rs in the story. By the end, he allows hisemotions to completely overtake him as he professes his lovefor Mme of Cleves. Descartes writes that the only things that exist arewhat we make through our senses, but that our sensesconstantly deceive us. Descartes’ rationality is onlyrelated to the thinking self because that is all that hetruly thinks exists. Descartes breaks down everything tothe mind at the very beginning of his Meditations. Themind, however, cannot be the focus of the Princesse DeCleves because the characaters are the central theme. Though the actions of every character in the Princesse DeCleves are completely self-centered, they are seen byeveryone else in the story. Cleves is viewed as the mostvirtuous and honorable character in the novel because she isthe only one that uses rational thought the entire time. Mme of Cleves thinks through things before she acts, and forthis she receives the greatest reward: honor. When Mme ofCleves is distressed over the way she reacts towards herhusband, she uses thought to relieve her troubled mind. “She asked herself why she had done something so perilous,and she concluded that she had embarked on it almost withoutthinking. The singular nature of such a confession, forwhich she could find no parallel, brought home to her allthe risks it entailed.”(98) The action of asking herselfthis question shows her as a rational being and is a creditto her honor. Emphasizing thought over emotions does not, however, seemto give the Princesse any pleasure. The simple fact thatMme of Cleves ends up in a convent in the end is anillustration of this point. Mme of Cleves may be left withher honor, but she is still left alone. The author does nottry to give the reader the impression that this ending isunhappy though. She states in the last line of the novel,“Her life, which was quite short, left inimitable examplesof virtue.” (156). The thought that Mm...
