Indiana by George Sand

Abbie Fredericks

ENG 262WI

3-26-2017

Professor Freed

                                                Indiana

In the novel Indiana by George Sand, the narrator greatly elaborates on the differences of the dreamer vs. realistic perspective on a woman’s life.  A constant battle between societal standards of the 1800s and ones self within the main protagonist Indiana keeps the story flowing with a desperate need for love and attention. Indiana’s rapid movement from Delmare to Raymon to Ralph represents the struggle she has for self-realization and the restrictions of a womans’ existential freedom.

Sand elaborates more on the limits of Indiana’s character in the beginning of the novel, which greatly involves the sacrificial love she deeply needs.  This in turn objectifies the societal view of woman in order to show the freedoms they have.   Indiana is depicted as almost immature and a “hopeless” romantic when it comes to attention she is given by men.  With society as a whole being male dominated, women were not allowed the same freedoms as their counterparts; like Indiana being frowned upon for exploring romantically.  As Indiana’s character evolves as the main character, Indiana’s transition from Delmare to Raymon to Ralph represents the limits to woman’s freedom in 19th century bourgeois society.

In the 19th century, most upper class women had very limited and restrained rights.  Sands novel shows this in Indiana’s relationships and her marriage to Delmare.  While they were married, the roles of their marriage were clearly defined by the way George Sand carefully described their interactions.  Indiana’s principle features define and explain her character and relevance to her growth throughout the novel.  Indiana states, “A day will come when everything in my life will be changed, when I shall do good to others, when someone will love me, when I shall give my whole heart to the man who gives me his; meanwhile, I will suffer in silence and keep my love as a reward for him who shall set me free,” (Sand 51).  At this point in the novel, Indiana comes to a self-realization that although she is married to Delmare, she is not content in her marriage and how it is unfulfilling to her and the need for her individual freedoms.

 Indiana greatly desires a companionate marriage where she is romantically fulfilled by her partner.  Coming to terms with herself and her own needs is expanding the growth of her own character.  Indiana breaks through the conventional male thought towards women by allowing herself to have moral self-realization.  She shows the unconventional thoughts a woman in her position have and unlike what is expected, she acts upon her urges by becoming romantically invested in Ramon to the point of choosing to run away from her husband to be with him.

By moving on from Delmare to Raymon, Indiana grows into a woman who risks everything on romance and one who defines a new aspect in her persona, confidence.  By comparing her husband to Raymon, Delmare offers only the textbook 1800’s marriage qualities like complete control while Raymon on the opposite hand is wild and sporadic which draws in Indiana’s deep urges to rebel against the norms of the typical marital unit.  Indiana is so blinded by the fact that she may or may not be given affection by Raymon that his actions towards her and others are obsolete for her search of fulfillment.  On page 98, a scene unfolds where Raymon is showing remorse about Noun but by showing the emotional side of himself to Indiana, she believes that he is a compassionate man who has done wrong and his sadness is actually his love for her.  Indiana’s need to obtain love shadows over the reality of the situation and that Raymon is in fact no different than other men of that time.    Raymon who is the main protagonist of the novel is fickle and the embodiment of conventional male interaction with women; self-centered and in search of his own self-fulfillment as well.  This not only shows that Indiana’s search for love is one sided, but also that her characters search for self-realization is still developing.

Indiana falls victim to the young, “hopeless” romantic side and allows Raymon to take advantage of her weakness which progresses her character further into moral self-realization.  Sand delves more into the central conflict of the novel by allowing Indiana to give into the moral conflict of the novel.  By realizing that her decision to leave her husband to run off to Raymon was no longer a thought and was becoming a reality, Indiana comes to terms with the limits to her position in her marriage and all together in society were being challenged by her decision to leave her husband.  Sand wrote, “Then she had doubts about the reality of her situation and wondered if her imminent departure was not the illusion of a dream,” (Sand 215). Inadvertently, Indiana is pulled in two directions; towards the reciprocal love of Raymon or to follow the regulations set on her by society as a whole.  She defied all of society’s boundaries by deciding to leave Delmare, which was unheard of in the 1800s, to run away for what she believed was an act of true love.