Short Fiction · Chapter
Regret explained
Monsieur Saval, an elderly bachelor, reflects on his empty life and the missed opportunity for love with his friend's wife, Madame Sandres.
What happens
Monsieur Saval, an elderly bachelor, reflects on his empty life and the missed opportunity for love with his friend's wife, Madame Sandres. He confronts her years later to ask what would have happened if he had declared his love, and she reveals she would have yielded, leaving him devastated.
Themes in this chapter
Regret
The entire chapter revolves around Saval's regret for not pursuing love and the painful realization of a wasted life.
Isolation and Loneliness
Saval's solitary existence and his fear of dying alone highlight the theme of isolation.
Love and Desire
Saval's unrequited love for Madame Sandres and the missed chance for romantic fulfillment drive the narrative.
Characters to notice
- Monsieur Saval
The protagonist, an old bachelor who regrets his passive life and unspoken love for Madame Sandres.
- Madame Loisel
Referenced as Madame Sandres, the object of Saval's lifelong love, now a plump older woman.
Key passages
“He pondered over his life, so barren, so empty. He recalled former days, the days of his childhood, the home, the house of his parents; his college days, his escapades, the time he studied law in Paris, his father’s illness, his death.”
Saval reflects on his uneventful life, remembering his childhood, education, and his father's death.
This passage establishes Saval's sense of emptiness and the key events of his past.
“He had not even been loved. No woman had slept in his arms, in a complete abandon of love. He knew nothing of the delicious anguish of expectation, the divine vibration of a hand in yours, of the ecstasy of triumphant passion.”
Saval laments that he has never experienced romantic love or physical intimacy.
This highlights his deep regret and longing for a love he never had.
“She then turned on her heels and went back to her jam-making. Saval rushed into the street, cast down, as though he had met with some disaster.”
After Madame Sandres casually reveals she would have yielded, Saval is devastated and flees into the rain.
The climax of the story, where Saval's regret turns to despair upon learning the truth.