Queen Marguerite and Queen Marie

Queen Marguerite and Queen Marie are the first and second wives of Berenger the First, and their strained relationship becomes a struggle over how the dying king should be treated and who may speak for him. Marguerite casts Marie’s affection and celebratory habits as distractions that kept him from facing his approaching death; Marie, in turn, continues to address him through their history of love. As his condition worsens, Marguerite’s authority becomes practical and public, while Marie’s influence is shown slipping away.

Identity and Position

The two women occupy distinct places in Berenger the First’s life: Queen Marguerite is identified as his first wife and Queen Marie as his second. Their order in the royal household helps frame the tension between them, but the exchange does not reduce the conflict to a simple dispute over rank. Marguerite says the king liked Marie better, while insisting that she was not jealous; what troubled her, she claims, was that he was not being wise. Her accusation therefore combines personal comparison with an asserted concern about his readiness for death.

Queen Marie’s position is expressed less through command than through intimacy. She calls him her poor darling and later reminds him that he used to love her and that she has always loved him. Even as his attention and strength fail, she speaks as someone whose bond with him remains emotionally real. Marguerite, by contrast, defines her own place through action: when Marie says she will never be able to tell him what is happening, Marguerite answers that she will see to it, adding that she is used to the chores.

Dispute over the King’s Preparation

The disagreement becomes explicit when Marie notices a crack in the wall. Marguerite treats it as one of the unmistakable signs that should have prepared the king, and faults Marie for letting him go his own way and even leading him astray. In Marguerite’s account, Marie surrounded him with pleasures: dances, processions, official dinners, fireworks, silver spoons, and repeated honeymoons. Marie corrects one pointed charge by explaining that the celebrations were for their wedding anniversaries. Marguerite counters that they celebrated four times a year, recalling Marie’s former insistence that they had to live, and concluding that the king must never forget.

The exchange reveals contrasting ideas of care. Marie’s remembered celebrations make life feel abundant and worth enjoying; Marguerite regards that very abundance as a failure to keep mortality in view. She generalizes that people know and carry on as if they did not, but says the king cannot afford that forgetfulness. He must keep his eyes fixed ahead, know each stage of the journey and its length, and hold his destination in sight. Her language turns preparation into a royal obligation: Berenger the First must confront what others can evade.

Affection, Rivalry, and Control

Marguerite openly acknowledges the difference in the king’s attachment to the two women, but denies that jealousy is her motive. Her claim does not dissolve the rivalry; rather, it shows how she recasts it as a question of judgment. She tells Marie that the king liked her better, then maintains that Marie’s influence was pernicious because it encouraged him to turn away from painful knowledge. The charge makes affection itself contested: to Marie, love means sustaining their bond; to Marguerite, indulgence has made him less prepared.

When Marie is tearful, Marguerite orders Juliette to give her another handkerchief, then tells Marie to be more cheerful because tears are catching and the king is already weak. She recalls Marie’s former challenging look, sarcastic smile, and brazen insolence, but now urges her to wake up, straighten herself, and take her proper place. Even the beautiful necklace still around Marie’s neck becomes part of this instruction to resume her position. The scene places tenderness and discipline side by side: Marguerite attends to Marie’s appearance while directing her conduct and limiting the emotional atmosphere around the king.

The Loss of Marie’s Influence

As Berenger the First says that he is dying, Marie recognizes that her power over him is going. Marguerite answers that neither Marie’s charm nor her charms can bewitch him any longer, and The Guard publicly announces that Queen Marie’s charm no longer casts its spell over the king. The announcement turns a private loss of intimacy into a statement made before the royal household. Marie nevertheless tells the king that he used to love her, still loves her, and has always been loved by her; Marguerite dismisses this as self-absorption.

Marguerite’s authority culminates in controlling speech as well as interpretation. She tells The Doctor that Marie must be kept quiet and is not to speak again without permission, then directs him to try to make the king understand. Marie is motionless. The contrast is decisive: Marie’s appeal rests on remembered love, but she can no longer command the king’s attention or even speak freely in the room. Marguerite, who earlier claimed responsibility for the chores, now acts as the arbiter of what may be said and what the dying king must be made to understand. Their relationship thus moves from rivalry over his affection to a stark imbalance of power, with Marguerite managing the final encounter and Marie reduced to silence.