Chéri and The Last of Chéri: Analysis of Major Characters
"Chéri" and its sequel "The Last of Chéri," written by Colette, explore the complexities of love, loss, and the impact of societal change on personal relationships through a vivid cast of characters. The central figure, Frédéric Peloux, known as Chéri, is a handsome but discontented young man caught between a life of luxury and the responsibilities of adulthood, culminating in an unenthusiastic marriage to the young Edmée. Léa de Lonval, Chéri's former lover and an aging courtesan, represents the allure of a past life that Chéri longs to reclaim but ultimately cannot. Meanwhile, Edmée transitions from a docile wife to an independent woman flourishing in her career, reflecting the shifting roles of women in post-World War I society. Other characters, such as Chéri's mother, Charlotte, and his friend Desmond, illustrate the varying responses to the changing world around them, with Charlotte adapting and becoming active in her community, while Desmond finds success in a new entertainment landscape. Ultimately, "Chéri" and "The Last of Chéri" present a poignant examination of nostalgia, identity, and the struggle to find one's place in a rapidly evolving world.
Chéri and The Last of Chéri: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Colette
First published: Chéri, 1920 (English translation, 1929); La Fin de Chéri, 1926 (English translation, 1932)
Genre: Novels
Locale: Paris and the French countryside
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1910's; 1913 and 1919
Frédéric Peloux (fray-day-REEK puh-LEW), called Chéri (shayr-EE), an idle and moody twenty-five-year-old man. He has inherited a fortune. He is an extremely handsome man of medium height, with blue-black hair; dark eyes framed by thick, lustrous lashes; a disdainful but pretty mouth; unblemished white skin; and a hard, darkish chest shaped like a shield. To remove him from his dissipated life in Paris, he has been taken, in late adolescence, to Normandy by a friend of his mother, Léa de Lonval, an aging but still beautiful courtesan. He and Léa become lovers. This idyllic life ends when his mother arranges a marriage for him to Edmée, a wealthy young woman of eighteen. Chéri accepts but has no enthusiasm for the marriage. After a brief period of domesticity, he longs for the old days with Léa, which, to his dismay, he discovers cannot be recaptured. He finally realizes that his only course is to return to his family.
Léonie Vallon (lay-oh-NEE vahl-LAHN), later Léa de Lonval (lay-AH deh lahn-VAL), nicknamed Nounoune (new-NEWN), a passionate, aging, and still beautiful courtesan who is in love with, and the mistress of, young Chéri. She is forty-nine years old, tall, and blonde, with ruddy cheeks, a beautiful face, a good body, thin-wristed arms, large pure-blue eyes, a proud nose, an opulent bust, an even row of teeth, a good smile, long legs, and a straight back. She has successfully parlayed the gifts from her admirers into a comfortable fortune. During their six-year liaison, Léa teaches Chéri how to live in her world—how to choose friends, wines, food, jewelry, and clothing, as well as how to be the perfect lover. When Chéri is unable to assume the responsibilities of marriage, she realizes that her pampering has caused him to remain a child. Suffering from the loss of a “great love,” she flees from Paris to return a year later much aged but still in love with Chéri, who fancies himself still in love with her. When the combination of Chéri's marriage and the Great War alters her world forever, she yearns for Chéri and the past but successfully adapts to the changes.
Charlotte Peloux, Chéri's miserly, gossipy, and inquisitive mother, a wealthy former ballet dancer and courtesan who boldly rears Chéri as a child of the demimonde. Mme Peloux is a small, round barrel of a woman with short legs, tiny feet, large eyes, fair hair, a shrill off-key voice, and a coquettish way of standing with her feet in the fifth position. She chooses Edmée as wife for her son and arranges the marriage terms. Her primary occupation is afternoon tea with her friends.
Edmée (ehd-MAY), Chéri's wife, the attractive, eighteen-year-old daughter of a beautiful former courtesan, Marie-Laure. She has frightened, secretive eyes; thin arms; small breasts; rosy lips; small, squarish teeth; white skin; and fluffy, ash-brown hair with a slight crimp in it. Although Edmée has a fortune of her own, she is a docile wife to Chéri. Miserable in her marriage with the erratic, heartless Chéri and convinced of his love for Léa, she suggests divorce. Her suggestion is rejected by her husband as no real solution to the problem. Chéri returns to her when he realizes that he must part from Léa.
Marie-Laure (ma-REE-lohr), Edmée's elegant mother, a spectacular beauty in her day. She is in her forties but dresses as if she were eighteen.
Desmond, a penniless hanger-on who has been Chéri's friend since boyhood. His ugliness contrasts with Chéri's good looks. Like Chéri, he avoids military combat, but, unlike Chéri, he thrives in the postwar era.
Frédéric Peloux, now thirty years old, with faintly shadowed eyelids and a leaner physique. He is a veteran of World War I, in which he was mistakenly decorated for bravery, even though he finagled military service behind the lines. Chéri refuses to accept the reality of the postwar world; the independent, self-assured woman Edmée has become; impending middle age; or the fact that Léa has grown gracefully into a comfortable old age without him. Unable to work, to recapture the past, to adapt to the present, to relate to his wife and friends, or to accept the loss of Léa and his youth, Chéri spends his time reminiscing about the past with the Pal. Seeing no place for himself in the modern world, he commits suicide with a pistol in her apartment.
Léa de Lonval, who has settled into a happy, chaste old age and adopted a masculine style of dress that gives her an aura of sexless dignity. She stops dyeing her gray hair, cuts it short, and allows herself to become very stout, with a fat neck, sagging cheeks, and a double chin. Her ability to live well and happily without Chéri in the modern world puzzles and saddens him.
Edmée, whose hospital administrative work and separation from Chéri during the war have brought her to the realization that she enjoys both her career and her independence. She no longer defines herself exclusively in relation to her husband. In the postwar world, her career flourishes. As Chéri withdraws from her, it becomes the most important thing in her life. Moreover, Edmée proves to be a better financial manager than Chéri and takes control of their joint fortune. Perfectly at home in the modern world, Edmée, like Léa, is able to adjust to life with or without Chéri and to thrive.
Charlotte Peloux, who became productively involved with Edmée's hospital during the war. She continues to be productive in the postwar world.
Desmond, who opens a jazz nightclub that becomes a commercial success by pandering to what Chéri considers to be the worst elements of modern taste. He is now far too busy and too happy to be at Chéri's beck and call.
The Pal, a contemporary of Léa and Charlotte who has a name so ordinary that nobody ever remembers it. She smokes opium and gives it to others. It is only in her company that Chéri finds peace by reminiscing about the past. He commits suicide in her apartment, thinking of Léa and the war.