Marriage And Romantic Love in "The Princess Of Cleves&q
Marriage And Romantic Love in "The Princess Of Cleves"
There is a popular song that goes something like “love and marriage, love and marriage, goes together like a horse and carriage,...but not in this time period or in this play. In this play, marriages were arranged to protect family titles and wealth, to provide heirs and to forge unions between powerful families. To maintain the proper levels of class, both men and women usually always married amongst their peers, or at least, that is the way it was suppose to be. Mademoiselle de Chartres was no exception within her marriage choices. Or I should say her mother’s choices for a husband to her. The Prince of Cleves was chosen for the Princess by Madame de Chartres on the basis of social standing and political alliances within the court of Henri II of France. The Princess agreed that the Prince was a worthy man, "but that she was not particularly attracted by his person". It was Madame de Chartres, not the Princess, who accepted the marriage proposal from the Prince. "She felt no qualms; it never even occurred to her that she was perhaps giving her daughter to somebody whom she could not love.” Mademoiselle de Chartres did not love her husband. That was okay and acceptable to mom. It was the love of the man that was preached and the propriety of the woman that Mademoiselle was raised with. It seemed to me that “mom” did not truly believe that her daughter was intelligent enough to understand what true romantic love was, that she was to see everything as what was meant to be for her own good in the arrangement of a husband and that if not told, would never know or feel true love.
On the other hand, Monsieur Cleves was in a position where love mattered to him, but his love for her, not her love for him. Although he was bothered by the prospect of her not loving him, he married anyway. He knew of and used the importance of propriety. This was maintained throughout their marriage.
The dilemma between duty to her husband and love for Nemours is what this story is all about. The love that had never been felt and now was, the duty to a husband that put her in the position of court...