Classic Character: Lisa Quenu of The Belly of Paris

Lisa Quenu is perhaps my most favorite character from the 20 novels of Rougon-Macquart cycle. I always think the Rougons are boring, while the Macquart are mostly full of "colors", and thus, much more interesting. However, from the Macquarts' offsprings (Lisa, Gervaise, Jean), I think Lisa is the least "flawed".

In the opening novel: The Fortune of the Rougons, Zola wrote that Lisa "was big, good-looking child, very healthy and sanguine, and looked very much like her mother. But she had not inherited her mother's animal-like capacity for hard work. Macquart had implanted in her a firm desire for ease and comfort." I think Lisa is the perfect balance of her mother and father, in term of character flaws. She loves ease and comfort, but unlike Macquart, she earns it with working diligently. But unlike her mother, she chooses a profession that requires her brain, more than physical labor, so that she can put her work and comfort in a perfect balance. That's what I love most from Lisa, because I, too, love balance of work and leisure.

Lisa is so fortunate that a middle class woman (the wife of a postmaster) took a fancy on her when she was a child, and hired her as a maid. Later on when the postmaster was dead, the wife moved to Paris, taking Lisa with her while she's only 12 y.o. Maybe that's how Lisa managed to "skip" the worst part of her parents: drunkenness.

I also admire Lisa's patience, discipline, and determination, as was portrayed in The Fortune of the Rougons: "When she was still very small she work for a whole day in return for a cake." Later on she would show these qualities after the owner of a charcuterie named Gradelle, who hired her to attend the counter, died suddenly. Lisa and Quenu - Gradelle's nephew who handled the cookery - found Gradelle's hidden money under the salting tub and decided to move the business to a more respectable place. The couple, combining Lisa's refined taste and great skill at business and marketing, with Quenu's passion of cooking, run the charcuterie together, made it a perfect family business.

So, finally, Lisa's dream of living respectably came true. She combined work and pleasure to achieve peaceful and comfortable life. That's my dream life! In running the successful charcuterie, Lisa shows her sensibility, intelligence, and orderly qualities. Zola mentioned her as of sanguine person, but I don't agree. She's more an introverted person. She minds her own business, dislikes social activity (outside 'business hospitality'), and hates drama. Her life evolves around her family (husband and daughter). She doesn't gossip, and when trouble comes (Florent's growing revolutionary activities), she silently consults the priest, and then acts methodically what she thinks best. She doesn't envy the rich people, and never talks about others' faults. She even takes Florent in her home though she distrusts him, just because Quenu loves his brother. Maybe her only flaw is ever competing with La Belle Normande. It's useless, and she should be above that.

Lisa Quenu (née Macquart) might be a fictional character most relatable with myself. No exaggeration, everything in a moderate, balanced level. That's why we can never be heroine of any story, because others would find our lives dull.

What do you think of Lisa Quenu?