Tuesday, March 1, 2016

What is a detailed summary of The Passion?

The Passion is a British novel written by author Jeannette Winterson in 1987. The novel revolves around a French man named Henri who is sent off to fight for Napoleon in the Napoleonic wars. When the novel begins, Henri mentions his dreams of becoming a drummer, but he soon finds out he will instead be helping in the kitchen. Despite his disappointment, Henri makes the most of his role, primarily because he gets to spend time with Napoleon.
While in the grand armee, Henri forms friendships with two men. Patrick is an ex-priest who tells Henri a lot of false stories, and Domino is a impulsive horse keeper. They all live together at Napoleon's base camp as France devises a plan to invade England; however, Henri soon becomes discouraged over the sheer amount of death and destruction taking place in the army. Many of his fellow soldiers and friends have died, and he begins to question whether or not the military is the place for him.
While all of his is happening, the novel shifts focus to Villanelle, a beautiful red-haired Italian woman from Venice who is living in Russia. She is in love with another woman whom she refers to as the "Queen of Spades," but she knows it will never go anywhere, because the woman is already married to a man.
Years pass and Napoleon's army arrives in Moscow, where Henri and Villanelle's fates intertwine. Villanelle is currently working as a prostitute, and Henri learns that her husband sold her into the prostitution ring through Napoleon's army. By this point, Henri has had enough, so he convinces both Villanelle and Patrick to desert the army. Despite Villanelle's broken heart over the Queen of Spades, she pretends to be Henri's wife. Henri falls in love with her, but she tells him that she cannot commit to him, because her heart still belongs to the Queen.
The troupe decides to flee to Venice, but Patrick unfortunately falls ill and does not finish the trip alive. Henri and Villanelle escape to Villanelle's childhood home, where her parents urge her to marry Henri. She tells them that she cannot marry him because she is not in love with him. He feels more like family than a lover. Despite Villanelle's rejection, Henri still loves and cares for her. He ends up killing her husband by cutting his heart out, but he confesses to his crime and is soon imprisoned for the murder.
While in prison, Henri awaits frequent visits from Villanelle. She eventually becomes pregnant with their child but still refuses to marry him, which makes Henri incredibly upset. He eventually cuts all ties with Villanelle because it hurts him too much to imagine a life without her as his wife.
As time goes on, Villanelle has the child and realizes that she will never spend her life with the Queen of Spades, no matter how madly she loves her. Meanwhile, Henri loses his grip on reality in the jail cell. He still sees Villanelle walking with their daughter, and the two often wave at him, but he now understands that they will never be together. He continues to write about his feelings for Villanelle until the end of the novel, mentioning that he does not wish anything bad upon Villanelle even though they cannot be together.

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