Les Anciennes Odeurs, is a play about feelings, more specifically about the tenderness that remains in a relationship after the passion of love has died. (p. 796)

Luc ended his seven-year relationship with Jean-Marc because he felt Jean-Marc's love was too constraining…. He had had other lovers during his relationship with Jean-Marc, and he continues this lifestyle after the relationship is over. Jean-Marc has gotten involved in another monogamous relationship, but he feels he can never again give the depth of commitment he had given to Luc. He does not want to risk being hurt again.

This is a familiar situation in which almost any two people could find themselves. The fact that it happens to be two men is not terribly significant. This is not a play about homosexuality. The homosexuality depicted in Les Anciennes Odeurs is not the same experience as that of Hosanna or La Duchesse...