In Olympia’s Look, Susan Vreeland describes the strife Edouard Manet’s wife Suzanne went through surrounding his death. As a Dutch woman in France, she felt unattractive, due not only to her build, but also due to her lack of mastery of the language. Whether her feelings were due to the actions of her husband, or her husband’s actions were due to her supposed unattractiveness, he was a very large flirt with many women of Paris. Despite all of this, Suzanne was a very obedient wife. Her Dutch upbringing had taught her that there was nothing more sacred than the bond between man and wife, while her husband lived by the French lifestyle.
Suzanne Manet’s obedience as a wife is portrayed by Vreeland in a couple instances. While going through the pain and suffering of syphilis, Edouard is always cared for by his wife. When going to scorn Victorine Meurent, she describes how she nursed him through his illness, and that many women would not have the strength to do so. How she had talked him through his night terrors, knowing her own were only moments away. All this was due to a letter Victorine had sent shortly after the funeral, requesting money Edouard had promised her. In Vreeland’s story, Suzanne knew that an obedient wife would carry out her husband’s promise, no matter how opposed to it as she was. The story makes it seem as though she would have also, if Olympia had sold for a large amount.
Not only was Suzanne Manet an obedient wife, she was also a very strong woman. In the story, Suzanne is very subdued to her husband, which I believe was due to her view of the sanctity of marriage, and the position she felt a wife should hold. However, she is shown to have a very strong personality. When she suspects her husband’s infidelity and sees him slip a letter to Helene, she is very demanding of the woman. The pain she had felt due to her husband’s many “collaborators” drove her to adopt an even more steadfast personality. She became very independent after his passing. She had arranged an auction of the paintings to supplement her income. She also portrayed her strong character when confronting Victorine Meurent. In no uncertain terms she had told her that she was merely a “fling” of Edouards, and would never, nor could ever hold the intimate position of being his wife. Suzanne even retold the amputation just to punish Victorine, and in a way as he had cared for Victorine, her husband. As the adopted quote from William Congreve’s “The Mourning Bride” says; “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Vreeland does give a sense of who Suzanne will become. This is done through a few events. The arrangement of the auction and her starting the fire with no hesitation shows that she is very independent and most likely will spend the rest of her life alone, only because she is perfectly capable of living without the help of someone else. Her gentle demeanor towards Albert gives the sense that she will not shut herself off completely from the world and Edouard’s family. Finally, her sense of regret of describing the amputation to Victorine and adding Collaborator to Isabelle’s letter, then sending it, show that she has a sense of closure with her husband’s exploits and will not live the rest of her life filled with bitterness.
The only criticism I have of Vreeland’s writing is the same that many had expressed about The Yellow Jacket. Her transitions are very ethereal, if existent at all, which makes Olympia’s Look very hard to follow if one doesn’t already have a large amount of knowledge of the artist at hand, in this case Edouard Manet.