Résumé
Résumé de Les lauriers sont coupés
Go deeper: the whole of Les lauriers sont coupés
About 1 h 50 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
You will love this book if you enjoy close portraits of a mind, gaslit Paris, comedy about love and money, and the roots of modern fiction.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
It is six o'clock on an April evening in Paris in 1887, and a young man climbs a staircase to tell his friend about the woman he loves. Before he reaches the top, you are already inside his head. You hear his hopes, his small vanities and his worries about his hat.
The Laurels Are Cut was written by Édouard Dujardin and first appeared in parts in a Paris review in 1887. It follows one evening almost entirely as the flow of one mind, with no narrator to explain. Later writers, James Joyce among them, pointed to it as the model for the inner monologue. You get a funny, tender portrait of a law student in love with an actress, and a gaslit Paris seen through his eyes.
Dans ce résumé
- 1The evening begins with a staircase and a friendFree
- 2A solitary dinner shows how a mind wanders
- 3Daydreams of wealth turn into a white bedroom
- 4A letter and an open window swing his mood
- 5Old letters tell the real story of the money
- 6A night walk, a sofa dream and a carriage ride
- 7Love and money cannot be pulled apart
- 8How the voice, the present tense and the details work
Point clé 1 sur 8
The evening begins with a staircase and a friend
The story begins at six o'clock on an April evening in 1887. Daniel Prince, a law student, climbs the stairs of an office building to find his friend Lucien Chavainne. He is bursting to talk about Léa d'Arsay, a young actress at a small theater called the Nouveautés. Everything you learn comes through his thoughts, in short bursts that follow his eyes and his moods.
Notice how little is explained. Chavainne scolds him for wearing a round hat, and Daniel grumbles inside while saying almost nothing aloud. The thinking runs underneath the talk, like a second conversation that only you can hear.
Out on the street, Chavainne pokes at the romance. Daniel has courted Léa for months and handed over money for nothing. Daniel announces that he will wait for her after her show and take her home without trying to stay. Chavainne mentions a gift of five hundred francs, though Daniel silently recalls three hundred and admits his exaggeration. Under the arcades, a tall red-haired woman walks ahead, and Daniel longs to see her face. A man who swears to pure love is hunting for a glance. From the first page, you learn to trust what Daniel thinks over what he says.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Questions about Les lauriers sont coupés
What is The Laurels Are Cut about?
It follows one April evening in Paris in 1887, as law student Daniel Prince goes from his friend's office to dinner to the home of an actress he loves, with his thoughts shown as they come.
Who are Daniel Prince and Léa d'Arsay?
Daniel is a young law student who calls his love for Léa pure while paying her bills. Léa is a young actress at the Nouveautés, charming, changeable and often in need of money.
What does the title The Laurels Are Cut mean?
It comes from a line of an old French song about the woods and laurels cut down. In the book it echoes a love and hopes that seem to have been cut short.
Is this the first stream of consciousness novel?
It is widely seen as the first novel to use a sustained inner monologue. It appeared in 1887, and later writers, including James Joyce, said they learned from it.
Is The Laurels Are Cut easy to read?
It is short and set in a single evening, with clear scenes: a staircase, a café, a walk, a sofa, a carriage. The sentences are brief and the humor keeps it lively.
Cite this edition
Dujardin, Édouard. The Laurels Are Cut. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut.
Dujardin, É. (2026). The laurels are cut. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut (Original work published 1887)
Dujardin, Édouard. The Laurels Are Cut. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut.
@book{dujardin2026laurels,
author = {Dujardin, Édouard},
title = {The Laurels Are Cut},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-laurels-are-cut},
note = {First published 1887}
}
