Marguerite

Composer Charles Gounod wrote an operatic adaptation of Goethe's early-nineteenth-century tragedy Faust, which Bouguereau probably saw in its 1859 Paris premiere. Faust sends Méphistophélès, the devil, in search of a gift that will seduce Marguerite, a beautiful woman who has caught his eye. Méphistophélès then leaves on her doorstep an exquisite box containting jewels and a hand mirror. Bouguereau presents Marguerite looking at herself in the mirror, as though she is about to appreciate how the pearls will enhance her exposed neckline. The expression on her face suggests that Faust's ploy has already worked.