me very well". Thérèse and Laurent find life together intolerable. Laurent has started beating Thérèse, something she deliberately provokes in order to distract her from her life. Thérèse has convinced herself that Madame Raquin has forgiven her and spends hours kissing her and praying at the disabled woman's feet. The couple argue almost constantly about Camille and who was responsible for his death, so they exist in an endless waking nightmare. They are being driven to rashly plot to murder each other. At the novel's climax, they're about to kill each other when each realizes the other's plan. They break down sobbing in silent agreement of what they should do next, and reflect on their miserable lives. After a final embrace, they commit suicide by taking poison supplied by Laurent, all in front of the hate-filled, watchful gaze of Madame Raquin. Characters Thérèse Raquin – the eponymous protagonist, is the wife of Camille and the orphaned daughter of Madame Raquin's brother and an unknown African woman. Camille Raquin – Thérèse's husband and first cousin. Madame Raquin – Camille's mother and Thérèse's aunt. She works as a shopkeeper to support her family. Laurent – a childhood friend and coworker of Camille who seduces Thérèse. Michaud – the police commissioner and friend of Madame Raquin Olivier – Michaud's son who works at the police prefecture Suzanne – Olivier's wife Grivet – an elderly employee of the Orléans Railroad Company, where Camille works François – the Raquins' cat Themes Punishment and imprisonment Throughout the book there are references to chains, cages, tombs and pits. These contribute to the impression that Laurent and Thérèse are in a state of remorse and are plagued by guilt. The book mentions how they are always clawing at the chains that bound them together. The shop that Thérèse owns is compared to a tomb, where Thérèse watches corpses walk by in the day. Temperaments In his preface to the second edition, Zola writes that he intended to "study temperaments and not characters". To his main characters, he assigns various humors according to Galen's four temperaments: Thérèse is melancholic, Laurent is sanguine, Camille is phlegmatic and Madame is choleric. For Zola, the interactions of these types of personalities could only have the result that plays out in his plot. Human beast Also in his preface, Zola calls both Thérèse and Laurent "human brutes" and the characters are often given