The Counterfeiters · Chapter
The Argonauts’ Dinner explained
Bernard and Edouard pick up Sarah for the Argonauts' dinner.
What happens
Bernard and Edouard pick up Sarah for the Argonauts' dinner. At the tavern, Olivier feels conflicted between Edouard's positive influence and Passavant's corrupting one. Passavant makes advances on Sarah. Jarry, drunk, fires a blank pistol, injuring Justinien. Passavant and Edouard exchange barbs, and Passavant is introduced to Sarah. Jarry offers Sarah broken bottle crystals, which turn out to be sugar candy.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom and Rebellion
Sarah's deliberate defiance of family constraints and her pursuit of liberty through audacious behavior.
Morality and Corruption
Olivier's internal struggle between Edouard's virtuous influence and Passavant's corrupting one; the decadent atmosphere of the dinner.
Art and the Novel
The presence of Jarry and the literary circle; the discussion of the review 'The Vanguard' and Bercail's allegorical poem.
Characters to notice
- Bernard Profitendieu
Accompanies Edouard and Sarah to the dinner; observes the scene and feels uncomfortable with Sarah's attention.
- Edouard
Arrives with Bernard and Sarah; questions Olivier about his milieu and confronts Passavant.
- Sarah Vedel
Defiantly prepares for the dinner; flirts with Passavant and Bernard; crunches sugar crystals.
- Olivier Molinier
Torn between Edouard's esteem and Passavant's influence; drinks curaçao for courage.
- Robert de Passavant
Makes advances on Sarah; exchanges words with Edouard; manipulates the social situation.
- Armand Vedel
Mentioned as having passed on the invitation to Sarah; his room is used for her escape.
- Lucien Bercail
Target of Jarry's mock pistol shot; stands on a chair in a Napoleonic pose.
- Justinien
Gives a dull speech; is hit in the eye by the wad from Jarry's blank cartridge.
Key passages
“She cultivated a facile contempt for all the domestic virtues as a kind of preventive protest. The constraint of family life had intensified her energies and exasperated her instinct for revolt.”
Sarah developed a dismissive attitude toward traditional family values as a preemptive rebellion, with the restrictions of home life fueling her desire for freedom.
Highlights Sarah's rebellious mindset and motivation for her actions.
“Olivier took this as a direct allusion to Passavant, and in his inward sky a flash of blinding, painful light shot through the bank of clouds which ever since the morning had been thickening and darkening in his heart.”
Olivier interpreted Edouard's words as a criticism of Passavant, causing a sudden, painful realization that cut through the gloom he had felt all day.
Illustrates Olivier's emotional turmoil and his growing awareness of Passavant's negative influence.