Florence as Imagined Separation

Simple Passion

Traces the narrator’s solo journey to Florence as both a test of distance and an imaginative extension of her attachment to A.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Ticket Ahead The Ticket Ahead from "Simple Passion". The Ticket Ahead Deferred Departure The narrator books a train ticket and hotel room in Florence while longing to end the affair.

The Ticket Ahead from "Simple Passion". The Ticket Ahead Deferred Departure The narrator books a train ticket and hotel room in Florence while longing to end the affair.

The Ticket Ahead Deferred Departure The narrator books a train ticket and hotel room in Florence while longing to end the affair. The distant date lets her plan separation without facing it immediately. Anticipatory Despair She imagines the departure with the hopelessness of an unprepared exam. Even the decision to go becomes another period of waiting.

A City Occupied by A A City Occupied by A from "Simple Passion". A City Occupied by A Scenarios in Churches The narrator makes wishes in churches and imagines future meetings with A.

A City Occupied by A from "Simple Passion". A City Occupied by A Scenarios in Churches The narrator makes wishes in churches and imagines future meetings with A.

A City Occupied by A Scenarios in Churches The narrator makes wishes in churches and imagines future meetings with A. Cultural visits provide settings for fantasies rather than escape from them. Private Itinerary Her attention follows the story she carries rather than the guidebook’s histories. The city becomes meaningful through its relation to desire.

Art as Personal Memory Art as Personal Memory from "Simple Passion". Art as Personal Memory Emotional Looking The narrator returns to places associated with Dante and Beatrice.

Art as Personal Memory from "Simple Passion". Art as Personal Memory Emotional Looking The narrator returns to places associated with Dante and Beatrice.

Art as Personal Memory Emotional Looking The narrator returns to places associated with Dante and Beatrice. She reads partly erased frescoes through the anticipated fading of her own story. The Male Body Sculptures remind her of A’s shoulders, loins, and thighs. Art offers a way to see desire while also exposing what her imagination cannot possess.

The Ordeal of Absence The Ordeal of Absence from "Simple Passion". The Ordeal of Absence A Journey Shared in Fantasy The narrator eats, sleeps, and walks as if A were with her.

The Ordeal of Absence from "Simple Passion". The Ordeal of Absence A Journey Shared in Fantasy The narrator eats, sleeps, and walks as if A were with her.

The Ordeal of Absence A Journey Shared in Fantasy The narrator eats, sleeps, and walks as if A were with her. She wonders why other men approach when she feels his presence inside her. Investment Through Distance The solitude becomes an ordeal intended to strengthen love. Absence does not loosen attachment; it supplies new material for craving.

The Return Train The Return Train from "Simple Passion". The Return Train A Promised Reunion On the train back, the narrator imagines returning to Paris and seeing A again.

The Return Train from "Simple Passion". The Return Train A Promised Reunion On the train back, the narrator imagines returning to Paris and seeing A again.

The Return Train A Promised Reunion On the train back, the narrator imagines returning to Paris and seeing A again. The journey home becomes more emotionally vivid than the holiday itself. Separation Recast The trip has not ended her dependence on the affair. It has converted travel into another structure for anticipating contact.

two months before the planned trip

during the first days in Florence

during the Florence visit

the eight days alone in Florence

the final day of the Florence trip