Olympia' Look

Olympia’s Look was an intriguing story that gave me insight into Édouard Manet’s life and the women involved with him. Suzanne Manet, Edouard’s wife who was the protagonist in this story, was an interesting woman. She seemed talented, devoted, angry, jealous and strong. She was very good at playing the piano and extremely devoted to her husband. However, she was jealous of the models he painted and blamed them for his syphilis. Suzanne Manet was a strong person even if she did not stand up for herself very much.

There were many passages throughout the story that showed Suzanne Manet’s personality, but there were two that especially I liked and I thought really revealed her character. The first is about three-fourths of the way down page 73. This passage shows that she was jealous of the models and the attention that Édouard Manet paid them and she was angry that he was writing letters to Isabelle Lemonnier. It also demonstrates that she was very jealous of Victorine Meurent in Olympia’s Look because she has character traits that Suzanne Manet does not. For example, in this passage, Suzanne Manet tries to be commanding to get the letter from Hélène. She mentions that Victorine Meurent looks very commanding which is something that she is envious of.

Another interesting passage was on the top of page 80. This shows Suzanne Manet’s anger towards Édouard Manet’s models whom she blames for his syphilis. This means that she blames them for his death. It is interesting that she is angrier at the models than at her husband. I would guess that this is because she really loved Édouard Manet and did not want to be mad at him especially since he had just died.
I think that Suzanne Manet exerts free will in this story even though she is going through tough times. She can choose how she reacts to what happens to her and in this horrible event of her husband’s death, she is choosing to improve herself. I get the feeling that Suzanne Manet will start to stand up for herself in the future and live her life for herself rather than for her husband.

Some of the names in Olympia’s Look confused me because Susan Vreeland did not explain who they were. I wanted to know who Edgar Degas was because it sounds like he did not appreciate Édouard Manet and could have given him a hard time with his art. I also did not know who the other painters that Vreeland mentioned on pages 78 to 79 were. I wonder how they influenced him and his art. Additionally, I did not know who Claude was and how he related to the Manets. Édouard Manet really seemed to not like him. Was he another artist or maybe a brother? I wonder what he did to make Édouard Manet dislike him so much. Overall, besides these confusions, this short story was very interesting and helped me learn about Édouard Manet’s art and life and his wife Suzanne.