Only Through the Rejection of Love Are Women Equal to Men

The unjust plight of women is a suspiciously familiar tale throughout the world's societies, countries, and histories. Always subjected to the whims of men in charge, women have been fighting for their rights of equal standing for centuries. How are women to find their rightful places in a society that creates a set standard for all women to obey? Women are usually considered to be frail, emotional, unreasonable, only fit to be mothers, subservient, and in love with love. But what if women were to reject some of these traits imposed upon them, especially the idea of love? In two novels, I look at the effects of society's treatment of women and the author's portrayal of women as an attempt to answer this question.

The Princesse de Clèves is a story by Madame de Lafayette depicting a sheltered young woman, Mlle de Chartres i.e. Princesse de Clèves, who is taken to an illustrious 16^th century French court by her moralist mother. The mother, Mme de Chartres, wishes to insert her daughter in her rightful place in society through marriage. The court is a devious place, described by Mme de Chartres as a place where "if you judge by appearances...you will frequently be deceived: what you see is almost never the truth" (26). The young daughter falls prey to adulterous passion and is only able to escape by temporary madness and a physical removal from the cause of her passion. But why is this young woman tortured by the inability to pursue her passionate inclination when marital ties are no longer a barrier? Why is love not attainable for the Princesse de Clèves? I propose that the answer to these questions lies within the world Madame de Lafayette lived and how the unequal treatment and social view of women during her era, affected her treatment of love in the novel The Princesse de Clèves.