|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
Physical description
Philippe represents the antithesis of Joffrey de Peyrac, Angélique's first husband. One is "blond and white" while the other is dark-haired and dark-skinned. One is dressed in light satin and rides a white horse, the other is dressed in black velvet and rides a black horse. One is "young" (often called "the young man", "the boy"), the other is older. The vast and deep culture of Joffrey, both in the literary and scientific field, opposes Philippe's quite summary and careless education. Their temperamental and behavioural aspects could not be more contrasting. But most of all, while Joffery de Peyrac is lame and wears a mask to hide his disfigured face, Philippe is beautiful.
|
Beauty is Philippe's primary feature, relentlessly reaffirmed by the narrator, by Angélique, by the other characters and by Philippe himself.
Even Angélique’s exceptional attractiveness, very emphasized in the other volumes, takes second place in this section of the cycle, surpassed by the stunning look of the male protagonist.
Philippe is presented for the first time at the age of fifteen, and a second time later at the age of sixteen, in two episodes of the first volume. The description, in internal focalization (Angelique's point of view) is that of a blond teenager with long hair with curls, pale blue eyes, pink complexion, perfect features. He is wearing magnificent and highly refined clothing, with velvets, ribbons and lace. Philippe might look like a beautiful girl (his father himself complains that he has "already maybe too much the appearance of a pretty girl"), but the harshness of his gaze, which has nothing feminine, is immediately stressed. Angélique instantly falls in love with her cousin, it is a real love at first sight. The first portrait of Philippe as an adult is made during the episode of the Red Mask Tavern. After the murder of Linot and of the tavern’s owner, Angélique wants to see the face of the masked nobles. The last of those present removes his mask by himself and shows "cold and contemptuous" blue eyes. Angélique notices him but does not recognize him, it will be Desgrez who will list the names of those present, and she will remember). But Philippe's first complete description will be that of the encounter in the Tuileries gardens, while he is standing leaned against a statue as if he was waiting for someone, and Angelique is walking with a friend. Philippe is 31 years old (three more than Angélique), he is tall and athletic, with a perfect body. The face is beautiful, he has large eyes, of an almost transparent pale blue colour, a blond moustache and a long and thick blond wig. The clothing is in the latest fashion, of refined taste, a little eccentric, and extremely expensive. (Angélique cannot take her eyes off him, at the risk of sounding indiscreet). Absolute beauty
- the "blondness" of his hair, which he wears “short” in some key scenes, where he appears more natural (but the hair is meant to be short compared to the flowing wig, which means, however, of a certain length): the scene of the wedding night; the scene in his bedroom during the night before his last departure; the scene of the necklace, when he comes back drenched by the rain; - his smooth skin, (another feature that often strikes Angélique) both on his face and on his body; - his tapered hands, typical of a tall and slender man; - his beautiful legs; - his perfect white teeth, revealed in the rare, amazing smiles; - his mouth with "soft", "fresh", "smooth", "tumid" lips; - his "medal" profile; - his tall, agile, muscular and powerful physique, typical of a soldier trained from an early age "to military academy practice, horseback riding and the early apprenticeship of the war". Despite herself, Angélique has the opportunity to notice his "already manly" strength at the first meeting with the almost feminine fifteen-year-old Philippe; and even more, not always to her detriment, in many other circumstances. But we can find the most enraptured description of Philippe's body in the scene of the last intercourse in his bedroom. The young man is seen for the first time completely naked, endowed with the perfection of a Greek statue. Angélique sees him in the semi-darkness, lit by the moon, lying across the bed, "with his muscular chest", "his head tilted to one side", "his long eyelashes", "the tumid mouth", "the blond curls". She notices a mole on the left breast and various scars. She remains "breathless" before "so much beauty". She feels his warmth of a "healthy young man". However, the most frequently quoted and described element, true leitmotiv of the text and key-aspect of the character, are his eyes, or rather, his gaze. Because if the eyes (shape, colour) belong to Philippe's physical description, the gaze offers an insight into his personality. Philippe's eyes are, needless to say, "big", "beautiful", with "long eyelashes". True eyes of a blond descendant of the Franks, a barbarian population of Germanic ancestry, from which he descends on his mother’s side (the Bellière date back to the early kings of the Capetian dynasty). They are very light blue eyes, whose "pale transparency" is often highlighted. With those eyes, Philippe looks at the world with a "hard", "cold", "distant", "steely", "enigmatic", "impenetrable" gaze. It is this look that leaves no doubt about Philippe's masculinity: Angélique had immediately perceived it when she was still a little girl. Because Philippe, with that physique and that gaze, can afford unequivocally all the satin clothes, the gold, the lace and the powder on his face. There is basically no character who does not mention Philippe’s beauty, which is famous and well-known, so much so that the adjective "handsome" becomes almost an epithet: the "handsome Marquis", the "handsome young man", the "handsome gentleman", the "handsome Philippe" (with the variations "beautiful", "gorgeous", "amazing"). Since his first appearances we have heard him defined in this way by Philonide de Parajonc, the "Precious woman" Angélique’s friend: "he is so handsome", "that handsome gentleman", "that unemotional young man is terribly handsome", the "charming Philippe ”,“ the attractive Marquis ”; later by Marie-Agnès, Angélique's sister ("the handsome Plessis", "so amazing, so sexy"); by Ninon de Lanclos, the famous courtesan ("his beauty", "that steely-eyed Adonis"); by Desgrez ("I see you want to taste beauty. Well, enjoy it to its fullest", “the handsome Marquis Philippe du Plessis”). At court he is considered "the most handsome gentleman in the King's retinue." The Marquis of La Vallière says that “he is so gorgeous, so elegant”); Péguilin de Lauzun calls him "the handsome Marquis" and "our handsome Marquis"; the King: "the handsome Philippe" and "loved him for his beauty and courage", "so gorgeous that the King called him Mars"; M.me de Montespan on three occasions emphasizes his beauty ("so handsome"). |
Angélique's painter brother takes him as a model for the god Mars, because no one like him has "that unique beauty, that perfection of body and gestures," "as if suspended in time," "the melancholic majesty of Greek statues."
Philippe seen by Angélique: "handsome adolescent", "she had never seen such a beautiful boy", "of remarkable beauty", "the handsome young man" (several times), "magnificent god Mars", "like a beautiful bird "," so beautiful legs"," beautiful fresh lips "," Philippe's amazing body "," beautiful face "," he is very handsome "," the perfection of his beauty ","the grace that characterized his every move ", "handsome courtier", "as beautiful as a god", "gorgeous torturer", "regret at the sight of his beauty", "impassive and magnificent", "beautiful body", "He was handsome", "so handsome", "the most handsome gentleman of the court ”,“ magnificent ”,“ one of the most handsome gentlemen…. the most handsome undoubtedly ","nimble and magnificent", "a lover as gorgeous as a god "," my beautiful lover ","heart struck by so much beauty", "little gentleman too beautiful ".
Also in the following volumes he will be remembered by Angélique as "the handsome Philippe", "too handsome", "the most handsome of the gentlemen", "melancholic and wonderful", "indifferent in his splendour". And he will be defined as "renowned for his beauty ”,“gorgeous”, “handsome Marquis” by other characters.
Angélique falls in love with him for his beauty and until the end she will not stop being amazed and getting excited when she looks at him. Philippe is perfectly aware of his physical appearance and does not omit anything to emphasize his beauty and to bring it to perfection (clothes, ornaments, jewellery, perfumes). But the most astonishing thing is that Philippe is not vain. He speaks of his good looks with great ease and almost with detachment, as if speaking of somebody else: "Monsieur de Coulmers […] my beautiful face had seduced him"; "I was very ignorant and insipid but I was handsome," he says speaking of his past. And when the King calls him back from the army "to show myself at the parties at Versailles," "because I must be one of their ornaments," he says this with the satisfaction of conscientiously carrying out a dutiful task, in obedience to the King. He also knows well what an ambivalent role his exceptional attractiveness played since his childhood: if on the one hand it attracted to him attentions and protection, paving the way for a rapid career at court, on the other hand it was the cause of his non-education and of his perversion. Philippe is 'gorgeous and doomed': his angelic appearance (he is repeatedly compared to an archangel) corresponds to a damned soul, which is unveiled in his pupils "as empty as those of a blind man", with the "coldness of a snake" (encounter at the Tuileries ). The marquis’s clothing is extremely refined, always in the latest fashion (“those who still wore wide trousers blushed at the sight of him”), expensive in materials and ornaments, and sometimes a little eccentric. When he walks by, he leaves a trail of "a masculine scent of jasmine and new leather" Philippe’s many changes of clothes are always well noticed, at every appearance. Fashion and styleHe usually wears suits in light satin, almond green, golden beige, pearl gray, absolute white (in the harsh scene of the marriage contract he shows up "all white and covered in gold as if he were going to a court ball party", in that of the wolf hunt he has a white leather suit, and he is "as white as snow" in the scene in the park of Versailles when he returns unexpectedly from the army). White is the color that characterizes Philippe, both in his complexion and in the satin of the suits that he often wears, it is obviously his favorite colour, with its connotation of icy coldness and hardness but also of purity and integrity. He is in pink satin (and " he alone can afford it without looking ridiculous") in the comedy scene. In light blue satin or velvet in various scenes including the inauguration dance at the beginning of their acquaintance, and in the final scene.He wears an exceptionally brighter color, "peacock blue" in the key scene of the blackmail proposal of marriage. And he is dressed in red satin with golden braids in the bloody scene of the “curée”, which follows the hunt. He has, of course, beautiful hunting suits and full military dress uniforms with decorations, but always with "lace collars and cuffs." His clothes are all richly decorated in gold, which is added to the gold of the sword, of the heels, of the rings and of the curls of the wig. According to the circumstances, Philippe wears long white, yellow, or black leather boots, or shoes with red or gold heels and buckles with diamonds. The socks also have golden decorations. He is a kind of an idol. His fingers are always ringed. Let’s remember how carefully he chooses the rings in the scene of the conversation for Cantor’s departure: he will not match the turquoise with the emerald because the splendour of the latter “harms the turquoise blue” (metaphorical allusion to the colour of their eyes). Angélique is perturbed when she remembers the scratches of the ringed hands that the masked gentleman, unknown at the time, had left on her thighs during the aggression in the "Red Mask" tavern. "Philippe! Philippe dressed in pink. Philippe dressed in pale blue. Dressed in snow and gold. Blonde wig. Red heels. … So gorgeous that the King used to call him Mars and the painter had immortalized him on the ceilings of Versailles… ” (Angélique cries desperately in the final evocation). « Back to the Philippe du Plessis-Bellière: Part I. |
