# Rosanette — Sentimental Education character guide

> Rosanette in Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0009-chapter-ii

## Snapshot

A celebrated courtesan known as the Maréchale, she offers Frederick the pleasures of the flesh that Madame Arnoux represents only in spirit.

## Who they are

Rosanette moves through Parisian society with a frankness that scandalizes and fascinates, and she becomes Frederick's mistress at precisely the moment his ideal love seems most impossible. She is neither sentimental nor cruel—she wants comfort, amusement, and a measure of security—and her world of masked balls and borrowed luxuries gives the novel its most vivid scenes of pleasure and its sharpest sense of waste. Her affair with Frederick forces him to confront what he actually wants, as opposed to what he has been taught to worship.

## Relationships

### [Frederick Moreau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/frederick_moreau)

_romantic_

Frederick has a passionate but shallow affair with Rosanette, a courtesan, using her as a substitute for his true love.

### [Madame Arnoux](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/madame_arnoux)

_rivalry_

Madame Arnoux and Rosanette are romantic rivals for Frederick's affection, though they also meet in social contexts.

### [Frederick Moreau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/frederick_moreau)

_romantic_

Frederick has a passionate but shallow affair with Rosanette, a courtesan, using her as a substitute for his true love.

### [Frederick Moreau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/frederick_moreau)

_romantic_

Frederick has a passionate but shallow affair with Rosanette, a courtesan, using her as a substitute for his true love.

### [Madame Arnoux](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/madame_arnoux)

_rivalry_

Madame Arnoux and Rosanette are romantic rivals for Frederick's affection, though they also meet in social contexts.

## In the story

### [Sentimental Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/sentimental-education)

A courtesan and Frederick's mistress, representing a more carnal and accessible form of love compared to his idealized pursuit of Madame Arnoux.

### [CHAPTER III.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-iii)

Frederick begins an affair with her, marking a turn in his romantic entanglements.

### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-v)

Rosanette, the Maréchale, becomes Frederick's mistress, and their affair begins in earnest.

### [CHAPTER VI.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-vi)

A courtesan with whom Frederick begins an affair, representing his descent into worldly pleasures.

### [CHAPTER VII.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-vii)

Frederick begins an affair with her, complicating his romantic life.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-viii)

Frederick begins an affair with her, using her as a distraction from his unrequited love for Madame Arnoux.

### [Frederick Entertains](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/frederick-entertains)

Frederick visits her; she complains about servants, receives an old lady, and flirts with Frederick.

### [Chapter: Then she seized him by the ears and kissed him.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/then-she-seized-him-by-the-ears-and-kissed-him)

Rebuffs Frederick's advances with tears and sarcasm, but later sends him a note indicating she has dismissed her lover and is free.

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-ix)

Frederick begins an affair with her, representing his entanglement with the demimonde.

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/chapter-x)

Rosanette is involved with Frederick, and their affair begins or continues during this period.

### [At the Races](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/chapters/at-the-races)

Rosanette flirts with Cisy and Frederick, displays insolence and intoxication, and later comforts Frederick at the Café Anglais.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters/rosanette
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sentimental_education_se/characters