# Hyacinthe Chantelouve — Là-Bas character guide

> Hyacinthe Chantelouve in Là-Bas by J.-K. Huysmans.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Hyacinthe, Chantelouve, another Hyacinthe

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

The mysterious correspondent whose mad letters pull the celibate Durtal back into desire, she is a married woman with appetites and secrets that unsettle every assumption he holds.

## Who they are

Hyacinthe Chantelouve first arrives as handwriting and obsession, then as flesh: a woman Durtal prepares for with cedar essences and exotic liqueurs, tidying his apartment like a bridegroom. She is married, elusive, and clearly more than the melancholy blonde he has imagined, and the gap between his fantasy and her reality is the engine of his unraveling. Her presence drags Durtal out of scholarly solitude and toward the satanic circles that give the novel its title.

## Relationships

### [Durtal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/durtal)

_romantic_

Hyacinthe Chantelouve, the son, shares a tense, ambiguous relationship with Durtal, marked by rivalry and unspoken attraction.

### [Durtal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/durtal)

_romantic_

Hyacinthe Chantelouve, the son, shares a tense, ambiguous relationship with Durtal, marked by rivalry and unspoken attraction.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/ii)

Mentioned as the rotund, jovial host of the salon, with an ambiguous look behind his spectacles.

### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/vii)

Mme Chantelouve's first name, noted as a boy's name that suits her; Durtal begins calling her Hyacinthe in his thoughts.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/viii)

Durtal muses on Hyacinthe's character, her visit, and his plan to seduce her, noting her experience and desirability.

### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xii)

Present as the husband, discusses his work writing saints' biographies and comments on Durtal's theory of sin.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xiii)

Referred to by her first name during intimacy; her actions and words after the encounter reveal her as ordinary and clumsy, contributing to Durtal's disillusion.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xv)

Hyacinthe is the first name of Madame Chantelouve; Durtal recalls her earlier description of her first husband's suicide and her lack of remorse.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xvi)

Durtal recalls her visit and her refusal to speak openly about Canon Docre.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/hyacinthe_chantelouve
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters