Bonjour Tristesse (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Françoise Quoirez
- First Published: 1954
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: One summer and early fall in the 1950’s
- Setting: The French Riviera and Paris
- Principal Characters: Cécile, Raymond, Elsa Mackenbourg, Anne Larsen, Cyril
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, Parents and children, Teenagers, France or French people, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Suicide, Alienation, Guilt, Paris, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Fathers, Upper classes
- Locales: Paris, France, Riviera
Form and Content
The title Bonjour Tristesse (hello sadness) is a quote from a poem by Paul Éluard that opens the novel and sets the tone for the bittersweet narrative to come. The narrator, Cécile, seems older than her years, unable to concentrate on activities, such as schoolwork, that are alien to the sophisticated high society to which she already belongs. At the beginning of her story, she identifies strongly with her father, Raymond, sharing his love of beauty and pleasure, but also acutely aware of the superficiality and transience of the world of the idle rich...
[The entire page is 2143 words long]
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