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| Character | Marguerite Gautier Armand Duval | |
|---|---|---|
| Scene type / Who are | Flirting, Strangers | |
| Type | Serio-comic | |
| Year | 1852 | |
| Period | Any | |
| Genre | Romance, Tragedy, Drama | |
| Description | Armand Duval meets Marguerite Gautier | |
| Location | ACT I, Scene 1 | |
Summary
Set in Paris in the mid 1800s, the play is about the tragic love story between Marguerite Gautier, a free-spirited, emotionally detached courtesan, and Armand Duval, a young man who is obsessed by her but not rich enough to maintain her extravagant lifestyle.
The story follows them as Marguerite eventually gives up her lifestyle and her many wealthy clients to live with Armand. Armand is not able to handle the situation as he is constantly judged for his choice and he is also not able to support her. His father begs her to leave him and she does and goes back to her old ways. They meet years later and are reunited but she abandons him again to keep her promise to his dad. Armand humiliates her in public and Marguerite is eventually abandoned by her friends, loses her money and dies of tuberculosis.
This scene is the first of the play. We are at Marguerite's place where some friends are visiting her. Among them is Armand Duval, her admirer. After dancing, Marguerite is short of breath and rests. Armand Duval approaches her..
The story follows them as Marguerite eventually gives up her lifestyle and her many wealthy clients to live with Armand. Armand is not able to handle the situation as he is constantly judged for his choice and he is also not able to support her. His father begs her to leave him and she does and goes back to her old ways. They meet years later and are reunited but she abandons him again to keep her promise to his dad. Armand humiliates her in public and Marguerite is eventually abandoned by her friends, loses her money and dies of tuberculosis.
This scene is the first of the play. We are at Marguerite's place where some friends are visiting her. Among them is Armand Duval, her admirer. After dancing, Marguerite is short of breath and rests. Armand Duval approaches her..
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
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| MARGUERITE: (alone, tries to get her breath) Ah! (looks in the mirror) How pale I am! - (She leans against the fireplace, her head in her hands) ARMAND: (entering) And now, Madame, are you better? MARGUERITE: Yes, M. Armand! Thank you, I am better. - I am used to it, anyway- ARMAND: You are killing yourself! I wish I were your friend, or relative, so that I could keep you from harming yourself. MARGUERITE: You would not succeed! - But what is it? What's the matter? ARMAND: (tears in his eyes) What I see - MARGUERITE: Oh! You're very kind. Look at the others, they don't worry much! ARMAND: The others do not love you as I do. MARGUERITE: Oh, that's true, too! - I had forgotten about that great love! ARMAND: It only amuses you-! MARGUERITE: God forbid! Every day I hear the same thing; - it no longer amuses me. ARMAND: As you wish. - But that love is worth at least one promise from you. MARGUERITE: What promise-? ARMAND: That you will take care of yourself. MARGUERITE: Take care of myself! Is that possible? ARMAND: Why not? MARGUERITE: But, my dear boy - if I took care of myself, I should die. What keeps me going is the feverish life that I lead. Take care of myself! It's only ladies of fashion with families and friends can afford the luxury of taking care of themselves; but we others must go on, for as soon as we stop playing up to the pleasure and vanity of men, we are abandoned. Long evenings follow long days. How well I know it! I was ill in bed for three months. At the end of three weeks, not a soul came to see me. ARMAND: I know that I mean nothing to you, but if you would let me, Marguerite, I would take care of you. I would never leave you, I would make you well. Then when you had the strength, you could take up your life again - if you still wished to. But I am sure that by then a quieter, more regular existence would appeal to you! MARGUERITE: The wine has made you sad. ARMAND: Have you no heart, Marguerite? MARGUERITE: A heart! That's the one thing that could wreck a life like mine! (a silence) It's really serious then? ARMAND: Very - serious. MARGUERITE: Prudence didn't lie to me when she told me you were sentimental. You would actually take care of me? ARMAND: Yes. MARGUERITE: Stay with me day in and day out? ARMAND: As long as I did not bore you. MARGUERITE: And you call that ----? ARMAND: Devotion. MARGUERITE: And why this devotion? ARMAND: I am irresistibly drawn to you, Marguerite. MARGUERITE: Since---? ARMAND: Two years ago--one day, when I saw you pass, beautiful, proud, smiling--since that day I have followed you silently, from afar. MARGUERITE: Why haven't you told me this before? ARMAND: I did not know you, Marguerite. MARGUERITE: Why, when I was so ill and you came every day to inquire about me, why didn't you come up? ARMAND: What right had I to intrude upon you? MARGUERITE: Right! One does not stand upon ceremony with a woman like me. ARMAND: One always stands upon ceremony with a woman.--Then too--I feared the influence that you might have upon my life. MARGUERITE: It really looks as if you were in love with me! ARMAND: (looking at her and seein her laugh) If I am ever to tell you so, this is not the moment. MARGUERITE: Never tell it me. ARMAND: Why? MARGUERITE: Because only two things can come. Either I won't believe you, in which case you will hold it against me; or I will believe you. Then you would have the saddest of lives--the companionship of a sick, nervous woman--sad, gay with a gayety more sad than sorrow--a woman who spends a hundred thousand francs a year; that's good enough for an old Croeus like the Duke, but it could only prove boring for a young man like yourself. But there--we are talking a lot of nonsense! Give me your hand and let's join the others. They will be wondering what's keeping us. ARMAND: Join them, if you wish. I ask your permission to remain here. MARGUERITE: Why? ARMAND: Because your gayety hurts me. MARGUERITE: Do you want me to give you some advice? ARMAND: Give it me. MARGUERITE: Take the first coach and run away, if what you have told me is true; or else love me as a good friend, but not otherwise. Come to see me, we shall laugh and talk; but do not exaggerate my worth, for I am not worth much. You have a good heart. You need to be loved. You are too young and too sensitive to live in your world; love some other kind of woman, or marry. You see, I am a decent sort--I want to be quite frank with you. PRUDENCE: (half-opening the door) What the devil are you doing here? MARGUERITE: We are talking sense; leave us a moment--we'll join you later. PRUDENCE: Oh, all right, my children. Talk away. (Exit) MARGUERITE: So--it's settled--you don't love me any more. ARMAND: I will take your advice--I will go away. MARGUERITE: Is it as bad as that? ARMAND: Yes. MARGUERITE: Many people have said that--but they haven't gone. ARMAND: Because you held them back? MARGUERITE: Good God, no! ARMAND: Then you've never loved any one? MARGUERITE: Never, thank God! ARMAND: Thank you!--Thank you! MARGUERITE: For what? ARMAND: For what you have just told me; nothing could have made me happier. MARGUERITE: What a child! ARMAND: Supposing I told you that I have spent entire nights under your windows, that I have kept for six months a button fallen from your glove? MARGUERITE: I would not believe you. ARMAND: You're right--I'm quite mad. Laugh at me, that's the best thing to do.--Good-bye. MARGUERITE: Armand! ARMAND: You are calling me back? MARGUERITE: I'm not calling you back but I do not want you to go away angry with me. ARMAND: Angry with you? Is that possible? |
