The Opiate, Fall. Vol. 19
Every Love Permutation Is Tainted in Jean Rhys’ Quartet Genna Rivieccio
E
veryone is capable of edging toward the side of the dark and debauched when the circumstances become bleak enough. When backed into a corner by the sinister forces at work that seem to comprise the destiny of so many. The unavoidable fate of those so initially committed to living a life of splendor despite so clearly being preordained for tragedy like most of the rest of us. Such is the case for Marya Zelli, Jean Rhys’ autobiographical lead character in Quartet. Like the heroine herself, the novel possesses a rare quality of earnestness and honesty that perhaps only an author’s first book is truly capable of. That much of the foundation of the narrative for Quartet is strongly rooted in the goingson of Rhys’ own life at that time lends an added layer of authenticity to Marya’s own bizarre predicament. For her husband, Stephan, ends up in prison for his years of thievery, despite, naturally, telling Marya that his profession is as a commissionaire d’objets d’art. Dubious,
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indeed. But Marya, like so many who have reached the end of a particular rope, chooses to ignore any warning signs. For Stephan is her only chance for salvation from a failed attempt at a career as a theater actress in London (an attempt also made by Rhys herself). As Stephan’s wife, she can move to Paris and start anew. Yet, all too quickly, what Holly Golightly would deem the mean reds begin to creep in once more. Because as any constant wanderer will tell you, a change of city can only briefly lend the illusion of actual change. Even so, Stephan is a consistent enough provider until his arrest effectively puts Marya out onto the street. Luckily (or unluckily, as it were), it is right around this time that she makes the acquaintance of H.J. and Lois Heidler, a well-to-do English couple who have been in Paris long enough to have instituted themselves as an instrumental fixture on the scene of Paris. More specificially, Montparnasse. And though Marya frequents the same
