Gérard Étienne, Une femme muette

Maya Hauptman (University of Haifa)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
Une femme muette

[A Silenced Woman] is the story of Anna (see note 1), a Haitian black woman who escapes from a Montreal psychiatric hospital where she has been interned by her husband, Gros Zo, who is a doctor at the same institution. Willing to get rid of her and marry as soon as possible Penny, a nurse who works with him, he pretends that his wife is a mad and dangerous far relative. Through his relationship with Penny, an Anglo-Saxon from a rich family, daughter of a well-known lawyer of the high society, he intends to boost his reputation.

Coming from a poor family, Gros Zo was able to study medicine only thanks to his wife’s hard work. Nonetheless, he has no recognition for her. Gérard Étienne thereby raises the issue of the Haitian woman nourishing her man, recurrent in many of

2464 words

Citation: Hauptman, Maya. "Une femme muette". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 February 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38856, accessed 19 April 2024.]

38856 Une femme muette 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.