Thérèse Raquin Quotes

In Thérèse Raquin I set out to study temperaments. [...] I chose protagonists who were supremely dominated by their nerves and their blood, deprived of free will and drawn into every action of th...

Camille's blood had been impoverished by illness and he felt none of the urgent desires of adolescence. With his cousin, he remained a little boy, kissing her as he would kiss his mother [...]. Whe...

The love between my two heroes is the satisfaction of a need; the murder they commit is the outcome of their adultery, an outcome that they accept as wolves accept the killing of a sheep. (Preface.4)

Laurent was still shaking Camille, with one hand gripped around his throat. [...] As he bent forward, leaving his neck uncovered, his victim, mad with fear and fury, twisted round, bared his teeth...

"Look at François," Thérèse said to Laurent, "You'd think he understood and that he was going to tell Camille everything this evening. Why, wouldn't it be odd if he were to start speaking in the...

It seemed to them that their looks were penetrating each other's flesh and driving in sharp, clear statements. At times, they thought they could hear one another speaking aloud; their senses were d...

"They turned me into a hypocrite and a liar. They stifled me with their bourgeois comfort and I don't understand why there is any red blood left in my veins. I would lower my eyes and put on a sad,...

In a word, I wanted only one thing: given a powerful man and a dissatisfied woman, to search out the beast in them, and nothing but the beast, plunge them into a violent drama and meticulously note...