# Marianne — Short Fiction character guide

> Marianne in Short Fiction by Kate Chopin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mary, Purgatory Mary

**First appearance:** 0017-love-on-the-bon-dieu

## Snapshot

Known as Purgatory Mary, a devout woman whose plain faith and unlettered tastes quietly unsettle the literary assumptions of those who try to be kind to her.

## Who they are

Marianne moves through the story as a figure of earnest devotion, her piety earning her the wry nickname Purgatory Mary. When a well-meaning acquaintance lends her reading, she puzzles over a New England story, takes offense at a Creole one, and treasures a Remington cowboy print because it recalls Montéclin after a hard ride. Her unpretentious judgments expose the gap between educated sympathy and the life actually lived.

## In the story

### [The Maid of Saint Phillippe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/chapters/the-maid-of-saint-phillippe)

The protagonist, a strong and independent French girl who hunts and lives in the wilderness with her father.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/chapters/iii)

Referenced by Athénaïse as one of the women who pursued Cazeau before their marriage.

### [Nég Créole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/chapters/n-g-cr-ole)

Referred to as Purgatory Mary, a woman who prays for souls in purgatory and brings Mamzelle Aglaé a small bottle of eau de Lourdes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/characters/marianne
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/characters