Therese Raquin

Main Characters and Their Development

• Therese Raquin - a young woman experiencing a deep personal crisis due to her repressed and unhappy life. Her marriage to Camille is dull and joyless, leading her to desperate actions. Over time, she discovers a passionate and tumultuous nature within herself, a yearning for freedom and self-sacrifice.
• Laurent - an artist and a casual acquaintance of the family, becomes Therese's lover. His character is revealed as selfish and manipulative, and his passionate affair with Therese leads him to moral decay and physical deterioration. Laurent transitions from a carefree bon vivant to a man haunted by guilt and paranoia.
• Camille - Therese's husband, a weak and cowardly man, whose life is cut short by his wife and her lover. His death becomes the catalyst for events and consequences that destroy the lives of the main characters.