If you were explaining the dramatic significance of Mélisande's initial reaction to Golaud—tressailing, rising, and wanting to flee—to someone who hasn't read the play, how would you articulate what this immediate, non-verbal response communicates about her character and her relationship to the world she's about to enter?

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Mélisande’s immediate, non-verbal response—tressailing, rising, and wanting to flee—communicates profound fear and a defensive, traumatized state. When Golaud first touches her shoulder, she “tressaille, se dresse et veut fuir” [2], and she immediately cries “Ne me touchez pas!” [2]. This reaction shows she is terrified of physical contact and instinctively seeks escape, suggesting she has suffered harm. She later sobs that “Tous! tous!” have done her harm and that she has “fui… fui… fui” from somewhere, though she cannot say where [4]. Her fear is not just of Golaud but of the world itself.

This response also reveals her as a lost, vulnerable figure with no clear place in the world. She says “Je suis perdue!… perdue ici… Je ne suis pas d’ici… Je ne suis pas née là…” [4], indicating she is disconnected from any origin or home. Her refusal to go with Golaud (“Non, non; je reste ici…” [1]) and her threat to throw herself in the water if he retrieves her crown [1] show a desperate, self-protective will. Golaud later writes that “elle doit avoir eu une grande épouvante” and that questioning makes her sob “si profondément qu’on a peur” [3], confirming that her non-verbal terror…

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