Maria Verlaine
A worldly woman whose interest in Jim clarifies that he cannot manufacture heterosexual desire.
To enter the complicated emotional and sexual arrangement she recognizes between the two men.
The book
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeMaria is a cosmopolitan middle-aged woman in Paul’s circle.
She travels with Paul and Jim to the Yucatán and becomes interested in Jim.
Her presence tests an explanation Jim has used to avoid naming his sexuality.
How the book draws them
- WorldlyShe understands social and sexual complexity without pretending innocence.
- ConfidentShe pursues Jim directly.
- SympatheticHer availability makes Jim’s lack of desire especially clear.
- IndependentShe remains a person in the wider social world rather than a failed cure for Jim.
Jim cannot respond sexually to her.
The encounter makes it harder for him to believe that the right woman will change whom he desires.
If you like The City and the Pillar
If you like Gore Vidal
Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.
Ernest Hemingway
Author of The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast; his pared-down style, developed in 1920s Paris, became the most imitated in American prose.
View author
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.
View author
Henry Miller
The Brooklyn dropout who arrived in Paris broke at thirty-eight and wrote the exuberant, banned books that ended American censorship.
View author