La Maison Tellier (or Madame Tellier's Establishment and The Tellier Household) is a novella written by Guy de Maupassant. Released in 1881, it tells of the titular establishment.
Characters[]
- Madame Constance Tellier - the owner of the titular establishment, a brothel. Tellier is a widow.
- Joseph Tellier Rivet - Madame Tellier's brother
- Constance Rivet - Madame Tellier's goddaughter and the daughter of Joseph
- Fernande - a girl working at the brothel who is said to "represent the blonde type of beauty"
- Raphaële - a girl working at the brothel who is said to have been "cast for the necessary part of the lovely Jewess"
- Rowdy Rosie - a girl working at the brothel who is said to be a "little dumpling of a girl"
- Louise (or The Tartlet) - one of the two "Beer-Pumps"
- Flora (or Dot-and-Carry) - one of the two "Beer-Pumps", who is said to be a bit lame
- Frederick - a waiter for Tellier's brothel
- M. Poulin - the former mayor and a frequent guest at the brothel
- M. Duvert - a ship-chandler and a frequent guest at the brothel
- M. Tournevau - a fish-curer and a frequent guest at the brothel. As he is married, Tournevau only visits on Saturdays.
- M. Philippe, Junior - the son of a banker and a frequent guest at the brothel
- M. Pimpesse - a "Collector of Taxes" and a frequent guest at the brothel
- M. Dupuis - an "Insurance Agent" and a frequent guest at the brothel
- M. Vasse - a "Judge of the Commercial Court" and a frequent guest at the brothel
rest to be added
Plot[]
In the town of Fécamp in Normandy there sits an "establishment" owned by one Madame Tellier. Due to the Norman attitude towards bordellos, this bordello is an established part of the local community with members of every walk of life visiting it regularly. One Saturday evening towards the end of May, as a crowd of sailors descend on the bordello, they discover that it has closed. While the sailors pound on the door, a crowd of regulars gather and begin to wander the streets. After an argument over edible mushrooms, this crowd begins to disperse. Its remaining members find a drunken man sitting on the stoop of the establishment. Once the sailors begin to leave, the crowd fully disperses - though one member, Tournevau, remains to find a notice stating that the brothel is "Closed for First Communion" stuck onto one of the shutters.
It is revealed that the "First Communion" is for Tellier's goddaughter and niece Constance, who lives in the nearby town of Virville. Wishing to keep the bordello from descending into anarchy while she leaves, Tellier closes it while she and her girls leave. While on the train to Virville, the girls meet an old farmer couple and aman with an offensive and brash sense of humour who gives the girls pairs of garters. Once off the train, the girls meet Tellier's brother Joseph and Constance for the first time. That night, "Rowdy Rosie" lets Constance sleep next to her after hearing Constance crying due to sleeping alone for the first time. The next day, Constance attends her First Communion alongside Madame Tellier's girls. During this communion, the girls are overcome with tears while remembering their first communions and spread these tears to the rest of the communion - leading the pastor to believe that God is with his communion. Shortly after the Communion ends, Tellier and her girls return to Joseph's house. While there, Tellier prepares to leave but Joseph tries to get her and her girls to stay. The cause of this is soon revealed as, after Joseph and the girls go upstairs, Madame Tellier walks in on two of her girls (extremely drunk) holding back Joseph (who is drunk) while he tries to run towards Rosie (who is also extremely drunk). After Tellier throws her brother out of the room, he sobers up and serves as carriage-driver.
After returning to Fécamp, Madame Tellier reopens her brothel. One of its married guests, Tournevau, receives a coded message that the brothel has reopened and rushes to it. The rest of the guests follow and a party begins - with the patrons dancing with the girls before retiring to "sleep" with one of the girls.
Sources[]
- Wikipedia