Thursday, November 5, 2009

Madame De Lafayette- La Princesse De Cleves

La Princesse De Cleves

Je vais vous faire un aveu que l'on n'a jamais fait a un mari; mais l'innocence de ma conduite et de mes intentions m'en donne la force.....

Synopsis: The princess in the story is married to a man who she admires but is not in love with. She meets a different man at a party who she falls in love. When she starts acting weird her husband confronts her and she admits she loves someone else. Her husband though touched by her devotion to him and her ability to not touch cannot help but get mad and jealous of the new man. He ends up dying and she goes into a convent.

Reaction: I actually loved this story. I was inspired by her ability to remain loyal to her husband and a little sad that he admitted to still loving her after she told him the truth. I wish it could have ended a little happier but oh well. It was an example to me of how much love can hurt if it is not returned by the person you love. I also wonder how they ended up getting married in the first place? Did she think she would develop love later?

4 comments:

Trent said...

Of all the confessions that exist this is the one to avoid the most. Madame de La Fayette's writting of this marraige "gone-wrong" made my heart sink with sadness. This story personally makes me want to win my wife's love and affection everyday.

Reese Loveless said...

It is sad that she didn't strive to love her husband more, instead of just giving up on their love because of another. At the same time the courage that she had to tell him the truth of why she couldn't return was respectable. She knew that she couldn't ever be with this other man. So in a way she was always faithful to her husband.

Valerie said...

I was very struck in this passage by how admirable both the husband's and the wife's characters are. Most people, I think, in the wife's situation would hide such a secret and end up creating more distance in their marriage, but she was honest, trusting, and innocent enough to be able to be open with her husband. The husband, likewise, didn't become angry or try to seek revenge, he was simply sad. Both their reactions were examples of high moral character.

Seth Howell said...

This was a very difficult situation. Although she had these different feelings, she stayed so committed to her husband. What a hard thing to have to go through.