Elle: Analysis of Major Characters
"Elle: Analysis of Major Characters" presents a deep exploration of the key figures in Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval's narrative, set in the 16th century against the backdrop of colonial Canada. Central to the story is Marguerite herself, a strong-willed and intelligent woman whose journey begins with her forced migration to Canada, where she grapples with her desires and the harsh realities of survival after being abandoned on the Isle of Demons. Her transformation is marked by her encounters with indigenous culture and a female shaman, leading her to question her noble upbringing and faith.
Other significant characters include her uncle Jean-François, who embodies the strict colonial authority and faces a tragic fate linked to Marguerite's actions, and Richard d'Épirgny, her weak-willed lover whose tragic end underscores the harshness of their environment. The analysis also addresses Comes Winter, an indigenous woman alienated by European colonization, and Bastienne, Marguerite’s nurse whose skills ultimately fail her in survival. Together, these characters weave a narrative rich in themes of identity, power, and the clash of cultures, inviting further exploration of their complex relationships and individual arcs.
Elle: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Douglas Glover
Alternate Title: Le pas de l'ourse
First published: 2003
Genre: Novel
Locale: Isle of Demons, Gulf of the Saint Lawrence, Quebec, Canada; Paris, France
Plot: Historical fiction
Time: 1542–1570s
Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, the beautiful and headstrong niece of Jean-François de la Rocque de Roberval. She is forced by her father to travel with Jean-François to Canada in 1542 to help form a permanent settlement. She is a highly intelligent woman, and though she was given an aristocratic upbringing and education, she is a hedonist who uses sex as her escape from reality. During the journey to Canada, her uncle catches her having sex with Richard d'Épirgny. When she uses the captain's dog to remove a loose tooth, inadvertently leading to the animal jumping overboard, Marguerite is abandoned, along with her nurse, Bastienne, and Richard, on the shores of the Isle of Demons on the St. Lawrence River. While her nurse and lover perish, Marguerite survives in the harsh land. Living among the natives, she begins to dream of bears until she becomes consumed by their imagery and is taught by a female shaman how to shape-shift into one. She gives birth to a stillborn child that she imagines is a fish. Her transcultural experiences lead her to swear off her noble upbringing and question the existence of God. After ten years living among the natives, Marguerite is rescued by a whaling ship. When she returns to France, her uncle is mauled by a bear and killed. This satisfies her desire for revenge, and she feels both gratified and responsible for the killing. Twenty years later, she is married to an innkeeper named Isidore and begins writing her memoirs.
Itslk, an Inuk seal-hunter Marguerite encounters after a female polar bear collapses dead on top of her. He is a fat, talkative man who lives north of the St. Lawrence River with a tribe that calls themselves the People, whose way of life has been disrupted by the European invaders. He comes across Marguerite as she is emerging from the gutted stomach of the dead bear, making him believe she has taken the power of the animal. Léon, the dog who jumped overboard, is with him. Itslk stays to live with Marguerite despite her initial confusion when attempting to communicate with him. Since he comes from an oral culture, he has a difficult time figuring out the meaning behind the objects in Marguerite's hut. He speaks French and explains that he is hunting bears in order to save his people from starvation. When Marguerite makes sexual advances toward him, he states that he finds her ugly, but shortly after, they do have sex. When the pregnant Marguerite is on the verge of giving birth, Itslk abandons her.
Jean-François de la Rocque de Roberval, the Calvinist uncle of Marguerite and commander of the colonial expedition bringing permanent settlers from France to Canada. Onboard his ship, he is kept awake at night by the crew's incessant coughing, snoring, and fornicating. When he catches Marguerite having sex on his ship, he becomes very angry. It is only after Marguerite encourages the captain's dog to jump over board that Jean-François decides to abandon her, Richard d'Épirgny, and Bastienne on the Isle of Demons. When Marguerite returns to France many years later, Jean-François has grown dreadfully afraid of bears. He is savagely killed by one in a Parisian cemetery, and during the attack, he thinks of Marguerite, suggesting that it is her in bear form.
Female shaman, an old woman who cures Marguerite of her bear obsession. She encounters Marguerite near the ice bridging the St. Lawrence River, where she finds Marguerite near death. The shaman nurses her back to health. One healing ritual she performs on Marguerite is to suck a tooth from her body. The shaman's form changes from human to she-bear, and she teaches Marguerite this magical ability. While in her own bear form, the shaman dies, and a group of natives hang her carcass from a tree. Before they can skin and eat her, Marguerite does it herself. She then takes to wearing the shaman's bear skin for protection and as a sign of solidarity.
Richard d'Épirgny, a former tennis champion of Orléans, France, and Marguerite's lover. He is weak willed, and Marguerite finds him easy to seduce. Since he was thirteen years old, Richard has been in love with her, but she made the first move to enter into a sexual relationship. As they travel from France to Canada, Richard becomes very sick from the sex with Marguerite and the motion of the ship. He is abandoned on the Isle of Demons alongside her and later dies from the harsh conditions. Before being marooned, he is able to retain possession of his tennis racquet and balls.
Comes Winter, “Catherine,” an indigenous woman from Canada whom explorer Jacques Cartier brings back to France. When Marguerite meets her in France, Comes Winter is slowly dying of consumption and alienated from her own culture by Europeans. Despite her ailments, she stays silent and does not talk to Marguerite. When she dies, Marguerite takes over as caretaker of a bear cub that Cartier keeps as apet.
Bastienne, Marguerite's nurse who is abandoned alongside her on the Isle of Demons. An elderly woman with a heavily wrinkled face, Bastienne is a depraved abortionist and apothecary healer. Her medicinal skills do not help her survive for long on the Isle of Demons, however, and she quickly succumbs to the elements.