Short Fiction · Chapter
Mademoiselle Fifi explained
The Prussian officers stationed at the château d'Uville, led by Major Count von Farlsberg and Captain Baron von Kelweinstein, endure a monotonous rainy day.
What happens
The Prussian officers stationed at the château d'Uville, led by Major Count von Farlsberg and Captain Baron von Kelweinstein, endure a monotonous rainy day. To alleviate their boredom, the captain arranges for five prostitutes to be brought from Rouen for a dinner party. The youngest officer, Count Wilhelm von Eyrick, nicknamed 'Mademoiselle Fifi' for his dandified and destructive nature, is paired with Rachel, a young Jewish woman. The chapter highlights the officers' idle cruelty and the women's resigned acceptance of their situation.
Themes in this chapter
Cruelty and Suffering
The officers' casual destruction of the château's art and their treatment of the women as objects for their amusement exemplify cruelty and the suffering of the conquered.
Obsession and Delusion
Mademoiselle Fifi's obsessive need to destroy things, such as shooting out the eyes of a portrait and creating 'mines,' reflects a delusional and violent fixation.
Gender and Power
The power dynamic between the male Prussian officers and the women they summon for their pleasure highlights gender-based exploitation and the subjugation of women in wartime.
Characters to notice
- Duc de Servigny
The captain, Baron von Kelweinstein, is the one who arranges the dinner and the women; note: the provided canonical character list does not include a 'Baron von Kelweinstein' but includes 'the_duc_de_servigny' as a noble; however, the text refers to the captain as 'Baron von Kelweinstein' and not the Duc de Servigny. To avoid inventing IDs, no match is used.
Key passages
“Suddenly, the baron, stirred to revolt, sat up, and said: 'By heavens! This cannot go on; we must think of something to do.'”
The captain, frustrated with the boredom, declared they needed to find some amusement.
This moment initiates the plan to bring women to the château.
“Suddenly, looking at the lady with the moustache, the young fellow pulled out his revolver, and said: 'You shall not see it.' And without leaving his seat he aimed, and with two successive bullets cut out both the eyes of the portrait.”
Mademoiselle Fifi shot out the eyes of a portrait for his own amusement.
Illustrates his destructive and violent nature.
“They had not required much pressing, as they were sure of being well paid, for they had got to know the Prussians in the three months during which they had had to do with them, and so they resigned themselves to the men as they did the state of affairs.”
The women agreed to come because they expected good payment and had become accustomed to dealing with the Prussian occupiers.
Shows the women's pragmatic resignation to their circumstances.