Sunday, August 29, 2010

French Fiction

Moonlight
by Guy de Maupassant

Madame Julie Roubere was expecting her elder sister, Madame Henriette Letore, who had just returned from a trip to Switzerland.

The Letore household had left nearly five weeks before. Madame Henriette had allowed her husband to return alone to their estate in Calvados, where some business required his attention, and had come to spend a few days in Paris with her sister. Night came on. In the quiet parlor Madame Roubere was reading in the twilight in an absent-minded way, raising her eyes whenever she heard a sound.

At last, she heard a ring at the door, and her sister appeared, wrapped in a travelling cloak. And without any formal greeting, they clasped each other in an affectionate embrace, only desisting for a moment to give each other another hug. Then they talked about their health, about their respective families, and a thousand other things, gossiping, jerking out hurried, broken sentences as they followed each other about, while Madame Henriette was removing her hat and veil.

It was now quite dark. Madame Roubere rang for a lamp, and as soon as it was brought in, she scanned her sister's face, and was on the point of embracing her once more. But she held back, scared and astonished at the other's appearance.

On her temples Madame Letore had two large locks of white hair. All the rest of her hair was of a glossy, raven-black hue; but there alone, at each side of her head, ran, as it were, two silvery streams which were immediately lost in the black mass surrounding them. She was, nevertheless, only twenty-four years old, and this change had come on suddenly since her departure forSwitzerland.

Without moving, Madame Roubere gazed at her in amazement, tears rising to her eyes, as she thought that some mysterious and terrible calamity must have befallen her sister. She asked:

"What is the matter with you, Henriette?"

Smiling with a sad face, the smile of one who is heartsick, the other replied:

"Why, nothing, I assure you. Were you noticing my white hair?"

But Madame Roubere impetuously seized her by the shoulders, and with a searching glance at her, repeated:

"What is the matter with you? Tell me what is the matter with you. And if you tell me a falsehood, I'll soon find it out."

They remained face to face, and Madame Henriette, who looked as if she were about to faint, had two pearly tears in the corners of her drooping eyes.

Her sister continued:

"What has happened to you? What is the matter with you? Answer me!"

Then, in a subdued voice, the other murmured:

"I have--I have a lover."

And, hiding her forehead on the shoulder of her younger sister, she sobbed.

Then, when she had grown a little calmer, when the heaving of her breast had subsided, she commenced to unbosom herself, as if to cast forth this secret from herself, to empty this sorrow of hers into a sympathetic heart.

Thereupon, holding each other's hands tightly clasped, the two women went over to a sofa in a dark corner of the room, into which they sank, and the younger sister, passing her arm over the elder one's neck, and drawing her close to her heart, listened.

"Oh! I know that there was no excuse for me; I do not understand myself, and since that day I feel as if I were mad. Be careful, my child, about yourself--be careful! If you only knew how weak we are, how quickly we yield, and fall. It takes so little, so little, so little, a moment of tenderness, one of those sudden fits of melancholy which come over you, one of those longings to open, your arms, to love, to cherish something, which we all have at certain moments.

"You know my husband, and you know how fond I am of him; but he is mature and sensible, and cannot even comprehend the tender vibrations of a woman's heart. He is always the same, always good, always smiling, always kind, always perfect. Oh! how I sometimes have wished that he would clasp me roughly in his arms, that he would embrace me with those slow, sweet kisses which make two beings intermingle, which are like mute confidences! How I have wished that he were foolish, even weak, so that he should have need of me, of my caresses, of my tears!

"This all seems very silly; but we women are made like that. How can we help it?

"And yet the thought of deceiving him never entered my mind. Now it has happened, without love, without reason, without anything, simply because the moon shone one night on the Lake ofLucerne.

"During the month when we were travelling together, my husband, with his calm indifference, paralyzed my enthusiasm, extinguished my poetic ardor. When we were descending the mountain paths at sunrise, when as the four horses galloped along with the diligence, we saw, in the transparent morning haze, valleys, woods, streams, and villages, I clasped my hands with delight, and said to him: 'How beautiful it is, dear! Give me a kiss! Kiss me now!' He only answered, with a smile of chilling kindliness: 'There is no reason why we should kiss each other because you like the landscape.'

"And his words froze me to the heart. It seems to me that when people love each other, they ought to feel more moved by love than ever, in the presence of beautiful scenes.

"In fact, I was brimming over with poetry which he kept me from expressing. I was almost like a boiler filled with steam and hermetically sealed.

"One evening (we had for four days been staying in a hotel at Fluelen) Robert, having one of his sick headaches, went to bed immediately after dinner, and I went to take a walk all alone along the edge of the lake.

"It was a night such as one reads of in fairy tales. The full moon showed itself in the middle of the sky; the tall mountains, with their snowy crests, seemed to wear silver crowns; the waters of the lake glittered with tiny shining ripples. The air was mild, with that kind of penetrating warmth which enervates us till we are ready to faint, to be deeply affected without any apparent cause. But how sensitive, how vibrating the heart is at such moments! how quickly it beats, and how intense is its emotion!

"I sat down on the grass, and gazed at that vast, melancholy, and fascinating lake, and a strange feeling arose in me; I was seized with an insatiable need of love, a revolt against the gloomy dullness of my life. What! would it never be my fate to wander, arm in arm, with a man I loved, along a moon-kissed bank like this? Was I never to feel on my lips those kisses so deep, delicious, and intoxicating which lovers exchange on nights that seem to have been made by God for tenderness? Was I never to know ardent, feverish love in the moonlit shadows of a summer's night?

"And I burst out weeping like a crazy woman. I heard something stirring behind me. A man stood there, gazing at me. When I turned my head round, he recognized me, and, advancing, said:

"'You are weeping, madame?'

"It was a young barrister who was travelling with his mother, and whom we had often met. His eyes had frequently followed me.

"I was so confused that I did not know what answer to give or what to think of the situation. I told him I felt ill.

"He walked on by my side in a natural and respectful manner, and began talking to me about what we had seen during our trip. All that I had felt he translated into words; everything that made me thrill he understood perfectly, better than I did myself. And all of a sudden he repeated some verses of Alfred de Musset. I felt myself choking, seized with indescribable emotion. It seemed to me that the mountains themselves, the lake, the moonlight, were singing to me about things ineffably sweet.

"And it happened, I don't know how, I don't know why, in a sort of hallucination.

"As for him, I did not see him again till the morning of his departure.

"He gave me his card!"

And, sinking into her sister's arms, Madame Letore broke into groans-- almost into shrieks.

Then, Madame Roubere, with a self-contained and serious air, said very gently:

"You see, sister, very often it is not a man that we love, but love itself. And your real lover that night was the moonlight."


Background Information:
Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), the son of a minor aristocrat was born in Normandy on August 5, 1850. Guy de Maupassant (born Henri Rene Albert), at sixteen was expelled from a Rouenseminary and finished his education in a public high school. He grew up overshadowed by his parents' unhappy marriage. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, he was for ten years a government clerk in Paris.. A protegee of Gustave Flaubert, a family friend who became the writer's mentor and who exerted the most significant influence on his literary career and who read his first efforts and introduced him to important novelists such as Emile Zola and Henry James, De Maupassant is one of the world's most celebrated masters of the short story and the most widely translated French author. It was in Zola's naturalist group that Maupassant made his name with the publicatiqn in 1880 of his first short story, Boule de Suif, which was a literary sensation.

His six novels, three travel books, and about 360 short stories were written in the decade before his untimely death in 1893 due to syphilis. He became wealthy and internationally famous from hiswork making him lead a luxurious but often dissipated life. Maupassant not only ranks as French's greatest writer of short fiction, he is also one of the key inventors of the modern short story. Concise, clear and often ironic, his stories present well-plotted and engaging incidents without imposing moral judgments on the characters. He has influenced most of the major short story writers of the next two generations after him, notably Anton Chekhov, Henry James, W. Somerset Maugham, and Ernest Hemingway. (Beaty and Hunter, 1998)

By Jayson with 22 comments

22 comments:

The characters of the story reflects on reality that you can always confide to your sister especially if your are close to her, and there are some people who cannot control their humanly desires even if it turns out to infidelity.Madame Letore was easily swayed by the temptation that the moonlight brought.
The good thing is that she realized that she made a mistake and she make a way to make it right.
-Vis Rios-

‘., the story “moonlight” portrays the reality that women are created not as strong as men either emotionally or physically but it does not necessarily mean they are already inferior to the latter. Yes, they may be but remember, the existence of man would not be as meaningful and colorful as they are if not because of a woman. They are the one who made the lives of a man worth living for.
The characters of the story on the other hand were brilliantly conceptualized and characterized that they were able to portray the idea that the author wants to convey to his readers.,’—mariel tecson-

The story shows that no matter how much you love your husband, it will come to a point that you will cheat on him just because you are deceived of what you feel.
Yes, we are most likely deceived of what we feel just like what happen in madame Letore’s situation in the story. As she was longing with the caress and love of her husband under that moonlight, there came a man who could satisfy her wants, there and then, she cheated on him.
In short, madame Letore was in love with the idea of being romantically in love.
This story reminds me of being in a place without someone who could share my happiness and fondness being in such place. I really understand her feelings at that time because she was just longing for the one whom she truly loves…
--aliza marie suan--

"You see,sister,very often it is not a man that we love,but the love itself.And your lover that night was the moonlight."Madame Roubere, with a self-contained and serious air said very gently.She is loving and caring to her elder sister Madame Letore.

Madame Letore,thought to have some mysterious and terrible calamity,is a very emotional woman.The biggest changes of her physical appearance was an evidence. His husband is an insensitive type of a man. He has a heart of stone, naive, and numb of the love,passion, and attention that his wife is giving him.

The story reflects of woman's weakness. It is revealed that the biggest weakness a woman has in a relationship is she sometimes gives too much of herself to her partner.

It is also amazing that the title itself was taken in the event of the story.The connection between the title and that of the story isn't that deceiving instead understandable.

When in love loving too hard is one of the weakness of a woman.-maria alma a. chua-.

The story “moonlight” portrays the triangle theory of love that the absence of one element may disable the present relationship no matter how strong love is. Love is not enough to sustain the relationship because we also need commitment as well as intimacy.
It also tells us that as a human we all have our own weaknesses that even in our own self cant control. We easily get carried away by the emotion around us that we think that is romantic.
The story also implies that when you have a problem your family will know even though you’re not telling them. They can still fell and they are willing to listen as well us give some advises that may uplift or enlighten your thoughts.
The important part of the story is that the character in the story accepts her mistake and didn’t do a thing that may worsen the already worst situation.
The story only proves one thing; love alone can’t sustain a relationship because there are many aspects to consider in the relationship to prevent unfaithfulness.

-- Julie May A. Pintor
Bs DevCom 4A

In the story "Moonlight" by Guy de Maussapant.Moonlight signifies love. Such beauty is hidden in the dark. It’s like no one will ever see love when we won’t look deeper in the heart.Like what Madame Letore's sister said "It is not a man that we love, but love itself. And your real lover that night was the moonlight."
The story was all about love being a order that even God allowed this to happen, that he made a plan to give time and beauty to nurture it, that God made a way to embrace love even if most of the society had upheld rules that could be contradicting to its very nature.

And also I really appreciate Madame Letore.She is the kind of strong women who don't even put to his mind to lost his husband even thought his husband is not silly.She doesn't stop loving the man's of his life.She is a sympathetic view of prostitutes.
="= Juna V. Ylaya ="=

marivic
The story portrait the reality of life of individual some are not strong as created some are not,temptation are always in a way that the moonlight brought because sometimes we are longing a sensibility or a tenderness this one of the character of Madame Letore.

When we were descending the mountain paths at sunrise, when as the four horses galloped along with the diligence, we saw, in the transparent morning haze, valleys, woods, streams, and villages, I clasped my hands with delight, and said to him: 'How beautiful it is, dear! Give me a kiss! Kiss me now!' He only answered, with a smile of chilling kindliness: There is no reason why we should kiss each other because you like the landscape. "Madame Letore at this moment crushed,froze her heart because of her husband said,but she reacted her feeling about scenery,she was romantic and he reacted in what is normal for him,Madame letore is not satisfied."

The feeling revealed to Madame Letore being weakness to his partner.And her sister give a word its not a man that we love,but love itself and your real lover that night was the moonlight.

The author portray the idea that the wants to convey to his readers. -alesna c.marivic

As my reaction for the story, I just come into my mind that why Madame Litore find another man eventhough she already have the one who is very true to her. What if one day her husband had the same situation with her, would she rather let her go or fight her husband with her selfish love, If I just have to answer this question, I rather wont letting the one who is in love with me to be apart because true love comes ones in a while.

@_@gines,jonna may.

We could relate this story in our society nowadays in the sense that it is now a common practice by the people, just like what Madame Letore showed in the story. We had seen that there are many people who had another affair to someone else, because they are not happy with their life. Especially when a husband or wife was force to work abroad because of financial aspects.They can’t help, but to find someone who can fill the emptiness they felt in their heart, who can make them complete.
Jenelove S. Mainit
BSMath 4-A

Love is a two way process, the absence of one is nothing; and commitment with out love is useless.
Love requires two being to make it work, however, love will not work either if they will not show it, for love needs an expression. In a commitment in the other hand, with out love it is useless; I would only somehow for refuge purposes only.
In the case of Madame Henriette Letore it is so unfair in her side to stay in a relationship with out any concern from her husband. To think they are married already yet her husband deprived to her the love she deserves. They are committed but then seems like they’re not.
It is true that in the moment when two lovers see a beautiful scenery love merely hungry for each other, the beautiful moonlight draw two lovers’ closer and lead them show their love for each other. Beautiful moments are supposedly the perfect time for the two lovers to share the love they have and cherish the moment together, but only Madame Letore has this thought.
Perhaps the love that Madame Letore has is unconditional but her husband himself don’t care about it, maybe because he is confident enough for they are committed already, which causes to much pain to his dear wife. Loving thyself is the greatest gift of all, and this is the missing piece of Madame Letore. She forgets to love herself first where she can find happiness, peace and to be loved in return. Because, though they are committed already the absence of one is nothing and commitment with out love is useless.

-Adelyn A. Llorca

The story of “moonlight” somewhat depicts on the triangle of love . That in
order for any relationship to stand out and stood the test of time there is a
need for this three element to be present as two individual starts to live
together.

These three elements pertain to passion, commitment and intimacy. In the story
it is very evident that madame letore and her husband have already establish
passion and commitment on their relationship. However, with madame letore’s
behavior it could be said that she longs for intimacy. Let’s just say that
intimate moment was the only missing piece of their marriage. More so, she was
deceived by the moonlight causing her to urge more for romance.

On the other hand, the story also portrays one of Philippine’s traditional
culture. This refers to the strong family ties that madame letore and her sister
have shown in the story. That madame letore’s sister really care for her in the
sense that she asked her of what she feels every moment they got a chance to
talk.
People may have different ways of expressing there love to their love ones but
one thing is for sure, loving requires sacrifice…..
(MARY JANE CORTES, BS DEVCOM 4-A)

The story of “moonlight” somewhat depicts on the triangle of love . That in order for any relationship to stand out and stood the test of time there is a need for this three element to be present as two individual starts to live
together.

These three elements pertain to passion, commitment and intimacy. In the story it is very evident that madame letore and her husband have already establish passion and commitment on their relationship. However, with madame letore’s behavior it could be said that she longs for intimacy. Let’s just say that
intimate moment was the only missing piece of their marriage. More so, she was deceived by the moonlight causing her to urge more for romance.

On the other hand, the story also portrays one of Philippine’s traditional culture. This refers to the strong family ties that madame letore and her sister have shown in the story. That madame letore’s sister really care for her in the sense that she asked her of what she feels every moment they got a chance to
talk. People may have different ways of expressing there love to their love ones but
one thing is for sure, loving requires sacrifice…..
(MARY JANE CORTES, BS DEVCOM 4-A)

I find the story “moonlight” a very realistic one. It’s quite obvious nowadays, that we people could be easily tempted by the things that surrounds us and even if we know that it’s wrong, we are still doing it. After all regrets are in the end.
I have come to realized then that in a relationship it is imperative for the both parties to be faithful and loyal with one another. And now I opted to believe that love is a decision and if someone is being in love it calls for permanence so that when one has decided to love, he must continue loving even when the one he loves appears to be no longer lovable.
(Genevieve Tenio BS DEVCOM 4-A)

Nowadays, the story "Moonlight" represents the reality of life that bites us because it proves that how much may the love you have for your husband, but sometimes you would fall to temptations of your desires. Most specially, when you are craving for love , care and most of all time that in contrary she never felt in her husband.
In terms of financial needs she is said to be a wealthy woman but that's not what she needs because as a woman she also wants intimacy as what other women experiences.

-- Richel Simangca,BSDEVCOM 4-a--

The story was all about love being a commandment that even God allowed this to happen, that He made a plan to give time and beauty to nurture it. In this, God made a way to cradle love even if most people in the society had upheld rules that could be contradicting to its very nature.

The word moonlight symbolizes love. Such beauty is hidden in the dark. It’s like no one will ever see love when we won’t look deeper in the heart.

The story “Moonlight” give me an idea what really love is, why love is important to one of us and that our life cannot be completed without love. Love can give inspiration to everyone but it can also cause pain.

It is because not all the time it brings happiness like in the story.

In the Moonlight all I can say is that Madame Julie Roubere loved her sister very much. She really cared for her sister and that whatever happens she will always be there for her. I can somehow relate to Madame Julie Roubere because I have an elder sister and every time she has a problem she goes to me and asks for an advice. As a good sister, I always comfort her.

Madame Henriete Letore in the story was a kind woman who longs for love that’s passionate. However, her husband is not a passionate man like she wanted him to be, and with this, she unintentionally betrayed him.

In reality, this is really happening and the main cause why families are broken.

The author who is Guy de Maupassant’s work is not merely a masterpiece but a message of love.



*GADAPAN, CHERRY ROSE G.*

*BSMATH IV-A*

Loving someone is indeed difficult; it really needed a lot of sacrifices, patience, and understanding in order for a relationship to work. We could say that in a marriage life challenges and trials do always come and it just depends on how you handle and face it. After all it was given by God to test how strong and faithful you are with one another.
In the case of Madame Letore, I could say that she was just carried away by her emotion because she is longing for affection that wasn’t shown by her husband. But despite of what she did, she still admits her mistakes and that’s why I appreciate her as a wife and a woman as well.
(Cherry S. Beldad BSDEVCOM 4-A)

“Love is indeed a powerful emotion, so great and love drives people to act even to the limits of their ability.” This is what Madame Letore felt added by the beautiful scenery which must be expressed not only through words but action itself.
For love seeks for unification, Madame Letore needs a recipient for her love through the help of the moonlight, she gives herself to the young man who is not sensible unlike her husband and who also feels what she felt during that night.
This merely shows what women are made like, weak and vulnerable in times of love.
Yes, it is a sin to cheat but love finds its own way.

---IRIS JANE L. NABLE BSDevCom 4-A

The story “Moonlight” serves as a wake up call to couples or those engaged into a relationship that love is not a guarantee to acquire total happiness in a relationship. The story emphasizes that there are other things which are of greater value than love but some of us are bounded with the idea that if there is love everything in a relationship is perfect.
But the story portrays that even if how great love is, if there is weakness and longing for something which we think that can satisfy us, love will be out of the way then. In the story, Madame Letore truly loves her husband and she also knew for sure that her husband really loves her, but there is something she is longing for which her husband cannot give. Even if love sealed her relationship with her husband, she committed mistake because she is weak and hungry of something which she believes to be the reason of her happiness.
The story depicts that some women are weak but posses’ true love and they are just being honest to what they really feel and wanted. On the other hand, some men are unaware of what women are longing for.
For me as a reader, “Moonlight” suggested that in a relationship communication among partners is really needed. It is not enough when you know that you love each other, because there are things necessary for a relationship that love cannot offer. Every men and women have their own perception towards contentment and satisfaction in a relationship.
–Amorganda Saludar—BSDevCom 4-A

The story shows that there is no perfect marriage. Even if you are married with the person you love, it is not an assurance that you will have a happy ever after love story.
Sometimes you can do things you are not supposed to do because you already bind with the holly matrimony. But I do not think that it is Madame Letore’s fault that she had a one night stand with another guy because it is her husband who cannot give her what she wants which was romance and intimacy.
That is why when she met the guy during that night, she had committed a mistake.
--wella pearl amante—BSDevCom 4-A--

“You see, sister, very often it is not the man that we love, but love itself. And your real lover that night was the moonlight.”
This is what Madame Julie Roubere said to her elder sister Madame Henreitte Letore-the one who deceived her husband by making love to another man. The latter lacked love and affection from her husband, for as what she described him was, “...he is mature and sensible, and cannot even comprehend the tender vibrations of a woman’s heart.. ” that her husband does not show any passionate love for her. While appreciating the beautiful sceneries she witnessed, she wanted her husband to be more romantic and passionate towards her, and yet her husband ‘’ only answered, with a smile of chilling kindliness: ‘There is no reason why we should kiss each other because you like the landscape’. She was overwhelmed by the beautiful full moon, the lake and everything she saw o the surroundings. She was incapable of being satisfied for she needed love and a warmth feeling of being loved and caress. Then came a young barrister who “translated her feelings into words” that she is incapable of being expressed in words. She was carried away by her emotions and sceneries and then it happened.
The story reflects the lives of a couple, where the woman was need of attention and love from her husband. And because of her desire to be love, she has deceived him by making love, but I guess it wasn’t love that she felt from that young lad, for she was just tempted because her intense feeling towards the moonlight (as what her younger sister said). A lesson learned from this story is not to be carried away by your emotions for you may regret the result of your actions.

APRIL LOVE S.JUANICH - BS DevCom 4-A

The story entitled "Moonlight" by by Guy de Maupassant was simple and yet it still a lesson for us to learn.
Sometimes a person cheats not because they fall out of love, sometimes it's because they are not contented on what they already have. They tend to ask for more that can satisfy their needs.In this story, Madame Letore was not contented on her husband's actions towards her. She needed the love she wanted, she wanted to be cared an b love the way she wanted to be loved. And since her husband cannot respond and give her the love that she wanted, she has deceived her husband by doing the thing that a married couple should do. She did not do it out of love, but out of lust.
A person should mind his/her actions, for in the end you might feel sorry of what you did.

The comments above has been recorded already. Good work guys! I am under the impression that you have seen your selves through the story.

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