From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordIntrigue is a calculated web of dealings, political or amorous.
- In the novelRochemaure’s political and amorous intrigues overlap.
- In this editionThe English “influence” for crédit and “support in a court” for appui auprès d’une justice make the institutional object of her calculation visible.
- A place to readNouant des intrigues politiques et galantes: Weaving political and amorous intrigues.
Meaning
Related words and phrases.
Intrigue is a calculated web of dealings, political or amorous. Crédit can mean personal influence rather than a financial loan, and appui the support or protection one hopes to obtain through it.
Use in the book
Rochemaure’s political and amorous intrigues overlap. Her attraction to present power takes her through successive factions without a corresponding understanding of their opinions. The narrator distinguishes knowing individuals from knowing crowds: her skill in personal relations does not amount to political comprehension.
Her help to Gamelin has mixed motives. She is genuinely moved by his and his mother’s distress, but uses her influence to secure an appointment from which she expects future judicial protection. “Not from pure kindness” neither means wholly selfless nor wholly devoid of compassion.
Blaise’s changed treatment of the painter follows a similar practical calculation. The juror enlarges the artist in the dealer’s eyes; commercial employment and intimacy are offered to someone now worth keeping on good terms with. Patronage makes public office materially attractive before the new magistrate declares that he accepts it only to serve the Republic.
Places to read
- Chapter VII, paragraph 15FrenchNouant des intrigues politiques et galantes: Weaving political and amorous intrigues. The same social activity connects her business and erotic life.
- Chapter VII, paragraph 15Frenchconnaissant les hommes, ignorant les foules: Knowing individuals, ignorant of crowds. The narrator explicitly bounds Rochemaure’s understanding.
- Chapter VIII, paragraph 15Frenchqui disait à peu près: which said approximately. Rochemaure reports the recommendation letter approximately; the passage is not a verified archival quotation.
- Chapter VIII, paragraph 22FrenchCe n’était point par bonté pure: It was not from pure kindness. The scope is not-pure, not no-kindness.
- Chapter VIII, paragraph 22Frenchemployé son crédit: Used her influence. Crédit denotes social access here, not borrowed money.
- Chapter IX, paragraph 46Frenchtant le juré avait pour lui grandi le peintre: So greatly the juror had enlarged the painter for him. Blaise’s renewed artistic appreciation follows the appointment.
Translation in this edition
The English “influence” for crédit and “support in a court” for appui auprès d’une justice make the institutional object of her calculation visible. Rochemaure only approximately reports the supposed recommendation letter in Chapter VIII, paragraph 15; it is not quoted archival evidence.