The Motif of Escape in "The Duchess at Prayer"

In "The Duchess at Prayer", the motif of escape reveals itself in the Duchess Violante’s implied infidelity.

"Social dogma, matrimonial commitments, emotional ties, personal ambition, and moral conflicts in Wharton’s stories trap her characters."[1] In "The Duchess at Prayer", the first two of these are most prevalent.

The Duchess is trapped both physically and mentally. After marrying the duke, the Duchess Violante is moved to their country house in Vicenza. The villa is large, secluded, and sparsely staffed. In the story, no evidence is given of her travelling outside the house and though she does invite many guests and entertainers, her loneliness is apparent. The duke, one must note, comes and goes as he pleases. Though not many hints are given about Violante's mental state, one may infer that the isolation she faces in her living situation as well as the relatively constant absence of her husband and the lack of warmth in their bond are not conducive to happiness.

To alleviate the increasing dullness of her secluded life in Vicenza and the sting of a less than fulfilling marriage, she seeks refuge in the company of her husband’s cousin. Their chemistry is immediate and strong. Their relationship, one may infer, likely begins am intimate friendship and escalates into a love affair over time. In spending time with him she finds obvious respite; they are similar both in character and in taste. This is an escape into the arms of another to ease her own pain and longing. It is a relatively selfish act, for Ascanio has to hide away in the crypt while the Duchess can still move about freely.

Whatever respite their time together may bring however, theirs is a love not meant to succeed. Twice their relationship is compromised: once when the Duke takes Cavaliere Ascanio away after their talk in the gazebo, and once when the Duke and chaplain plotted to entomb him in the relic’s crypt (and poison Violante afterwards). In the first case, the Duchess and Ascanio must have conspired to have him return and hide on the premises. A hopeful act that would later cost them their lives, this is a further example of the Duchess’s deep yearning for companionship and love; she is willing to go to extremes to escape her situation, even if only momentarily; and even if it costs the other dearly.

In the second case, the Duke and chaplain end not only the affair but also the lovers' lives. The Duchess is poisoned and it dawns on the reader that Ascanio has been entombed alive. Escape was not possible for the Duchess in life and one must wonder if in death she shall finally be free; though considering the coldness of the rooms that suggest a haunting and the twisted face of the statue, it is possible that death has not brought release.

Deviant behavior is punished and so pre-existing norms are painfully reinforced. The Duchess and the Duke’s cousin pay for their brief taste of freedom with their lives. As is typical for Wharton, she does not give a successful outcome to their desperate yearnings, exploring not what it means to attain personal fulfillment but what it means to have it limited.[2]

[1] Ellis 2014, p. 40

[2] see Ellis 2014