Diderot in black and white: the passions of Mlle d'Aisnon and Mme de La Pommeraye, according to Robert Bresson

Abstract

My aimin this paper is to examine some aspects of Robert Bresson's filmic adaptation of an episode from Denis Diderot's novel Jacques le fatalist. I intend to comparatively analyse the attributes of the two main female characters from the the idea of passion, as well as dwell on some significant changes in the plot, suchas the changing of the names of Mlle d'Aisnon and Mme de La Pommeraye to Agnés and Hélène, respectively. I argue that, despite some melodramatic elements, the film Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne can be seen as a work witha tragic tone.