Summary

Introducing the Frame

The unnamed narrator and a female companion walk home after observing a
wild animal trainer, M. Martin, perform with this cache of animals. The female
companion is shocked by the performance and questions how the trainer
could ever be certain that the wild animals would not harm him. The
narrator says that he is certain that a bond can form naturally between man
and beast. The female companion is still doubtful, so the narrator admits that
the first time he saw M. Martin's show, he also had his doubts about the
animals' loyalty to M. Martin. At his first show, the narrator was drawn to
another visitor to the menagerie, a retired old soldier with
an amputated leg and a good-natured face. The narrator imagines the old
soldier would have lightheartedly picked the pocket of a
dead comrade or befriended even the devil himself without
an afterthought.
The men watch M. Martin's performance, the old soldier with a look of slight
contempt and superiority. The narrator notices this and comments on M.
Martin's bravery. The old soldier disagrees, saying the trick to taming wild
animals is "well known." The men chat a little as they finish exploring
the menagerie and decide to continue their talk at a local restaurant. They
finish a bottle of wine and, with a little prodding from the narrator, the old
soldier tells the narrator a story that confirms that a human can, in fact, tame
wild animals.

The narrator initially ends his story there, but the female companion is not
satisfied with the vague ending. She teases and flirts with the narrator until
he decides to write the old soldier's complete tale for her to read. She
receives a story the next morning that the narrator refers to as
"The Frenchman in Egypt."

The Desert
The female companion begins reading the narrator's tale, which is set during
Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition into Egypt. A brave but impatient
Provencal soldier (a soldier from the French region of Provence) is captured
by a group of native Arabs who live in the desert. At nightfall he is able to
escape into the desert after stealing some supplies and a horse. He is so
desperate to find his unit that he rides the already-tired horse to death and
finds himself stranded in the desert. He continues on foot, walking with no
real sense of direction. In the night he happens upon a small hill with a few
palm trees and a bedrock tableau, upon which he falls asleep until daylight
when the desert sun heats the rock bed uncomfortably. He looks around at
the vast and lonely expanse of the desert, sobs, screams into the desert, and
loads his gun. However, he remembers France and notices the remains of a
rug and date trees nearby, so he decides to wait and see if any travelers will
pass by and find him. He falls back asleep in a small cave under the tableau.
When the Provencal wakes, he is horrified to discover he has entered the
cave of a panther who is blocking the exit, asleep. He contemplates ways to
kill the panther while she sleeps but decides that each plan is too risky and
he is already as good as dead. Then the panther wakes and comes towards
him. The Provencal reaches out to stroke the panther and she receives his
pets happily. The panther begins to purr under his touch and appears to
enjoy the attention. She finally lies down and the Provencal rises to walk out
of the cave. The panther allows him to leave the cave but springs toward him
before he leaves the summit of the hill, rubbing her back on his leg like a
house cat.
The Provencal continues to gain the panther's trust by scratching
and stroking her while he tries to think of a good plan to kill her. He notes
that he would probably be successful if he put his blade in her throat. The
more the Provencal plays with the panther, the more displeased he is with
the idea of killing her. He compares her personality and features to that of a
woman and goes so far as to call her Mignonne, a nickname he had for his
first sweetheart.
Mignonne begins to respond to her name when called and, while their bond
grows deeper, the soldier cannot stop thinking of ways to escape her. That
night, he tries to sneak out of the cave while she sleeps, but he doesn't get
far before she wakes and comes running after him. The soldier missteps and
lands in quicksand. He calls to Mignonne for help and she deftly pulls him
from the quicksand. The soldier declares that they are bonded by life and
death from then on.

The soldier slowly begins to abandon hope of ever being found and
instead delights in the relationship he has developed with Mignonne. She
stops and turns to him at the sound of her name, allows him to play with her
tail and ears, and even asks for affection by lifting a paw to him. When the
Provencal shows interest in an eagle that has landed near their small oasis,
Mignonne shows signs of jealousy, prompting him to declare that she has a
soul.

The Frame Revisited

The female companion finishes reading the story and asks how the
relationship between the Provencal and Mignonne ended. The narrator
explains that it was a misunderstanding between the two, as is often the
reason for a breakup between lovers. One feels betrayed and instead of
letting the other explain, they part ways violently.

The narrator retells the story that the old soldier told him. At this point it is
confirmed that the old soldier and the Provencal are the same person and that
the old soldier has been telling a story about his own life. The old soldier tells
the narrator that the panther turned to him, as if angry, and took his leg gently
in her teeth. However, he feared for his life at her swiftness and, acting on
instinct, stabbed the panther in the throat. She gave a painful cry that
wounded him deeply and died at his feet, looking into his eyes without anger.
Soon, Provencal soldiers came to his rescue and found him crying over her
body, feeling as if he had murdered a real person.
Analysis

Frame Narrative
The structure of this story is a frame narrative, or a story told within a story.
The narrator is telling a female companion, possibly a romantic partner, a
story he heard several years ago. Balzac uses the frame to create a
connection between the narrator's present-day events and the story that
he retells to the female companion. The reader can imagine the female
companion reading the story of the Provencal and Mignonne and connecting it
to what she saw at the menagerie the previous day. This provides context to
the story that would otherwise be lost. The narrator must have been affected
by the old soldier's story deeply to have carried it with him all these years.

A frame narrative also provides a degree of separation between

the storytellers. The narrator is retelling a story that is full of strong
emotions, including fear, jealousy, admiration, and love, but he is able to tell
it with some detachment because he was never directly involved in the
action. He can present his story without letting his own passions taint the
narrative. This enables Balzac to portray the realism that his stories are
known for. The narrator describes the Provencal's anger and passion that
drive him to murder the animal he had just declared to "have a soul" without
making excuses or dramatizing the Provencal's grave mistake in killing
Mignonne.

Complex Characters
Few characters in "A Passion in the Desert" have proper names, and the
characters' personalities and relationships are not easily defined.
The unnamed narrator is walking with the female companion he only refers
to as "she." They seem to have some level of intimacy, but it is not
immediately clear how they know each other. The narrator tells her only part
of the story of the soldier in Egypt; wanting more details, she "teased me to
the extent, was so charming, and made so many promises, that I consented to
communicate to her the confidences of the old soldier." Her teasing is
probably that of a lover, bribing and bewitching her beloved, but without
more information it is impossible to say for sure, and the uncertainty adds
complexity and nuance to the story.

The narrator notes that he was immediately drawn to the old soldier because
of his roguish appearance. The narrator tells his companion that the old man
had the air of a heroic soldier with a "frank, good-natured expression." He was
the type of person who would light-heartedly steal the contents of a
dead comrade's pockets, run bravely into a barrage of bullets, and "not
hesitate to make friends with the devil himself." The narrator's descriptions
hint early on in the story that the old man may not be a purely good or
innocent character. Nevertheless, the narrator is charmed by this heroic
but devilish stranger. Balzac's realistic style helps reveal the truth about
characters, creating fictional people who can encompass a range of
characteristics both admirable and deplorable.
Complexity in character relationships further develops as the tale of the
Provencal soldier and the panther Mignonne unfolds. After the Provencal is
lost in the desert and finds himself in the shelter of a panther, he tries to find
a way to escape. At first he concludes the only way to leave her is to kill
her swiftly, but he is only armed with a short knife and he knows hand-to-
hand combat with a panther would almost certainly end in his death. He has
nothing to lose so he acts boldly and tries to pet the panther like a cat.
Surprisingly, she seems to enjoy the attention. From that point the soldier's
perception of the desert panther slowly changes and he begins to view her
almost as a woman with charm, insecurity, and passions. The panther allows
the man to live in her space. She could have attacked and killed
him swiftly at any time, but she preferred to receive his attention.

The relationship they develop is impossible to define in a single word or

phrase. The Provencal never tames the panther, despite the fact that she
begins to respond to the name he gives her, because he is never fully in
control of her and he does not really trust that she has overcome her natural
killer instincts. Mignonne not only allows the soldier to live with her, but she
actually rescues him from quicksand. She displays jealousy and command
over the Provencal when he strays too far from her sight. In many ways the
panther has dominion over the man. Everything the Provencal does is because
the panther allows it; she allows him to live with her, explore their
small oasis, stroke her head and body, and even play with her tail and paws.
Mignonne may respond to the name the soldier gives her, but his very
existence in the desert is only because she has allowed it.

Male and Female Relationships

The nature of passionate male and female
relationships resonates throughout the story. It begins with the narrator
telling the story to his own lover, and the male-female relationship is further
explored in the Provencal's experience with the panther. What starts as a
simple discussion between a man and a woman regarding
the domestication of wild animals becomes a reflection of the relationship
between men and women, specifically lovers. As the Provencal spends more
time with the panther, he sees in her face a vague resemblance to the face
of a "sensual woman." The Provencal is still wary of her true nature, but he
begins to caress and play with the panther and decides to call her Mignonne,
the nickname he gave to his first sweetheart.

By naming her after an ex-lover, the Provencal implies that he loves and
admires Mignonne and sees her as equivalent to a woman, but also that he
sees a connection between her wild nature and that of his first love (and by
extension, all women). His first sweetheart was jealous and passionate, and
the Provencal says he gives the panther this name "by way of contrast." His
first beloved was so atrociously jealous that she used a knife to threaten
him repeatedly throughout their relationship. He later identifies jealousy and
passion in Mignonne. The comparison helps the reader understand how the
Provencal perceives women: as regal, powerful, and beautiful, but with a wild
and violent nature deep within. The story is a reflection of the belief of those
times that men must tame their lovers' wild impulses and earn favor with
women to stay in their good graces. Since the narrator is retelling this story
to his own lover, the audience must assume that he agrees at least in part
with the Provencal's view of women and romantic relationships.

Mistrust in Relationships
The female companion asks how the relationship ends and he tells her, "Ah,
well! You see, they ended as all great passions do end—by a
misunderstanding. For some reason ONE suspects the other of treason; they
don't come to an explanation through pride, and quarrel and part from
sheer obstinacy." She counters that sometimes a mere look or word is
enough to end the quarrel, but urges him to finish the story. The narrator
goes on to share the conclusion of the Provencal's time in the desert.

The panther never gives the Provencal a reason to mistrust her the whole
time he is in the desert. She allows him to stroke her fur and give her
affection from the moment they meet. She could have easily killed him over
the many days the two spent together, either by sneakily attacking him in the
night as he slept by her side, or attacking while they played or lounged in
the oasis. She spares the Provencal's life the first time she sees him in her
cave, leaves him to go hunting when she's hungry, and allows him to pet and
play roughly with her. Mignonne even saves him from quicksand when he
tries to run away from her. She has acted like a loyal and loving companion,
yet the Provencal cannot fully trust her. Is it because he knows that her true
natural instinct is predatory, or because his relationship with the panther is a
reflection of his relationship with women?

The Provencal notices jealous tendencies in Mignonne well before the tragic
end of their relationship. This is why he names her after his former lover, who
was also given to fits of jealousy. The panther does not allow him to leave her
small oasis, chasing after him in the night when he tries to escape. Mignonne
becomes jealous and comes to reprimand the Provencal when she sees him
admiring another animal. Her jealousy is unwarranted and she acts out in
annoyance or anger, frightening her companion. Instead of trusting that the
Provencal loves her best, she demands all of his attention and adoration. She
is quick to react in anger when she sees competition. This
mutual distrust between the two companions—Mignonne's jealousy and the
Provencal's fear of her natural instincts—leads the Provencal to stab her in
the throat when she gently bites his leg in jealousy.