# The Avenger explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

## What happens

Antoine Leuillet marries his friend's widow, Mathilde, after a decade of unrequited love. Though initially happy, he becomes obsessed with her deceased first husband, Souris, constantly mocking him. One night, during an intimate conversation, he goads Mathilde into confessing that she once deceived Souris. The confession shatters Leuillet, who reacts with violent rage, beating her and realizing his jealousy has poisoned their marriage.

## Themes in this chapter

### Marriage and Domesticity

The narrative examines the complexities of remarriage and the lingering shadows of a deceased spouse.

### Obsession and Delusion

Leuillet's fixation on Souris and his need for reassurance about his wife's fidelity reveal an obsessive, delusional mindset.

### Cruelty and Suffering

Leuillet's verbal taunts and eventual physical violence against Mathilde highlight the cruelty born from jealousy.

## Character check-ins

### Monsieur Parent

Antoine Leuillet, the protagonist, marries his friend's widow and becomes consumed by posthumous jealousy.

### Madame Loisel

Mathilde Leuillet, formerly Widow Souris, is the wife whose past confession triggers her husband's fury.

### Old Amable

M. Souris, the deceased first husband, is the object of Leuillet's obsessive ridicule and jealousy.

## Key lines

> The memory of the dead husband spoiled the happiness of the living husband; and this posthumous jealousy now began to torment Leuillet's heart day and night.

Leuillet's joy is ruined by his constant envy of the deceased Souris, a jealousy that haunts him incessantly.

_This line encapsulates the central conflict of the story: the dead husband's shadow over the new marriage._

> He now held her under him, boxing her ears in a most violent manner, and exclaiming: 'Take that—and that—and that—there you are, you trollop!'

In a fit of rage, Leuillet beats his wife, calling her a trollop as he strikes her repeatedly.

_The violence marks the climax of Leuillet's jealousy and the destruction of their marital happiness._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-avenger
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters