Louisa Sidney Stanhope

Louisa Sidney Stanhope. The Bandit's Bride; or, The Maid of Saxony. A Romance. 4 vols.

London: Lane, Newman, and Co 1807; 2nd. ed. 1818

 

Critical essay by Elizabeth Kistler

 

The Bandit's Bride can be viewed as Louisa Sydney Stanhope's negative reaction to the Romantic ideal of following one's heart. The novel exemplifies the necessary triumph of reason over passion, of duty over love. Throughout the novel strong passions are at odds with the roles that duty-both feminine and filial-has proscribed. When the characters eschew that duty in order to indulge their passions they end miserably; it is only when reason wins that an eventual compromise is reached and the characters can be happy.

Perhaps the best example of the tragedies brought about by neglected duty is seen in the character of Adela. Adela's neglect is two-fold: she chooses to ignore her duty both as a daughter to her father and as a woman to the society around her. She willfully disobeys her father, marrying a man that he considers and enemy without his consent or knowledge. After the death of her husband at her father's hand she flees from him, pledging to evade him at all costs. Thus, although we can sympathize with Adela, we also see her as a clear example of neglected filial duty.

Adela further ignores her duty as a female expected to fulfill certain specified roles. Adela consistently violates Stanhope's version of the feminine ideal. As a female of her time Adela is expected to by quiet, meek, and submissive-she is none of these things. She is strong willed and unyielding even unto death. At no point does she accept the submissive role that has been assigned to her, refusing even after her death to allow her secret to be revealed. . Her violation here, while not so severe as the other, is nonetheless unacceptable to Stanhope.

It is because of this dual violation that Adela's life and death are the most tragic in what is often a very sad tale. She dies very young, never knowing that both her mother and her husband are still alive. More tragic still, she is unable to watch her daughter grow, instead necessarily entrusting her to two virtual strangers. Her death is without triumph, without any sense of contentment.

Like Adela, Jacquilina ignores both her feminine and her filial duties, however she violates the feminine role to a much lesser extent. Jacquilina runs off with a stranger, uncaring of the grief that she will inflict upon her parents. She lives for years without allowing them any knowledge of her whereabouts, hurting them unnecessarily. Her parents never enter into her mind.

Despite her clear violation of her duty as a daughter, Jacquilina conforms in many ways to the feminine role. She allows herself to be seduced and taken from her home, demonstrating both her submissive nature and her weak resistance to temptation. Furthermore, she eventually regrets her actions, resigning herself to a life of penitence as a nun. Although her life is not a happy one, Jacquilina is offered a final redemption in her reunion with her family. Her tale is sad, but not as tragic as Adela's.

Finally we come to de Rosencrantz, Adela's husband and Rosalthe's father. Obviously de Rosencrantz cannot violate the feminine role. But he does disregard both is own filial duty and Adela's. He allows his passion for Adela to overcome his reason and willingly marries her without so much as informing their parents. In accord with this singular and less severe violation, de Rosencrantz experiences a better ending than either Adela or Jacquilina. His punishment comes in the form of imprisonment; it is because of this that he is unable to save his wife or raise his daughter, and his lands and title are taken from him. However, in the end all is restored to him-his family, his lands, and his freedom.. As the novel closes de Rosencrantz is one of the most genuinely contented characters.

Although we sympathize with these characters, we cannot help but see their flaws. They are a warning against neglecting one's duty and submitting to passion, a reminder of what can happen when reason is ignored.

On the other side we have the characters who acknowledge their passions, but refuse to succumb to them. They patiently await a time when their duties will allow their passion to be recognized and honourably acted upon.

Rosalthe is the personification of the pure-hearted and dutiful female. She loves Adelbert deeply but will not consent to marry him without the permission of both his parents and hers. Her fulfillment of her filial duty is further exemplified in her continued reverence of Agatha and Dusseldorf. Even after she learns that they are not truly her parents and that she is, in fact, their social superior, she continues to show them the love and respect of a daughter.

Rosalthe's acceptance of her feminine duty is displayed throughout the novel. She is quiet and retiring, content to spend her life as a nun until she meets Adelbert. She lives selflessly, trying to do what is expected of her that she might bring happiness to those around her. She is, in may ways, Stanhope's idea of a perfect female.
Rosalthe never allows her passions to triumph over her reason. She is ever mindful of her role both as a daughter and as a female, and she uses this to keep her passion for Adelbert in check. Because she listens to her reason, Rosalthe is eventually able to marry Adelbert with the full blessing of his family. She gets everything that she wants in life.

Adelbert is similar to Rosalthe, with the exception of the fact that her reason is unwavering. At one point Adelbert is willing to marry Rosalthe without his father's consent, but a glimpse of the potential consequences quickly changes his mind. The idea of dishonoring his family and leaving his father distraught convinces Adelbert that he must obey his duty. Although he does not forget his love for Rosalthe, he realizes that reason and duty must come first. As with Rosalthe, Adelbert's willingness to forego his passion in order to submit to duty allows him to eventually attain all that he desire.

The Bandit's Bride clearly demonstrates Stanhope's negative reaction to the emphasis on individual passions that was a part of the Romantic ideal. The novel is a backlash against the various calls to follow one's heart and assume that all will work out. Although she does not mean for us to ignore love and passion altogether, she deems it important that we are able to keep them in perspective. Passion is an important part of life, but it must be tempered by reflective reasoning, in this case exemplified by fulfillment of duty. It is only when reason is followed that true happiness can be found.

© Elizabeth Kistler, University of Nebraska, December 2002