![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Flaubert also gives an earthy, comic aura to one of the great objects of Félicité’s devotion and admiration, the parrot Loulou: “Unfortunately, he had the tiresome habit of chewing his perch and he kept plucking out his feathers, scattering his droppings everywhere and splashing the water from his bath” (29). Though Félicité’s unappealing appearance can earn a reader’s pity, there is also a touch of dark humor to Flaubert’s description of how strangely Félicité has aged. She hardly ever spoke, and her upright stance and deliberate movements gave her the appearance of a woman made out of wood, driven as if by clockwork” (4-5). After her fiftieth birthday, it became impossible to say what age she was at all. At twenty-five, people took her to be as old as forty. Early on, for instance, Félicité is described in the following terms: “Her face was thin and her voice was shrill. ![]()
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