The Priest in Clair De Lune by Guy de Maupassant - Book Report/Review Example

A character analysis of the priest (Abbe Marignan) in the short Story “Clair De Lune” Clair de Lune can be roughly translated as moonlight from French. This work by Guy de Maupassant is set mainly in a garden situated near a monastery. The story unfolds in the late evening as an orthodox priest is about to spy on his niece as she meets her lover. The overall narrative of the story concentrates on the theme of love and shows love being derived from the vileness of society. Moreover, it signifies a transformation of the priest’s orthodox view into a more romantic and libertarian view on love and the relationship between a man and a woman. There are a number of different elements that Maupassant has relied on in order to fabricate the entire story. The protagonist Abbe Marignan, is essentially a composure of most of the elements used to create the story. Depicted as a priest, Marignan signifies both extremes on love and hence espouses the various elements used inside the story itself. The very first line of the story perhaps best signifies the first aspect of Abbe Marignan’s personality where Maupassant exclaims Marignan as a “soldier of God”. The contention here is to depict Marignan as a righteous yet fanatical individual since a soldier is by design fanatically tied to the doctrines of a higher order. Maupassant clarifies this view through his second line where he delineates the priest’s existence as: “He was a tall, thin priest, fanatical to a degree, but a just and exalted soul.” The use of the word “fanatical” signifies that Marignan was a zealous individual in the higher order service of God. In being a servant of God, Marignan has been depicted as being righteous an uncompromising – just as any fanatic is. In his fanaticism Marignan has been depicted as a learned man who does his best to discover the Lord’s purpose for every other thing. Maupassant exclaims: “…sometimes a question arose in his mind: "Why did God make that?"” In itself, this small question reveals a lot about Marignan’s basic nature which is inquisitive. However, as the story later reveals, Marignan is inquisitive as well as nosy since he goes ahead and interferes with something that does not concern him. This characteristic may be attributed to everyone who believes that he is in line with God and is in some degree God’s representative on earth. Since religious figures such as priests are entrusted with religion on a professional scale, so it might be expected that they would interfere in other people’s lives to determine their righteousness (Heap). Furthermore, Marignan has been shown as a person who inquires into things and finds divine explanations for them. Maupassant expresses this as: “…putting himself in Gods place, he searched obstinately and nearly always was satisfied that he found the reason.” Being part of divinity, Marignan feels that he knows what is best and how things ought to work. In his overconfidence, Marignan tends to treat his assumptions as basic truths and applies them equally across the board to everyone, irrespective of their relationship to Marignan. This application of assumptions brings out another part of Marignan’s personality that has rightly been criticized and somewhat ridiculed (Sullivan). Marignan has been portrayed as a misogynist in the real sense of the word. Maupassant clarifies: “But he hated women; he hated them unconsciously and despised them by instinct.” The priest believes that God had created women in order to “tempt man and to test him”. For him, there is little other need for the existence of women and there is little that could be classified as love for a woman. Marignan strongly believes that women tend to weaken a man with their charms and through their tenderness but he always felt strong enough to resist such charms. Being a man of religion, Marignan felt that nuns and other such religiously affiliated women were a little different since they had been “rendered harmless by their vow”. However, Marignan being a true misogynist still treated nuns harshly since he would still feel the “tenderness” emanating from their personas. Maupassant expresses this as: “…because, ever at the bottom of their chained-up hearts, their chastened hearts, he perceived the eternal tenderness that constantly went out to him although he was a priest.” In this manner, there is little doubt that Marignan is a true woman hater who under no circumstances is ready to accept woman as being equal creatures. Instead, Marignan perceives women as evil and tempting no matter what their level of religious devotion. Using this highly biased lens, Marignan has developed a concept of paternalistic care and attachment that is expressed in his relationship to his niece. Marignan is told that his niece has a lover but he fails to believe such a story. Being highly righteous himself, Marignan considers others around him to have become righteous especially his relatives. The development of the paternal instinct in Marignan’s character signifies that he sees himself as a steward of evil and wretched beings walking the earth. Moreover, given that Marignan was nosy, he decides to spy on his niece in order to find out for himself (Artinian). Another aspect that demands attention is Marignan’s suppression of his anger. Throughout the course of the day, Marignan tries to relinquish his anger and frustration but fails to do so altogether. This could be attributed to Marignan’s sense of righteousness as well as his paternal love for his niece coupled to his fanatical religious zeal. All of this continues to define Marignan so as long as he is confined to himself. However, a new Marignan can be seen as emerging as he strolls out to spy on his niece. There is little doubt that Marignan’s sense of observation was keen and well developed since he notices changes around him as soon as he walks out. The ensuing transformation of Marignan from a misogynist to a person recognizing and then respecting love is nothing short of miraculous. Conclusively, it could be said that Marignan has been depicted as a misogynist who is rigid yet flexible enough at the same time to alter his views. The overarching religious affiliation of Marignan tends to persist from start to end since he does not reject or alter his religious beliefs. Bibliography Artinian, Artine. Maupassant Criticism in France 1880-1940. New York: Russell and Russell, 1941. Heap, Alan. “Guy de Maupassant and the World of the Norman Peasant.” Masters Thesis. 1971. Maupassant, Guy de. In the Moonlight. 2005. 3 June 2012 . Sullivan, E. D. Maupassant, the short stories. London: Edward Arnold, 1962. Read More