The Romance of the Forest

Pierre La Motte is a second protagonist of the novel, though not its hero. He is a round, dynamic character. His character arc is eventually one of redemption, but for much of the novel, he is a study in the consequences of wrongdoing and an example of a character easily led astray by temptation.

La Motte is described as a gentleman descended from “an ancient house of France” but a “man whose passions often overcame his reason, and, for a time, silenced his conscience” (2). He is intelligent and has an impressionable nature that, as the narrator notes, could be influenced: “his mind was active, and his imagination vivid, which, cooperating with the force of passion, often dazzled his judgement and subdued principle” (2). When put to a moral test, in most cases, La Motte “was not a man of very vigorous resolution” (52).

La Motte’s flaw is that he enjoys a life of comfort but is not careful about his spending. When he loses money gambling, he attempts to cheat to win money back. When he’s caught at this, he agrees to join a group of men to defraud others. He’s aware this is both an error and a crime, but he cannot resist the temptation. The need for money will lead La Motte into further trouble when he chooses again to commit a crime and rob a wealthy man traveling through the Forest of Fontanville. La Motte’s sense of guilt over stealing from him and leaving the man for dead shows that he is not entirely absent of a sense of what is right. His sense of self-preservation is strong, but his moral code is still present. While this sense of self-preservation spurs him to take charge of Adeline when she is given to his custody, a sense of compassion moves him to take her into his household. He tells himself it is in Adeline’s best interests to become the mistress of the Marquis, as she will be taken care of, and he uses this reason to justify abetting in her kidnapping. When he is pressed to commit a greater crime of murder, however, La Motte’s conscience surfaces. Rather than challenge the Marquis, which he is too weak-willed to do, La Motte enables Adeline’s escape.

By the end, after his trial and sentence are announced, the narrator suggests that La Motte has reviewed his errors, repented for his actions, and resolved to live a more honest life in the future. This suits the novel’s overall ethos that characters can be redeemed. La Motte provides an example of the power of self-interest. When he thinks he can profit by a situation, he does, but when he realizes that living an honest life is more in his interest, he resolves to do so.

Philippe, the Marquis de Montalt, is first introduced as a benefactor to the La Mottes but quickly reveals himself as the antagonist in the novel. The conclusion discovers that his villainy has been behind most of the major events. He is an example of the extremes of self-interest, and his actions are the actions of a man who lacks the qualities that the world of the novel considers virtues.

Philippe is the half-brother of Henry, the rightful Marquis de Montalt, which suggests they shared a father but had a different mother. Both of the brothers marry an heiress who brings wealth and property into the family. Philippe’s wife brings him the Abbey of St. Clair, the Gothic ruin standing in the Forest of Fontanville, which Philippe finds a convenient place to have his brother imprisoned and murdered. His motives for this, the narrator says, are ambition and greed; he wanted the title and income.

Philippe thereafter sends the rightful heir, his brother’s daughter, away with Jean d’Aunoy, the man he paid to murder Henry. When d’Aunoy’s wife dies, Adeline is sent to a convent. When she refuses as a young adult to take vows, which means she would reside at the convent for life, the Marquis asks Du Bosse to isolate the girl and do away with her, as he wants no rival. Now the Marquis, Philippe has no idea that Adeline is his niece when he pursues her and tries to make her his mistress. Though his wife is alive, his offer to marry Adeline merely shows his lack of scruples.

The Marquis is initially introduced as a noble-seeming man. He “was polite, affable, and attentive: to manners the most easy and elegant, was added the last refinement of polished life. His conversation was lively, amusing, sometimes even witty” (99), the narrator says. But a suggestion emerges that his assumption of manners does not reflect intelligence; the narrator goes on to say, his “acquaintance with the higher circles, and with the topics of the day” was not a substitute for “great knowledge of the world” (99). Later, the narrator admits, “The elegance of his manners […] effectually veiled the depravity of his heart” (338). The Marquis is motivated by his passions, greed, and lust, and feels no remorse for his crimes. Rather than face the justice of the punishment of the legal system, he decides to end his life by taking poison. Unlike La Motte, the Marquis is not the type to repent of his actions.