How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"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, imbecilic face like them, leading the same dead life. [...] they had turned me into a docile creature with their weak kindness and their repulsive tenderness. So I lied, and I kept on lying. I stayed there, sweet and silent, dreaming about how I could hit and bite. (7.16)
Thérèse learns very early in life how to dissemble. The stifling environment of the shop forces Thérèse to hide her passionate nature behind a "sad, imbecilic face." Aw. We kind of feel sorry for the girl.
Quote #2
Thérèse [...] was obliged to play a part. She did so with perfection, thanks to the training in hypocrisy that she owed to her upbringing. She had lied for more than fifteen years, repressing her passions and applying her implacable will to appear dull and listless. She had no difficulty in freezing her features behind a dead mask. (8.5)
After Thérèse commits adultery, she is forced to "play a part." But she's been training her whole life for this; she's a veritable Rocky of lying. So Thérèse has no difficulty in hiding the secret of her affair behind a "dead mask."
Quote #3
This frightful play-acting, this life of deception and this contrast between the burning kisses of daytime and the feigned indifference of evening, made the young woman's heart pound with new ardor. (8.9)
At the height of her passion for Laurent, Thérèse finds pleasure in deceiving Mme Raquin and Camille. She finds lying a very powerful thing to do, and all of this deceit seems to turn her on. Meow.