A Simple Heart
What do we learn about Félicité through her relationship with Theodore?
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Félicité's relationship with Theodore is strange because it's never clear what his intentions really are. We mistrust him as readers because of the way that he initially treats Félicité on their walk home from the dance. His interest in her after that is clear, but the narrator seems to insinuate that his interest continues only because she continues to act in a virtuous way and that perhaps all of his attention is only aimed at inducing her to yield to his desire. If this is the case, than Felicite's natural virtue is highlighted in her relationship with Theodore. That she is naive and innocent from initial suspicion or even an understanding of his initial motives after the dance is made clear. She was surprised by his advances and rejected them without having to think about it. After that, she clearly begins to fall in love with him and, despite the pressure that the narrator suggests he is putting on her, never gives into an intimacy beyond her comfort level. She does this without any advice or even instruction from a mother or a friend, which suggests that she is acting in the way that is very natural to her and so, again, we are led to think of Félicité as a naturally honest and virtuous person.