varandeuil went to bed as soon as she got home, having first paid the concierge for a burial plot and funeral expenses.
Mademoiselle's physical collapse and practical arrangements for the burial.
“She asked herself if she had not been told that dead people whose hair is like that carry a crime with them to the grave.”
She wondered if she had once heard that the dead with such hair take a secret crime to their grave.
Mademoiselle's superstitious suspicion about Germinie's hair.