DiotimosReading Desk

Fashion

In the victim’s style

à la victime

The phrase describes short hair recalling the cutting of the condemned prisoner’s hair before execution.

From the book

The Gods Are Athirst

Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Phrase.

The phrase describes short hair recalling the cutting of the condemned prisoner’s hair before execution. Julie’s mourning and aristocratic appearance make the hairstyle socially meaningful among the gilded youth; it is also worn in the fashionable theatre audience. The passage joins remembrance to style without proving that every wearer was a bereaved relative. The novel does not require the additional legend of specially restricted victims’ balls.

Places to read

  1. Chapter XXIX, paragraph 14FrenchSes cheveux courts, "à la victime": her short hair, in the victim’s style. The fashion is part of Julie’s visible mourning.
  2. Chapter XXIX, paragraph 27French"à l’antique" ou "à la victime": in the antique or victim’s style. The styles appear together in the elegant theatre audience.