The Woes of Love

Penelope Aubin’s “Strange Adventures of the Count de Vinevil and His Family” exhibits a main contrast between types of love. Aubin shows a positive view of love; love between a man and a woman, which Ardelisa and Lord Longueville are a great example of. Aubin also shows a negative view of love; the love that lustful and powerful men have towards the act of raping virgins. Aubin’s ability to illustrate the menacing terrors of men while still representing the love Ardelisa and her Lord share is quite magnificent.

After the death of Count Vinevil and the disappearance of her husband, Lord Longueville, Ardelisa is in grave danger of the constant and looming threat of being raped. This peculiar land that the characters find themselves trapped in is filled with powerful men who look to take advantage of virgin girls. As well, that threat is the reason for her father’s death and husband’s abandonment. When Ardelisa is captured and brought to the home of one of these powerful men, she comes across another innocent victim. Violetta Manuel is one of the many women Osmin has taken advantage of. It seems as though Osmin and his friends find raping virgins to be a game; whoever can steal the innocence of the classiest and most beautiful girl is then considered to be the winner. The men’s love for the game poses endless challenges for Ardelisa and gives the reader a very negative view of Turkish men. Osmin’s obsession with the game paints an ugly view of love. In turn the readers are left with negative emotions and concern for most of the story. This feeling is vanquished when Ardelisa is reunited with Lord Longueville.

Ardelisa and Lord Longueville share an entirely different version of love, one that encompasses every detail a love story needs. Ardelisa and Longueville are separated; during the separation each considers the other to have perished and it does not seem like they will ever find each other again. With those notions in mind, the reader is led to believe their...