At the very start Thérèse is being tried for poisoning her husband, but the case has to be dismissed due to the way the family reacts, with even the husband himself testifying in her favor to avoid a scandal. Thérèse thinks she will be able to leave her husband following the trial, but instead he sequesters her in isolated solitude, again attempting to avoid a family scandal.
The sequel La Fin de la nuit was published in 1935.
Thérèse Desqueyroux was adapted to film in 1962, and again in 2012 as Therese.
- Against My Religion: Thérèse is Catholic, so even though she wants to be separated from her husband and to never have to see him again her goal is not divorce.
- Awful Wedded Life: Thérèse is near numb with how much she dislikes and wants to quietly escape her husband. Bernard doesn't appear to care about Thérèse at all either, having her stuck in isolation in the woods and treating her and their marriage as status symbols to be maintained as an illusion to the public. The only reason he lets her go in the end is that her emancipated appearance is starting rumors of its own and he thinks that having her disappear quietly is the best way to make all the talk fade away.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Thérèse can't find the source of her ennui, but is miserable in a detached way and doesn't even fully understand why she started poisoning her husband save that she wants away from him. She gets that wish in the worst way when he essentially imprisons her in the woods and prevents any visitors, including her daughter, save occasionally forcing her to be seen in public with him. Her condition worsens and she ends up just staying abed as she is entirely at his mercy.
- Happy Marriage Charade: Bernard insists they put up a pretense of being in a good relationship for the public on the occasions where he has Thérèse accompany him, despite the fact that she was poisoning him and he has essentially locked her away from humanity in isolation.
- Missing Mom: Thérèse's mental state meant she wasn't mother of the year or anything anyway, but her husband cuts off all contact between her and her daughter threatening to have her imprisoned for the poisoning if she tries to fight him on this.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Thérèse was poisoning her husband by giving him overdoses of Fowler's solution, which he took intentionally, resulting in arsenic poisoning.
