Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Die Frau Abbé
Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who love letters and confidences, tender and daring love stories, and the lively social world of eighteenth century Paris, with its churches, salons and fashions, will find much to enjoy in this book.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
The Woman Abbé is a short novel in letters by Sylvain Maréchal, a French writer who died in 1803. The preface says the letters were written well before 1789, and promises a story that will cost you nothing worse than a few gentle tears. Most of the letters come from Agathe, a young Parisian woman, and go to her married friend Zoé.
Agathe attends a first Mass out of politeness to her grandmother and comes away unable to forget the young priest who celebrates it. His name is Saint-Almont, and he has taken holy orders after being hurt in love. From a few visits to a church, her feeling grows into a plan that tests friendship, faith and custom alike. You follow her letters, then her journal, as she explains and defends each step to a friend who answers with warnings. The tone is tender, witty and sometimes bold. Let us begin with that first Mass and the glance that changes Agathe's life.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A first Mass changes Agathe's lifeFree
- 2Pity grows into love
- 3Zoé warns, Agathe pleads
- 4The confessional and the first disguise
- 5Devotion becomes a daily habit
- 6Agathe enters the seminary
- 7A love hidden in holy things
- 8What the story is really about
- 9How the book is told
Punkt 1 von 9
A first Mass changes Agathe's life
The book opens with a short note from Agathe to her friend Zoé. She cannot visit tomorrow, because she must go with her grandmother to a first Mass. Agathe expects to be bored. She promises to tell Zoé afterward whether she was.
She is far from bored. The church is packed, especially with women, and she learns why. The new priest is Saint-Almont, a handsome and sensitive young man. People whisper that he was jilted by a flirt and has turned to the Church in despair.
Agathe moves close to the altar and watches him walk with unsteady steps, his eyes lowered. At the first greeting to the congregation he looks up, then seems to faint. The other priests hurry to help him, and Agathe is quickest to offer her smelling bottle. A stir on the other side of the church tells her why. The woman who hurt him has come to watch him.
Agathe cannot finish the letter because her fingers tremble. Her first confidence to Zoé shows how quickly a stranger's sorrow can touch a warm heart.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Questions about Die Frau Abbé
What is The Woman Abbé about?
It tells of Agathe, a young Parisian woman who falls in love with a priest named Saint-Almont at his first Mass. She follows him in disguise, first at church and then in his seminary, and writes it all to her friend Zoé.
When was The Woman Abbé written?
The preface says the letters were written well before 1789, so before the French Revolution. The author, Sylvain Maréchal, died in 1803. It is a work of fiction, told in the form of a real correspondence.
Who is Zoé in The Woman Abbé?
Zoé is Agathe's married friend, who first lives in the countryside near Paris. She answers Agathe's letters with advice and warnings, and later sails to a colony overseas, after which Agathe writes her a journal.
Is The Woman Abbé easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that it is told in short letters in a lively, warm voice. Two key scenes are written as dialogue, so the pace is quick and the feelings are easy to follow.
What is the main message of The Woman Abbé?
The book asks whether love in a virtuous heart can be a virtue, and what a vow is worth when it is taken out of a wound. It sets feeling against rule, with sympathy for both sides.