The Villainous Madame Merle

Madame Merle, one of the characters involved in my mini-rant about manners last week, has become a character I absolutely despise. She befriends Isabel and gets her married to Osmond all the while lying about her own relationship with Osmond. On top of that, she has abandoned her daughter, leaving Pansy with the belief that her mother died in childbirth. The lack of remorse Madame Merle shows throughout the novel is appalling.

However, she is a very realistic character. There are many people out there who only care for themselves. These kinds of people do not think twice about doing something as horrible as plotting to steal someone’s inheritance by marrying her to someone who is already in love with someone else. They do not think about the repercussions of their actions. The consequences and collateral damage are nothing to them.

It is for the above reason and the above reason only, that I understand exactly why James created Madame Merle. She is the epitome of a self-absorbed woman. I hesitate to use the word villain here, though I do think that she is a villain, because this is a realist novel and not a romance wherein the lines between good and evil are quite distinct. She is the antagonistic presence in Isabel’s life, even though for a long time she seemed to be the friend that Isabel needed.

Even though I realize that Madame Merle is definitely there to be the antagonist and the realistic picture of a self-absorbed person, I still despise her with every fiber of my being. I see no redeemable qualities in her. The very fact that she abandoned her daughter is detestable to me.