English 2030 – W2
Dr. Jill Franks
October 5, 2013
Sand’s Marianne: The Development of Characters and the Inevitable Outcome
In George Sand’s Marianne, Sand uses her development of the three primary characters to bring together two unlikely soul mates, and at the same time separate the two most likely paired of the three figures. Her primary characters, Marianne, Pierre, and Philippe, and their make-up play an intricate role in the story. More than just playing a key role though, their make-up leads the story in a direction that is propelled by the unique personalities each hold. The drive that each strong personality contributes to Sand’s Marianne, and their unique temperaments, brings the reader into a different sort of love story as opposed to what would be expected of a typical love story. Sand, with her characters, leads the story to a place where however unlikely it winds up, it couldn’t possibly have ended any other way than it does.
The character of Pierre is one of a deep emotional type. Pierre lived his life with blinders on. He saw only what he wanted to see forward in his future, living for his moment. When he has to return home, and hasn’t reached his life goals and fulfilled his dreams, he devalues himself and lives with regrets that blind him to what is right in front of him. He cannot see what happiness can be obtained because he has put too much emphasis on his failures and his place in the world, as well as his age at the time of the story.
Philippe’s character is almost the polar opposite to Pierre’s. Where Pierre was driven, and one minded in his plan for his future, Philippe is driven by his passion for painting. He doesn’t care for financial gain, other than what he would need to get his father from pressuring him and what would allow him to keep creating. He is almost in love with himself, and has nothing but confidence in himself, and his abilities to succeed. Where Pierre is self-oppressing, hard on himself, Philippe