Visualizing the Communication Circuits of The Princess of Cleves

1. Visualizing the Communication Circuits of The Princess of Cleves Or, why does the Princess renounce the man she loves?

2. 1: The Court of Henry II: “Ambition and love affairs were the life-blood of the court, absorbing the attention of men and women alike. There were countless interests at stake, countless different factions, and women played such a central part in them that love was always entangled with politics and politics with love.” (14) Queen, Catherine de Medici Hate Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Duke de Nemours Mlle. De Chartres The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

3. 2: The magical effect of beauty: “There appeared at court in those days a young woman so beautiful that all eyes turned to gaze upon her.” (9) Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Mme de Chartres “was troubled by no fear that she was giving her daughter, in the Prince of Cleves, a husband whom she could not love.” (20) Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres accepts Duke de Nemours Mlle. De Chartres, Princess of Cleves courts The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Time-tracks of the relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

4. 3: The Duke de Nemours appears at the ball: “He had such presence that it was difficult not to be taken aback…The King called to her to take the person who had just arrived…”(23) Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

5. 4: The Mother’s deathbed injunction to the Princess: “You have an inclination for M. de Nemours;…you are on the edge of a precipice….” (39-40) Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II … Remember what you owe to your husband; … you are at the point of losing the reputation you have earned for yourself and I so much desired for you. … withdraw from the court.” (40) Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Injunction Duke de Nemours Mlle. De Chartres, Princess of Cleves The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

6. 5: An Errant Letter disturbs the court Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II news Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart “Her mind fastened on everything, in fact, that could possibly increase her distress and despair.” (72) Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Errant Letter Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

7. 6: Vadime to Nemours: “I have come to entrust to your confidence the most important affair of my life.”(74) Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme de Martigues Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres A narrative Errant Letter Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves Note The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

8. 7: Nemours and the Princess solve a problem by forging a love-letter together Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Forged Letter Errant Letter “This atmosphere of mystery and secrecy had no small charm for Nemours and even for Mme de Cleves.” (89) She feels “a pure unmixed delight that was new to her, and from this delight came a mood of gaiety and freedom which M. de Nemours had never before seen in her” Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

9. 8: The Princess retreats to Coulommiers and confesses to her husband that she loves another, while Nemours listens… Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres “I will make you a confession which no woman has ever made to her husband.” (95) Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves The confession The Prince of Cleves “But Madame, you must now finish your story and tell me who it is that you wish to avoid.” Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

10. 9: Nemours’ indiscretion: the Queen-Dauphone asks him: “Are you not the man who is in love with and loved by a woman at court who takes care to hide her passion from you but has confessed it to her husband?” Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme de Martigues Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres A screened narrative reproach Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

11. 10: Suspicion: the princess “found it equally impossible to believe that her husband had spoken and that he had not spoken” (111) Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart “How have you used the extraordinary, or rather the foolish, trust that I placed in you?” (109) Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres New distrust Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves “You accuse me of having repeated what happened between the two of us, and you tell me the story is known? The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

12. 11: Narcissistic pleasure and intersubjective bliss Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme de Martigues Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves NemoursLikeness “To see a woman he adored in the middle of the night, in the most beautiful place in the world, to see her, without her knowing he was there, entirely absorbed in things connected with him and with the passion she was hiding from him—what lover has ever enjoyed or even imagined such delight?” (128) The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

13. 12: The Prince’s Deathbed Reproach to the Princess: “I am no longer in a condition to reproach you… but I am dying of the cruel blow you have struck me.” Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves “How could an action as extraordinary as your confession to me at Coulommiers have had such meager consequences? Why reveal to me your passion for M. de Nemours if your virtue was not better equipped to resist it?... …Farewell, Madame; some day you will be sorry to have lost a man whose passion for you was both genuine and legitimate.” (136) The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette

14. 13: The first (and last) open talk between the lovers: “I have made up my find to answer you with a sincerity you will rarely find in persons of my sex.” (145) Queen, Catherine de Medici Duchess of Valentinois, or Diane de Poitiers King Henry II Madame, the King’s sister Queen Dauphine, Mary Stuart • Her renunciation of Nemours: • “My duty forbids me ever to think of anyone, and of you less than any man alive…” • “But how long does men’s passion last when the bond is eternal? …A woman may reproach a lover, but can she reproach a husband who has merely stopped loving her?” (148-9) • “…I intend to remove myself from your sight.” (150) Mme. De Chartres Vidame de Chartres • Nemours affirms her freedom • “would you allow some phantom of duty to stand in the way of my happiness?” (147) • “It is harder than you think, Madame, to resist someone who both attracts you and who loves you.” (150) Duke de Nemours Princess of Cleves The Prince of Cleves Mme de Themine Relationships between Characters in The Princess of Cleves by Mme de Lafayette