Short Fiction · Chapter
The Maid of Saint Phillippe explained
Marianne, a strong and independent young woman, returns from hunting to find her village in turmoil over the impending arrival of the English.
What happens
Marianne, a strong and independent young woman, returns from hunting to find her village in turmoil over the impending arrival of the English. The villagers decide to abandon Saint Phillippe rather than live under English rule, but Marianne's father Picoté refuses to leave because his wife is buried there. After Picoté dies, Marianne is left alone but resolute, refusing offers to move to Kaskaskia or Saint Louis.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom and Confinement
Marianne embodies freedom in her untrammelled stride and independence, but is confined by her duty to her father and the threat of English rule.
Sacrifice and Redemption
Picoté sacrifices his home and community to remain near his wife's grave, and Marianne sacrifices her own desires to follow her father's will.
Cultural and Historical Context
The chapter vividly depicts the French colonial experience in the Illinois country and the impact of the English takeover on the inhabitants.
Characters to notice
- Marianne
The protagonist, a strong and independent French girl who hunts and lives in the wilderness with her father.
- Picoté Laronce
Marianne's father, who refuses to leave Saint Phillippe because his wife is buried there, and later dies under the maple tree.
- Jacques Labrie
A young man from the village who tries to persuade Marianne to leave Saint Phillippe and later offers her a home in Saint Louis.
Key passages
“Marianne was tall, supple, and strong. Dressed in her worn buckskin trappings she looked like a handsome boy rather than like the French girl of seventeen that she was.”
Marianne is a tall, strong seventeen-year-old who, in her buckskin clothes, appears more like a boy than a girl.
Introduces Marianne's physical strength and androgynous appearance.
“We hate the English... Well, it is only the eastern province of Louisiana that has been granted to England. There is hardly a man in Saint Phillippe who would not rather die than live subject to that country.”
The villagers despise the English and would rather die than live under English rule, even though only the eastern part of Louisiana was ceded to England.
Explains the villagers' motivation for abandoning Saint Phillippe.
“When the last of these rebellious spirits was gone, Saint Phillippe stood like the skeleton of its former self; and Picoté Laronce with his daughter found themselves alone amid the desolate hearthstones.”
After everyone else left, Saint Phillippe was a ghost town, with only Picoté and Marianne remaining.
Describes the aftermath of the village's abandonment.