The princesss gender, along with the time period addressed in this novella, limit her freedom. The few liberties she is left with only lead to her unhappiness and that of the two men in her life. The princess makes a free decision to confess such as no woman has ever made to her husband of her forbidden passions for another man (125). Her freedoms only haunt her and leave her alone in the end. It causes the death of her beloved husband and the solitude of both her and the Duke. Accompanying the negative outcomes, there are many restraints place on the degree to which the freedom extends. When feeling overwhelmed with her surrounding society Madame de Cleves must ask her husband if she may remain where they live as the court continues onward. Her one effort to temporarily escape from the bustle of the court is questioned by another person, pure evidence of the circumstantial freedom she is allowed. Along with her husbands powers, while her mother was alive, she held on to a portion of Madame de Cleves freedom. Her mother and society built the rules and morals she lived by, none of which were her own. When confronted with the affliction between her husband and the man she truly loves, her mother merely reminds her to think of what [she] owes [her] husband and to remember that [she] is in danger of losing that reputation which [she] has acquired (93). This is the same reputation that her mother had so ardently desired for [her]. The decision of whether or not to become an infidel, as many other married men and women of her era, is not even left to be her own. Her mothers constant instructions of love and life control these types of decisions thus limiting her freedom. La Feyette shows how relative freedom is not sufficient enough.Freedom, as everything in life, is imperative in moderate amounts. La Feyettes main characters exercises of freedom seem to lead to great unhappiness. One should keep in mind that this is a fema...
