MovieChat Forums > Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012) Discussion > She wasn't a good wife

She wasn't a good wife

posted 10 years ago by purpleblows
1 reply | jump to latest

I understand she wasn't in love but she seemed smitten during the engagement period then married and BAM drastic change in personality, she wouldnt even kiss the hubby as newlyweds. They show the scene of boring sex but we didn't even see her try to spice up the bedroom. Or see her be kind to the husband whereas the hubby was sweet (at first) if even for the wrong reasons at least he was whereas her personality was cold cold
cold thru out! It was difficult to sympathize with her character.

[–] lulupalooza 8 years ago

She wasn't a good human.

Thérèse was a despicable character! We're not meant to sympathize with her, but for everyone around her.

She seemed to have a major depressive personality disorder with some sociopathic traits. If she ever knew how to love at all, I think her friend/sister-in-law was the only one she may've cared for at one point. Even then, it seemed to be for her own enjoyment or entertainment. Thérèse was never able to be happy for her sweet friend/sister. Instead, she was a jealous and devious.

Thérèse was never truly "smitten" with the fiancé - it was for the vaguely defined goals she thought the marriage would attain her - like increased wealth and propriety. She was just "going thru the motions". Thérèse could not really feel, express herself in a healthy way, or ever find peace and love. Her interactions with her fiancé were lukewarm at best. Her enthusiasm for their wedding and it's expensive ceremony with honeymoon were completely taken for granted. She did not care to have sex the first time or at all, for that matter; she wasn't even happy to become pregnant or become a mother.

Thérèse could not connect. She only knew how to be selfish, depressive, deceptive, and destructive. Her evil hid behind her pretty face - one that was tied to a respected family name and large treed estate. It was clear from early on that she needed serious psychiatric help, especially as her fantasies of suicide and destruction got worse. Finally, attempting murder on her loyal husband was deserving of prison, but it was a time that people felt a need to protect a family name and hide shameful secrets.

While the estate will always pay for Thérèse's life in of solitude in a crowded Paris - an interesting juxtaposition - her understandable banishment was permanent. While the estranged husband felt a tinge of empathy for Thérèse, she would likely live out her chain-smoking life without the true love or trust of anyone...yet she seemed quite comfortable with that arrangement.

This somewhat odd film was quite depressing.

"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)