Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

I wasn't really paying attention to that, as I was just counting down the minutes before she would finally get to be alone with Willard (I knew that was where this was all headed the second I saw her looking down from the balcony after Willard and his men showed up at the plantation). I was also having a laugh at how embarrassed she was by the behavior of her family.

In the body of the film, the act was remarkably out of sync. Taking place in a era where cigars are not fashionable, particularly for women, her behavior was confusing. Was it a symbolic gesture inserted by the director or just an extemporaneous moment?

No it isnt. WOmen have been smoking forever. And French wealthy women at that.
You are thinkin way to much into something that requires ZERO thought process.

The gesture would have been remarkably out of place in the 60's when the film was set or the 70's when it was filmed. Women enjoying cigars is a late 90's to early 2000's fad. Further, her expression and "all-is-lost" demeanor imply the act had some emotional symbolism.

Wow are you serious?
I dont know how to put this but women smoke. French women smoke. No doubt the cigars were high quality.
I know TONS of hotties who smoke cigars.
I think she was smoking a cigar because we likes it, nothing more or less.