How does the setting affect the events and characters in Thérèse Desqueyroux Anonymous 11th Grade

Mauriac uses setting as a vital component to constructing the proceedings and mood of the novel. The prevalent comparison we are easily able to see and make, which concern the concept of setting and how it influences the readers perception of the novel, are Argelouse and Paris. Argelouse which comes to stand for Therese’s prison and her entrapment, and the illusionary dream of Paris, which conversely represents her liberty and autonomy. The fact they are so geographically distant from one another, helps to create the sense of considerable separation in what they mean for Therese, and it is this dichotomy that these places make, which makes the characters, in particular Therese, act the way they do.

Therese is presented with living in Argelouse which “est réellement une extrémité de la terre” (“is really an extremity of the earth”) in an area of France which values the pines as almost sacred or essentially institutional to the community. This provincial district is antiquated, isolated and rigid in sticking to traditional conformity. For Therese, not only does what the community stand for disagree with her liberal-minded, progressive, individualistic outlook of life, but also the physical nature of the area does not agree with...