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Desire Quote by Marguerite Duras

“Hélène Lagonelle’s body is heavy, innocent still, her skin’s as soft as that of certain fruits, you almost can’t grasp her, she’s almost illusory, it’s too much. She makes you want to kill her, she conjures up a marvelous dream of putting her to death with your own hands. Those flour-white shapes…” quote by Marguerite Duras
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““Hélène Lagonelle’s body is heavy, innocent still, her skin’s as soft as that of certain fruits, you almost can’t grasp her, she’s almost illusory, it’s too much. She makes you want to kill her, she conjures up a marvelous dream of putting her to death with your own hands. Those flour-white shapes, she bears them unknowingly, and offers them for hands to knead, for lips to eat, without holding them back, without any knowledge of them and without any knowledge of their fabulous power. I’d like to eat Hélène Lagonelle’s breasts as he eats mine in the room in the Chinese town where I go every night to increase my knowledge of God. I’d like to devour and be devoured by those flour-white breasts of hers. I am worn out with desire for Hélène Lagonelle. I am worn out with desire. I want to take Hélène Lagonelle with me to where every evening, my eyes shut, I have imparted to me the pleasure that makes you cry out. I’d like to give Hélène Lagonelle to the man who does that to me, so he may do it in turn to her. I want it to happen in my presence, I want her to do it as I wish, I want her to give herself where I give myself. It’s via Hélène Lagonelle’s body, through it, that the ultimate pleasure would pass from him to me. A pleasure unto death.””

Marguerite Duras

About This Quote

Source Novel: Moderately, by Marguerite Duras, 1975

The passage expresses obsessive, erotic desire intertwined with violent fantasies, reflecting a fragmented psyche seeking transcendence through extreme intimacy.

In simple terms: Intense desire mixes with violent, surreal imagery.

Key Takeaway

Recognize when desire becomes destructive.

Themes

desire violence surrealism identity spirituality

Mood

disturbed introspective

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

  • intimate relationships
  • artistic expression
  • spiritual seeking
  • psychological turmoil

Key Concepts

psychoanalysis eroticism transcendence

Questions to Reflect On

  • What does the violent imagery symbolize?
  • How does desire become a path to death?
A Different Perspective

The extreme language may alienate readers, obscuring deeper meaning.

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