The Formation/Transformation of a Romantic Displacement: Kate Chopin’s “Mamouche” and “The Godmother

Abstract

Both set in the town of Natchitoches, “Mamouche” and “The Godmother” deserve a close comparison because both stories treat the motifs of romantic_x000D_ attachment, frustrated love, and romantic displacement. Doctor John-Luis in “Mamouche” and Tante Elodie in “The Godmother” had each suffered deep frustration in love while they were young. Even though neither narrator details the_x000D_ romantic affair per se, the frustrated love accounts for the reason why both characters _x000D_ remain single. More interestingly, despite (or because of) their earlier frustration in_x000D_ love, both John-Luis and Tante Elodie in the fictional present displace the past romantic attachment onto the offspring of their respective love/lover._x000D_ But “Mamouche” focuses on the initial formation of the old doctor’s romantic displacement, whereas “The Godmother” deals mainly with the transformation of an affectionate relationship between Elodie and her godson Gabriel in the wake of the latter’s hot-headed midnight murder and the former’s clandestine endeavors to cover_x000D_ up the crime. Furthermore, the difference in narrative emphasis leads to drastically dissimilar endings. Toward the end of “Mamouche,” the title character finds a new_x000D_ home at the old bachelor farmer’s house, and there is a promise of a close tie between_x000D_ the youngster and his godfather. In comparison, “The Godmother,” which is darker_x000D_ in tone, concludes with the death of the guilt-ridden godson and the shrivelling of the_x000D_ title character. While the doctor’s public offer of a 25-dollar reward helps him attain_x000D_ a godson, Elodie’s secret retrieval of Gabriel’s knife causes her to lose the trust and_x000D_ love of her godson. Finally, if Mamouche constitutes the incarnation of John-Luis’s_x000D_ fitful memories of the past, Gabriel serves to fulfill vicariously Elodie’s need to_x000D_ express her maternal and sexual love.