Summary

The entirety of the third chapter is dedicated to the wedding between Gervaise and Coupeau: the quick planning begins with Coupeau’s arrangements for a simple dinner at Auguste’s Moulin d’Argent, and the invitations sent to family and friends requesting they attend the humble event. As the preparations continue, the couple runs into an issue that will worsen during the course of the novel: they have no money. In order to keep the wedding on track, Coupe pawns a number of items, haggles constantly for lower prices, and pays only a portion of the fees needed in many of the transactions, racking up a small mountain of debt in the process.

On the wedding day, the itinerary unfolds as follows: first, the wedding party arrives early at town hall, in order to get the marriage licenses. However, the judge is tardy for...