Characters
Madame Aubain
Madame Aubain employs Félicité as her servant for fifty years. When Félicité first starts working for her, Madame Aubain is a widow with two young children: Paul, who is seven, and Virginie, who is four. Her late husband left her burdened with numerous debts. Although Madame Aubain seldom shows affection or gratitude towards Félicité, the servant remains deeply loyal and protective. Félicité handles negotiations with tradespeople, discreetly ushers out unwelcome guests, and even rescues the family from a charging bull during an outing. Following Virginie's death, Félicité keeps vigil by the body and tends to the grave, as Madame Aubain is too grief-stricken to do so. Most of Félicité's belongings, including the parrot Loulou, are items discarded by Madame. When Madame Aubain passes away, she is mourned by few, having kept others at a distance. Félicité, however, is heartbroken.
Félicité
Félicité, the loyal servant of Madame Aubain, is the protagonist of the story. She is characterized by her simplicity, strong belief in the supernatural, clean living, and dedication to hard work. Orphaned early in life, she worked as a cow-herder and dairy maid until a heartbreak led her to seek employment in the nearby town of Pont-l'Évêque. At the age of eighteen, she is hired by Madame Aubain as a cook and housemaid. Over time, she assumes full responsibility for managing the household and forms profound emotional bonds with Madame Aubain and her children, her own nephew, and eventually her parrot, Loulou. When Loulou dies, she has the parrot stuffed and keeps it in her room.
Despite Félicité's unwavering devotion, she rarely receives acknowledgment or appreciation. Her need to love remains constant throughout her life, even as she endures hard work, numerous disappointments, and the gradual loss of everyone she holds dear. Her faith remains unshaken. In her old age, she begins to confuse the stuffed parrot with depictions of the Holy Spirit as a dove in religious art and stained glass. As she succumbs to pneumonia, she envisions the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending upon her as a giant parrot, passing away with a smile.
Loulou
Loulou the parrot becomes the last love of Félicité's life. Initially, he belongs to the wife of a government official who frequently visits Madame Aubain. Since the bird is from America, he reminds Félicité of her nephew, Victor, who passed away in Cuba. When the official is reassigned to a different district, his wife gives the parrot to Madame Aubain. However, Madame Aubain finds the bird's behavior so irritating that she hands him over to Félicité. Félicité grows very fond of him. One day, when he goes missing, she searches for him throughout the town. The bird eventually returns on his own, but during the search, Félicité catches a chill, and the resulting illness leaves her deaf. From then on, the only sound she can hear is the parrot's meaningless chatter.
After Loulou's death, Félicité has him stuffed and places him in her bedroom. Noting his resemblance to certain depictions of the Holy Spirit, she gradually begins to direct her prayers to the deceased bird as if he were a religious icon. As she lies on her deathbed, she envisions the parrot as the Holy Spirit and passes away with a smile.
Madame
See Madame Aubain
Parrot
See Loulou
Paul
Paul, Madame Aubain's son and Virginie's brother, is seven years old when Félicité starts working for the family. Félicité quickly grows attached to both children and is heartbroken when Paul is sent to school in Caen at a young age. As an adult, Paul drifts through various unsuccessful careers,...
(This entire section contains 1115 words.)
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spending much of his time in taverns and accumulating debts that his mother covers. At thirty-six, shortly before his mother's death, he finds what seems to be success at the Registrar's Office, where an inspector offers Paul his daughter's hand in marriage and a promotion.
Theodore
Theodore, Félicité's first and only romantic interest, is a farmhand who meets her at a fair when she is eighteen. The night after Félicité resists his ardent advances, Theodore proposes marriage. However, he soon fails to show up for one of their meetings and sends a friend to inform her that he has decided to marry a wealthy older woman, Madame Lehoussais, hoping she will pay to exempt him from army conscription. Heartbroken, Félicité leaves the farm and moves to the town of Pont-l'Évêque, where she is employed by Madame Aubain. Many years later, Félicité overhears a remark suggesting that Madame Lehoussais never married Theodore after all, but this matter remains unresolved.
Victor
Victor is the nephew of Félicité, forming one of her many deep and uncomplicated bonds. She learns about his existence while visiting the seaside with the Aubain family, where she encounters one of her sisters—Victor's mother—whom she hasn't seen since childhood. After Virginie is sent away to school, Félicité requests that Victor come to visit her. She showers him with affection, cooks meals for him, and mends his clothes. However, under his parents' guidance, Victor consistently asks her for food or money to take back home. Eventually, he becomes a cabin boy on a ship bound for America. Félicité walks twelve miles to Honfleur to bid him farewell, but she only catches a brief glimpse of him as the ship departs. Months later, she receives the heartbreaking news that he has died in Cuba; doctors had bled him excessively while treating him for yellow fever. Victor's death is one of the reasons Félicité becomes so attached to the parrot, Loulou—Loulou reminds her of America, the place where Victor passed away.
Virginie
Virginie is Madame Aubain's daughter and is four years old when Félicité joins the household. After a frightening encounter with an angry bull, Virginie suffers from a nervous condition, prompting the family to spend several weeks at the seaside for her recovery. Félicité accompanies Virginie to her catechism classes, during which she develops a fervent yet simple religious faith; she experiences Virginie's first communion as deeply as if it were her own. Shortly after, Virginie is sent to a convent school, causing Félicité profound sorrow. When Virginie succumbs to a lung infection, Félicité keeps a vigil beside her body and visits her grave daily. Both Madame and Félicité mourn Virginie deeply, and their shared grief leads to Madame's only recorded display of affection towards her housemaid. One of Félicité's most cherished possessions is a moth-eaten hat that once belonged to Virginie.
