Ourika

Mme de B. is Ourika’s surrogate mother, protector, and educator. She is also the adoptive mother of her grandsons, Charles and his unnamed brother, whose mother (Mme de B.’s daughter) died young.

In Ourika’s words, Mme de B. is “as highly valued as one could be—perhaps overvalued, since without realizing it she lent some of her own character to her friends” (8); others felt, when observing her, that “ they resembled her” (8).

The French Revolution brings great upheaval into Mme de B.’s life. An aristocrat and a royalist, Mme de B. is a natural target of both the Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Placed under house arrest, she becomes a captive in her home, only escaping the guillotine thanks to her social connections. She grieves heavily when the king is executed.

Mme de B. tries but fails to cheer Ourika in the days following the Revolution. She also tries to convince Ourika to give up the notion of nunhood, but soon concedes to Ourika’s wishes. She admits, “‘I’ve done you so much harm in wishing to do you good. I don’t feel I have the right to oppose you now’” (46). In the end, Mme de B. realizes that in shielding young Ourika from the reality of her race, she has contributed to Ourika’s physical and mental decline.

Charles is Mme de B.’s grandson and Ourika’s closest childhood friend. Raised as brother and sister, Ourika and Charles have a very strong bond and initially have no secrets between them. Charles is smart, handsome, and well-educated.  

Like his grandmother, Charles faces danger during the Reign of Terror. Mme de B. makes him her heir to protect their mutual interests, but he too is placed under house arrest and faces the possibility of death by guillotine. His fate changes when the Reign of Terror ends and he finds love with Anaïs. His marriage inadvertently distances Charles from Ourika. He, like the other characters in the novella, fails to understand Ourika’s position. He does not actually see her as black or “other,” and thus cannot comprehend her grief.  

When Anaïs becomes pregnant, the juxtaposition of Charles’ future to Ourika’s emphasizes the bleakness of Ourika’s options: Charles and Anaïs have a life that Ourika can never hope for.

Charles, who views Ourika as a sister, begs her not to go away to the convent. Before Ourika leaves, she tells him, “‘Let me go, Charles, to the one place where I may still think of you day and night’” (47). Readers may conclude that these words indicate she is indeed in love with him—as the marquise believes; in other words, Charles becomes an example of the romantic connection she cannot have.  

In typical French literary tradition, the marquise’s identity is obscured by not linking her with a particular land title. This technique serves both to protect real people and to provide a greater sense of realism in the novella.

The marquise is an acerbic, blunt woman. She values truth and does not spare her friends’ feelings in speaking it. Ourika fears the marquise, which foreshadows the role the woman will play in Ourika’s downfall. The marquise’s allegiance to truth means that she is the one character who will pull back the curtain on the realities of Ourika’s race. The marquise confronts Mme de B. about her intentions for Ourika, accusing her friend of condemning the girl to a lonely life: “‘I have her interests at heart more than you. I want her happiness, and you are destroying it’” (14).

Later, when the revelation of her isolation has so weakened Ourika, the marquise interferes in the girl’s life once again. This time, she convinces Ourika that she is heartsick, not because of her social status in a racist society, but because she is in love with Charles. Despite her earlier confrontation with Mm de B., the marquise refuses to accept the role that race—or maybe she, in pointing it out—plays in Ourika’s misery. 

Anaïs is the young, beautiful, modest, and charming daughter of Mme de B.’s friend. Her whole family died during the Reign of Terror. She and Charles are quickly betrothed. Though Ourika likes Anaïs and approves of the engagement, Anaïs becomes Ourika’s foil. Anaïs can become what society denies Ourika from becoming: a wife and mother. In addition, the marriage inadvertently alienates Ourika from Charles.