The Women of Chateau Lafayette

Within the novel, clothes are a visible status symbol and an embodiment of female power, supporting the overarching themes of The Power of a Name and The Value of Small Efforts in Dire Circumstances. For someone like Adrienne, whose family is French nobility, her clothes indicate her family’s affluence, and if she is not properly attired, she likewise inflicts dishonor upon her family’s reputation. In Adrienne’s time, pageantry is expected from the noble class and is also used to remind the court of a family’s wealth and power. Thus, when she marries Gilbert, the extravagance of her attire reflects the importance and social significance of the event. Later, she also uses clothes as a tool during the French Revolution, as she innately understands that her attire can convey an unspoken message of modesty and temperance when needed. Thus, when she is brought to Le Puy to stand trial, Adrienne’s clothing exudes the very opposite of excess. As she states, “My gown was modest, [and] I wore no jewelry but my wedding ring” (402). Clothing therefore becomes a type of social armor, and more than a century later, Beatrice also finds herself employing similar tactics when she claims, “When going to war, one should begin with a new hat” (48). Though Beatrice’s hat collection may seem ostentatious, it represents her method of marking herself as a respectable woman of importance instead of the poverty-stricken child she was in her youth. With these various details, the author implies that clothing can be a symbol of confidence and an indication of a woman’s ability to navigate the world to her advantage.