Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri
Colette's critics often seem to dismiss all but her autobiographical creatures as whimsical and inarticulate. Her characters are frequently less eloquent than the spaces they create and inhabit; this observation offers an approach to Chéri and La Fin de Chéri that invites us to read them as...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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New Prairie Press
1984-01-01
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| Series: | Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
| Online Access: | http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol8/iss2/7 |
| _version_ | 1828521061354831872 |
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| author | Ann Leone Philbrick |
| author_facet | Ann Leone Philbrick |
| author_sort | Ann Leone Philbrick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Colette's critics often seem to dismiss all but her autobiographical creatures as whimsical and inarticulate. Her characters are frequently less eloquent than the spaces they create and inhabit; this observation offers an approach to Chéri and La Fin de Chéri that invites us to read them as two of Colette's most ambitious and authentic works. Here are stories of compromises with the containers of one's life and identity: streets, salons, boudoirs, and, ultimately, the body. Indeed, the self and its containers function symbiotically. Chéri makes no effort to direct this relationship, and kills himself when the world finally seems inscrutable and formless; his older mistress, Léa, responds joyfully—or with melancholic respect—to the surfaces and limits of her world. We are left with a harsher insight into Colette's vision than we are accustomed to. She suggests that survival lies not in the endless definition of one's place in the world, but in its recognition and a loving, even fearing, homage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T19:41:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aae9f12186944f1ca67d1f0b7294eaf0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2334-4415 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T19:41:59Z |
| publishDate | 1984-01-01 |
| publisher | New Prairie Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
| spelling | doaj.art-aae9f12186944f1ca67d1f0b7294eaf02022-12-22T00:52:59ZengNew Prairie PressStudies in 20th & 21st Century Literature2334-44151984-01-018210.4148/2334-4415.11435590024Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de ChériAnn Leone PhilbrickColette's critics often seem to dismiss all but her autobiographical creatures as whimsical and inarticulate. Her characters are frequently less eloquent than the spaces they create and inhabit; this observation offers an approach to Chéri and La Fin de Chéri that invites us to read them as two of Colette's most ambitious and authentic works. Here are stories of compromises with the containers of one's life and identity: streets, salons, boudoirs, and, ultimately, the body. Indeed, the self and its containers function symbiotically. Chéri makes no effort to direct this relationship, and kills himself when the world finally seems inscrutable and formless; his older mistress, Léa, responds joyfully—or with melancholic respect—to the surfaces and limits of her world. We are left with a harsher insight into Colette's vision than we are accustomed to. She suggests that survival lies not in the endless definition of one's place in the world, but in its recognition and a loving, even fearing, homage.http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol8/iss2/7 |
| spellingShingle | Ann Leone Philbrick Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
| title | Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri |
| title_full | Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri |
| title_fullStr | Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri |
| title_full_unstemmed | Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri |
| title_short | Space and Salvation in Colette's Chéri and La Fin de Chéri |
| title_sort | space and salvation in colette s cheri and la fin de cheri |
| url | http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol8/iss2/7 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT annleonephilbrick spaceandsalvationincolettescheriandlafindecheri |