de Navarre 6/23/19

The mark of a good ruler always shines through their treatment of their subjects. A fair and merciful ruler understands that life’s circumstances are out of one’s control, whereas a bad ruler abuses the power they were born into. Marguerite de Navarre’s “Story 8” tells the tale of a husband who attempts to become intimate with his wife’s chambermaid, who feels victimized and concerned for her mistress’ marriage. Although the husband and wife of de Navarre’s tale hardly count as royalty, they certainly hold a position of power in order to afford a chambermaid. Assuming for a moment the husband and wife are king and queen, the husband abuses his power by coercing the chambermaid to bed with him (de Navarre 1643). He and his friend plot to share the poor young lady as a means of amusement outside of marriage. Such behavior is unbecoming for Godly men, of course, but the chambermaid has no intention of becoming an adultress herself. Confronting her “queen,” the chambermaid reveals the “king’s” lecherous ways, which leads the wife to hatch a plan (de Navarre 1643). In this case, the royalty involved takes pity upon her loyal subject and protects the chambermaid from the “king.” She offers the chambermaid sanctuary despite the fact her husband would rather sleep with the chambermaid than the wife herself. Rather than becoming riddled with jealousy, the wife spares the chambermaid from sullying herself. As such, Pierre Bayle’s argument that Marguerite de Navarre is a queen who “grant[s] her protection to people persecuted for opinions which she believes to be false” proves accurate. De Navarre clearly refused to see the chambermaid be wronged by her master and stood up as the wife to prevent such persecution from progressing. Works Cited de Navarre, Marguerite. “From The Heptameron: Story 8.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. Shorter Third edition. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 1640-1647. Print.