The Song of Scaffold

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The Song at the Scaffold
Introduction
Gertrude Von Le Forte is a German writer who expressed her fear of the contemporary threats to the Christian values in her book The Song at The Scaffold. Le Forte was partly inspired by the 1794 martyrdom of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne. Sixteen nuns were charged with crimes against the French people before the Revolutionary Tribunal and were condemned to death (Le and Marx, 13). She invented a character, Blanche de la Force to show the events that led to martyrdom. Blanche was a young girl who had witnessed the effects of the French revolution and her fears of war, violence, death, suffering as well as loss of her faith, made her seek refuge in a convent.
The Theme of Fear
Le Forte presents the theme of fear in a great way. The birth of Blanche was surrounded by fear since it occurred the fateful day of Louis the Sixteenth wedding. A catastrophe of the notorious fireworks led to violence. As Blanche’s mother was leaving the square, she was dragged from her carriage in which she was safe and secure, into a half-wrecked carriage so that her fears matched the others'(Le and Marx, 18). A shrieked man mocked her that she was safe and secure on her couch while people were dying under the hooves of her horse. Therefore, Blanche was born in the midst of terror. Her Father always referred to her as a timid child. Besides, Le Forte says that at an early age, Blanche displayed timidity that exceeded that of a child (O’Malley 104).

She could tremble to her dog’s sudden bark and on seeing a new servant, one would have thought she had seen a ghost. Blanche was fearful of everything even things that were present in her daily life. She was afraid that stairs would slip from under her feet. Le Forte says neither people’s encouragements nor her willingness would have changed her temperament. Instead, she was more depressed (Le and Marx, 19). She felt her efforts were in vain since she could not gain courage as everyone would urge her so as to overcome her fears. In other words, Blanche grew to be afraid of her fears.
Blanche’s efforts to hide her fear increased her agonies. Madame de Chalais, a psychologist, was engaged by Blanche’s father to help her (Le and Marx, 21). At one time when Blanche was hesitant to go upstairs, Madame de Chalais encouraged her to go on since the King in Heaven would protect her. Blanche asked her what would happen if the King Lost His Crown. Madame de Chalais managed to convince her that there was safety in Supreme Power. The governess was thrilled to see Blanche laughing at her previous fears (Le and Marx, 23). Her father was convinced that Madame de Chalais had accomplished her mission and he began arranging a marriage for her daughter. However, He felt that she had worsened her situation when he received the news of Blanche’s decision to become a nun.
Conclusion
Le Forte expresses the theme of fear throughout the novella. Blanche managed to overcome her fears in a very short period while in a convent (Lavery, 31). However, the presence of the Revolutionary commission into the convent renewed her mortal fears in a significant way. She was devastated and insecure she ended up fleeing from the convent (Le and Marx, 53). She was freed of fear on a fateful day she watched her fellow sisters face the guillotine. She sang the Veni Creator to the sisters as they approached the scaffold. She was no afraid of confessing her faith which led to her death. Blanche de la Force was a symbol that represented the fate of a nation and humankind historically and spiritually (Le and Marx, 63).

Works Cited
Le, Fort G, and Olga Marx. The Song at the Scaffold. Sheed & Ward, 1933. Print.
Lavery, Emmet. Song at the Scaffold: A Play in Two Acts. Samuel French, 1949. Print.O’Malley, Frank. “The Song at the Scaffold. By Gertrud von Le Fort.” Renascence, vol. 4, no. 1, 1951, pp. 104-105.