Baldini’s House
By Natasha and Komal
Setting
• ‘The bridge was so crammed with four-storey buildings that
you could not glimpse the river when crossing it’
• ‘Above his display window was stretched a sumptuous greenlacquered baldachin , next to which hung Baldini’s coat of
arms all in gold: a golden falcon which grew a bouquet of
flowers’
• ‘…lay a red carpet, also bearing the Baldini coat of arms
embroidered in gold’
• ‘Persian chimes rang out, and two silver herons began
spewing violet-scented toilet water’
• ‘An indescribable chaos of odours reigned the house of
Baldini’
Why/how does Grenouille find himself
in this setting? Does he choose to be
there, or not?
Grenouille- “I’m from Maitre Grimal, I’m
delivering the goatskins”
“Grenouille burned to see a perfumery
from the inside”
Grenouille-“I want to work for you, Maitre
Baldini. Work for you, here in your
business.”
“It was not spoken as a request, but as a
demand”
How long is he there?
• “…just a little under 3 years”
• “ Early in 1756”
What major experiences does he have
there?
• Grenouille makes Amor & Psyche for Baldini - “And
he pressed the handkerchief to his nose again and
again and sniffed and shook his head and muttered
‘incredible’. It was “Amore and Psyche.”
• Grenouille bought by Baldini – “ And then he invted
Grimal to his concerning the purchase of Grenouille,
his apprentice.”
• Grimal dies – “ he was brought by ill fortune to the
Quai des Ormes, where he splashed lengthwise and
face-first into the water like a soft mattress. He was
dead in an instant”
What major experiences does he have
(continuation)
• Baldini’s business thrives and he learns from
Grenouille- “ And for that it was necessary
that he- assisted only by an unskilled helper–
would be solely and exclusively responsible for
the production of scent”
•
What causes him to leave?
• ‘There was three other ways my son: enfleurage à chaud,
enfleurage à froid, and enfleurage à l’huile’
‘Where?’ asked Grenouille
‘In the south,’ answered Baldini. ‘Above all, in the town of
Grasse’
‘Good’ said Grenouille
- His want to explore different techniques to extract scent from
its source. He leaves to discover how to use these techniques.
How does setting affect, mould or
change him? What does it give him?
• ‘Two indispensible prerequisites must be met. The first was
the cloak of middle-class respectability, the status of a
journeyman at least, under the protection of which he could
indulge his true passions and follow his true goals
unimpeded.’
- Affects him by making his passions of creating the perfect scent
more attainable – makes him more driven.
What does he learn from the setting
when he moves on?
• The learns the art of perfume making
• ‘And so he gladly let himself be instructed in the arts of
making soap from lard, swing gloves of chamois, mixing
powders…etc’
• The structured steps to making perfume
• Most importantly he learns one way of gaining the scent of
something – by distillation.
• Learns that there are three other ways to gain scent – and
that these techniques are practiced in Grasse.
Overall Significance
The overall significance of the setting is to show how Grenouille
develops to become a better perfumer. While his raw gift of
sense of smell is unchanged – as Baldini’s sense could not
possible teach Grenouille something different, he becomes
aware of the skill and art that is the perfumer and he learns
techniques which help to enhance his talent of mixing smells
together to create a perfume,