Prendre la main, prendre par la main Polysémie et narrativité du geste dans La Vie de Marianne

Hand gestures illuminate the nature of relationships between characters in the novel. Climal’s gallant and authoritarian hand bespeaks the duplicity of false piousness. After Marianne’s meeting with Valville and his mother, there is a split: the gallant hand returns to the young man, and the benevolent hand to Mme de Miran.