Gigi Scene 11 Summary

  • "I knew she was up to something," Gaston complains the next morning as Honoré is shaved by his manservant Manuel in his salon.
  • The about-to-be jilted lover confesses that he's hired detectives to follow Liane, and it turns out that Liane has been conducting an affair with none other than the handsome skating teacher.
  • His uncle reminds him that he shouldn't take it to heart, that many great men (like Victor Hugo and Napoleon and himself) have been cuckolded just like him.
  • Gaston wishes it wasn't someone as lowly as a skating teacher, but Honoré and Manuel say that's the way it goes, it's always a swimming coach, a plumber...Manuel continues to list anecdotes until Honoré asks him to shove it, then tells Gaston to cheer up.
  • Gaston insists he's cheered up, that Liane's common and plain. Anyway, it doesn't matter. He asks his uncle what they'll be doing today.
  • Honoré, with a twinkle in his eye, announces that they'll go to Honfleur (a famously beautiful port town outside of the city) so that Gaston can catch Liane in the act.
  • Gaston demurs—he'd rather write her a Dear Jane letter or call her on the telephone. But Honoré insists on an in-person confrontation in order to preserve his pride.
  • He sings about about how wonderful it will be to make a scene and preserve his reputation by leaving Liane screaming and weeping on the floor. Who would want to miss the opportunity?
  • Gaston consents, but utters his trademark phrase, "it's a bore!"