Maria Chapdelaine

Samuel Chapdelaine is the Chapdelaine family’s patriarch, a frontiersman whose life’s work and passion is “making land” in the dense forests of rural Québec. Samuel personifies Louis Hémon’s view of the habitant, a strong and stoic man with an unshakable resilience. After living in one place for several years, Samuel invariably grows restless and moves the family to increasingly isolated new locations. The rest of the family’s acquiescence to his whims is based both on their respect for Samuel and his undisputed status as the head of the family.

Samuel represents the old ways and traditions of the first French settlers in Canada. He is deeply connected to the land and the weather, and his life’s work is the essential pioneer duty of making the “barbaric” land inhabitable. He is also a staunch Catholic, who believes that rural people “are but little children in the hand of God” (51). Along with his wife, Samuel models tradition and adherence to duty.

Madame Chapdelaine is Maria’s mother. A faithful and tenacious woman, Madame Chapdelaine is well-respected in her family and her community. She is a skilled homemaker, raising Maria and her five siblings while helping Samuel maintain the farm. Madame Chapdelaine often pines for her childhood village of St. Prime, desiring a stability and comfort that the Chapdelaines’ semi-nomadic farming lifestyle cannot sustain. Despite her unfulfilled desires, she is unfailingly supportive of her husband. She accepts the harshness of life in the woods as part of her Catholic duties and acquiesces serenely to Samuel’s will, embodying the curé’s advice to “neither rebel nor complain” (58) against her station.

Near the end of the novel, Madame Chapdelaine falls ill with an unknown ailment. The Chapdelaine farm is far removed from proper medical care. Madame Chapdelaine dies after a successive series of rural doctors cannot diagnose her; the curé then arrives in time to give her the last rites. She is fondly remembered by her husband as a good and loyal wife. Maria notes that this “little word of praise” (85) is Madame Chapdelaine’s only earthly reward for her long-suffering life.

Madame Chapdelaine’s death catalyzes Maria to reconsider her decision to marry Lorenzo. She admires her mother’s stoic adherence to duty and asks herself if she too can put her duties (as a woman, a French-Canadian, and a Catholic) before her own happiness. She decides that she must, and chooses to marry Eutrope, carrying on the legacy of her family and ancestors.

The character of Madame Chapdelaine illustrates how women are uniquely constrained by the concept of duty. After choosing to marry Samuel, she is never again given the freedom to decide what kind of life she wants to live. Her life also serves as an example to Maria about the importance of choosing her husband carefully.

François Paradis, a young backwoodsman from Mistassini, is Maria’s primary love interest. François makes a living logging, trapping, and trading furs with local Indigenous tribes and other settlers. 

François represents a midpoint between the farmer Eutrope Gagnon and the immigrant Lorenzo Surprenant. He has sold his father’s farm, having no desire to remain rooted in one place, yet his work is still local to Canada and deeply tied to the land.

François is the only one of her suitors for whom Maria feels true love. She resolves to marry him early on, and the two look forward to a blissful marriage, the “paradise” implied by François’s last name. On his way to visit Maria for New Year’s Day, François dies of exposure. His death highlights the danger of life on the frontier and marks the end of Maria’s naïve youth. In the wake of his loss, Maria is left to make a loveless choice between her remaining suitors.

Eutrope Gagnon is a young farmer and the Chapdelaine family’s only neighbor. He and his brother own a nearby farm. In the winter, Eutrope runs the farm alone while his brother works at a shanty. 

Eutrope is a shy young man who initially holds off from courting Maria because he is aware of her preference for François. After François’s death, however, Eutrope makes a bid for Maria’s affection. He acknowledges that their life together would not be an easy one but promises to work tirelessly to improve their condition. Maria is initially hesitant to commit to Eutrope, haunted by the death of François and drawn in by the allure of a more glamorous life in the United States with Lorenzo. Eutrope’s character closely parallels that of Samuel Chapdelaine, and the choice to marry him entails the continuation of the Chapdelaine family’s traditions and legacy.

Gagnon proves himself to be a reliable and loyal man. During Madame Chapdelaine’s illness, Eutrope risks his own life by walking a long stretch of uncleared road to fetch a doctor. After her mother’s death makes her reconsider her values, Maria accepts Eutrope’s proposal, choosing tradition over change. Her acceptance fulfills the outcome prophesized by Eutrope’s last name.