Ann Radcliffe’s “The Romance in the Forest” explores the relationship between Adeline and the men in the book. Louis, the son of Adeline’s hosts, Pierre and Madame Constance, is attracted to Adeline. Marquis is interested in Adeline as his mistress, but Adeline is in love with Theodore. The article discusses how men are proficient in dividing love to suit their interests. The article elucidates that men can love affectionately or passionately.
In affectionate love, men feel no sexual longings for women, but in passionate love, men are inclined to have sexual longings for women. In The Romance in the Forest, it is quite palpable that the love Marquis had for Adeline was a passionate one because regardless of the actuality that he was married, he wanted to maintain Adeline as his mistress. Nevertheless, the article and the book differ in their argument on chosen topics.
In the book, the female characters stomach several tribulations. Adeline, for instance, was toasted around different households. Her first hosts bestow her to Pierre and Madame Constance, not because these people are aliens. Madame presumes Adeline had an affair with her husband Pierre, making her feelings for Adeline unreceptive. Marquis is interested in Adeline for erroneous reasons; he not only wants Adeline to be his mistress, but he also intends to execute her.
The article explicates that the heroines in the novel do not accomplish anything. They are vulnerable and in constant trepidation of the men around them. The women are like sculptures, they are to be seen but not to be heard. The article explains that the book should have focused on showing how women get out of intricate situations not how they live frantically and helplessly. The author has, therefore, botched to show what is heroic about women in the book, because there is nothing gallant about their traits.
The book portrays women as weak individuals compared to men; they are forced to become mistresses or get involved with people they dislike. They do not face up to challenges because of fear. The women in the book needed to do something exceptional to evidence their heroism. Adeline is the lead character in the book, and she is supposed to exemplify the strength of women, for women, in general, to identify with her. Adeline should be admired, but in the novel, she does not possess any laudable character; all she draws to herself is a pity. The article explains that the lead character in the novel needed to have outstanding traits. Adeline as the lead female character in the novel should have been audacious. The book should focus on showing the might of women, apart from their feeble nature.
The literature explains that there are different kinds of love, and it shows that women can classify real love and illusion. It clearly states that as much as men can be compelling and persuasive; a woman will know when that particular man is honest or not. In the novel different men, Louis, Marquis, and Theodore love Adeline and despite her helpless and feeble nature, she knows whose love is genuine.
Conclusion
The novel is a gothic work by the author Ann Radcliff, who appreciably manages to illustrate why the women in the novel were fearful. However, Radcliff could have balanced the traits of women to show that as much as they were inadequate they fought back at other times.