Character sketch of Bishop Convict Persome, Bishop's sister Marie Sergeant of Gendarmes
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The Bishop
The Bishop was, as Persome his sister says in the play, “The best man in all France”. He was a true Bishop indeed. He followed Jesus Christ’s teachings of love, charity, benevolence, and forgiveness in true spirit. He helped his parishioners. Jesus laid stress on giving to the needy and the poor in his Gospel. So, when the Bishop sold salt-cellars to pay Mere Gringoire's rent, who was ill, he actually tried to follow one of the most important teachings of Jesus Christ. His encounter with the convict was the litmus test of his virtues, which he passed with flying colours. His patience, love, care, and magnanimity transformed the beastlike convict into a good human being. The Bishop’s character stands till today an epitome of all virtues which each and every person should try to emulate.
The Convict
The convict was not a convict since his birth. He was an ordinary man with a loving wife who lived respectably before he became a hard-hearted criminal. The truth is the callousness of society turned him into a beast. The apathetic people of the society compelled him to steal food for his starving and sick wife. The cruel society had no sympathy and pity for him! Instead of sympathizing with him, the police arrested him and tried him in a court. Even the cruel judge did not hesitate passing such a harsh sentence against him. He was treated like a beast for such a minor and pardonable offence. He was beaten, fed on filth, and tortured. His wife died in his absence that turned him into a criminal. However, the inborn goodness always remained suppressed in his heart. The kindness of the bishop again brought his goodness to the surface, and he was transformed.
Persome’s Character
Persome, though the Bishop’s sister, is poles apart from her brother. She has been portrayed as an ordinary human being who is insensitive to the spiritual values of mercy, charity, benevolence, forbearance, and sympathy. Actually her ordinariness sets of the Bishop’s magnanimity and grandeur.
From the opening scene we see her behaving harshly with Marie. She scolds her for being slow in her work. She does not want her brother to be so generous, charitable, and helpful to the people of his parish and other people also. She feels people take undue advantage of his charitable and generous nature. She gets angry at the bishop when she comes to know his act of selling the silver salt-cellars to help Mere Gringoire, an old distressed woman. Similarly, she does not want her brother to give Marie his comforter when he offers it to Marie to keep warm in the bitter cold outside. Likewise her reactions when the convict breaks in to the bishop’s cottage are quite ordinary.
However, as a sister she is quite caring and loving. She really cares for her brother’s comfort and well-being. She knows he is the ‘best man in all France’.Marie’s Character
Marie was the cook at the Bishop’s house. She was a very well-behaved girl. Her mother was ill and the Bishop had gone to her house to see her mother and pray for her. She did not mind Persome’s scolding. The Bishop trusted her a lot. She also ran errands for the Bishop. The Bishop sent her to Monseigneur Gervais to sell silver salt cellars to him to help Mere Gringoire. She was a grateful girl. She revered the Bishop quite sincerely.
Sergeant of Gendarmes