Character Analysis
If you've ever seen Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, you're already familiar with Gabrielle and Michelle.
Gabrielle and Michelle, however, are not particularly nice girls; they're privileged American students studying in France for the summer, favorites of their teacher, Madame Raphael. Gabrielle and Michelle laugh a lot—at nothing in particular—and that laughter takes on a diabolical tone: "...they emitted short, shrill, spasmodic sounds very difficult to describe in words" (III.1.22).
When we learn Kundera's theory of laughter (III.4), we can start to put things together:
- Laughter originates from the devil.
- It's imitated by angels.
- We can never tell if laughter is angelic or diabolical.
- Gabrielle and Michelle (and their teacher) are named after archangels.
So, what's going on with these two characters? Are they really avenging angels that sound like Valley girls on helium? Maybe we should ask Sarah what she thinks of them.