Marguerite Van Male: A Necessary Evil

In a time when God was worshiped and the Devil was feared, Marguerite Van Male was a young women who grew up as the daughter of the Count of Flanders. Seemed to be quite a daring young lady, she went against a lot of the roles that she was expected to play. Marguerite went against what was expected of her as a Countess and a women. This book is also about how the Marguerite’s people of Flanders believed in superstitions and religion and how those beliefs affected them. I think that one of the clearest themes was that men where valued more than women, in this essay I am going to expand on these themes.

Marguerite is very headstrong and defies the female roles and what is expected of her as a countess. Women were meant to act elegant, polite, feminine, submissive and were forbidden to do what men where aloud to do. All the things Marguerite enjoyed and was good at. Marguerite was described by Frans Ackerman on page 222, “ she’s a horse without reins”. He was describing her as wild and untamed by any man in her life. “Phillip can’t believe his eyes when I hoist up my skirts and throw myself across Palframand’s back” -Marguerite page 158. If
Marguerite was born a boy then her father would be more proud and loving towards her. The Count only blamed his wife for the birth of a daughter. Marguerite says to her father that he will not be able to hurt her once she is married, he replies that her husband will take care of that for him. Men believed they could hit a women if she was slightly arrogant towards him.

The people of Flanders believed in good fortune and misfortune, God and the Devil. God granted happiness and the Devil took it away. “god will not grant me happiness” Marguerite says on page 238, because she has brought the plague to Flanders through Godfried. “Godfried has brought the pestilence to Flanders” -Marguerite page 226. Just before Marguerite’s mother was sent to the convent, it was believed she had holes in her head which provided access to the Devil. Whilst God was powerful, superstitions affected a lot of people. Marguerite was birthed into the kingdom of Flanders by Morva who was believed to have slept with the devil. “ Morva has slept with the devil and because of that she has eternal life” said on page 8. As Morva is birthing Marguerite she makes symbols on the Duchess’s belly with a red fluid, “mutters over her” and the baby is delivered.

Marguerite’s family was ranked as very high, so they had people to do everything for them.
They were treated as slaves and not considered as equals. “ One brilliant day I sprinkle half a pound of dried peas in the stairwell” page 77. Marguerite’s prank on Constance causes her to trip down the stairs and break her shoulder. She then runs off with her Whalebone sword to her fencing lesson. Marguerite and Philip, even though they were wealthy, on their way to France they stop at a shelter which is isolated. Philip catches the plague and they are still isolated. Marguerite is trapped inside the shelter with late Philip for five days before someone comes to get her. This is an example of social inequality as they are Marguerite is left with Philip who had passed away, in a small shelter in winter so it was freezing and smelt of
decay.

Marguerite did not follow a lot of the rules she was expected to play. She defied differences between men and women, this built her character. The people of Flanders Belgium, including Marguerite and her father, had many different religious beliefs and superstitions. These impacted the daily lives of a lot of people, including Marguerite. In Marguerites time, mid 1300’s, equality was not what it is today, as shown through Marguerites hardships and struggles. Through out the novel, the themes of the story where shown in many different ways. The lives of those in the book where impacted by, gender roles, beliefs and social equality in ways we cannot compare to today’s society.