Auguste Dupré in Isola: Love, Sacrifice, and Legacy

Overview

Auguste Dupré begins as Roberval’s secretary—a quiet, literate servant who rises through skill—and becomes Marguerite’s secret lover and later her husband. On the island he helps her survive, but dies of illness, forcing Marguerite to continue alone. His arc is a study in quiet courage, devotion, and the cost of defying oppressive power.

Plot Role

Auguste is the catalyst for Marguerite’s emotional awakening and her physical survival. During the voyage, their nightly meetings give her a private world beyond Roberval’s control. After they are marooned together with Damienne, he hunts, builds a shelter, creates a calendar, and leads prayers—actions that keep the small group alive and sane. His death from illness midway through the island ordeal is a turning point: it strips Marguerite of her last protector and forces her to adopt his tools, his fury, and his resilience. After his death, her killing of the bear using his gun and sword marks her transformation from dependent ward to self-reliant survivor. In the novel’s broader arc, Auguste’s love is the source of Marguerite’s agency and the loss that fuels her final push to endure.

Motivations and Traits

Auguste’s core motivation is love—for Marguerite, and for the freedom to live without deception. He confesses that he loved her from her childhood, noting specific moments he’d treasured (chapter 17). That devotion makes him willing to risk Roberval’s threat of death (chapter 18). He is also deeply conscientious: on the island he honors Damienne’s faith, builds a calendar to keep the Lord’s Day, and works tirelessly to provide food and shelter. His character shows intelligence—he can write, read, play the cittern, and navigate social danger—and also gentleness. When Marguerite first touches him, he is tender, careful, and asks permission before kissing her. Yet he possesses a fierce pride; when Roberval insults Marguerite, he draws his sword in a flash of rage.

Chronological Arc

• Before the voyage: A harsh apprenticeship, escape to La Rochelle, and rise in Roberval’s household through writing skill. Auguste tells this story to Marguerite on the foggy deck (chapter 17).
• Aboard ship: Secret meetings begin. Roberval threatens to kill him if they are discovered. Auguste continues anyway, driven by love and a belief that their lives are already risked by the journey itself (chapter 18).
• Confrontation and marooning: When Roberval publicly denounces Marguerite, Auguste draws his sword, is overpowered, shackled, and eventually marooned with her and Damienne (chapter 20).
• Island life: He hunts, collects water, builds a branch-and-sail shelter, makes a peat bed, and organizes a shared daily life. He jokingly claims the island for the king, then calls it “Isle of My Lady” in private (chapter 23).
• Illness and death: A sudden sickness weakens him. He asks Marguerite to burn his cittern (she cannot), urges her to hunt and defend herself and Damienne, and dies with her holding him. Damienne buries his body in a trunk because the ground is frozen (chapter 27).
• Posthumous influence: A polar bear breaks open the trunk and devours Auguste’s body. Marguerite, seeing this, takes his gun, sword, and cloak, and kills the bear in a fury—becoming the hunter he wanted her to be (chapter 27).

Relationships

• With Marguerite: A love that begins in childhood reverence and deepens into a secret, dangerous affair. On the island they enjoy complete freedom. Auguste is her teacher, partner, and protector until illness takes him. Afterward, she carries his memory as a source of strength.
• With Damienne: He treats her with respect, calling her a good woman and working to make her comfortable. He believes her prayers are essential and insists they keep the sabbath. Damienne in turn trusts him, and the three form a makeshift family.
• With Roberval: Master and servant turned adversaries. Roberval is a jealous and cruel master who has threatened Auguste’s life. When Auguste defies him for Marguerite, the conflict becomes fatal for all three on the island.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Theme/Symbol Connections

• Survival and Resilience: Auguste’s daily efforts to hunt, build, and forage are essential to the group’s survival. His death forces Marguerite to become the sole provider, directly linking his legacy to her resilience. (See the survival and resilience theme page.)
• Female Agency and Solidarity: By loving Marguerite as an equal partner, Auguste gives her the emotional space to later act independently. His respect for Damienne also models solidarity across class. (Learn more on female agency and solidarity.)
• Power and Cruelty: Roberval’s power over Auguste—threatening death, shackling him—illustrates the cruelty of absolute authority. Auguste’s defiance shows that love can challenge tyranny, though it cannot always defeat it. (See power and cruelty.)
• Faith and Doubt: Auguste insists on keeping the sabbath, making a calendar and praying with Damienne. His final words include “There is no priest,” expressing doubt, yet his earlier actions demonstrate a lived faith that sustains the small community. (Explore faith and doubt.)
• Storytelling and Truth: Auguste recounts his own story to Marguerite (his apprenticeship, escape, rise). His autobiography becomes part of the novel’s layered narrative, questioning what is truth and what is self-fashioning. (More on storytelling and truth.)
• Symbolic objects: His cittern (art and past life, which he wants burned but Marguerite spares), his sword (vengeance and protection), and his cloak (warmth and identity; Marguerite wears it when she kills the bear) all carry his memory into the novel’s final acts.

Five Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Auguste risk his life for Marguerite?
   He loves her from her childhood, believing that their journey is already perilous and that happiness should not be postponed. Roberval’s explicit threat (“Kill me”) does not deter him because he values authentic connection more than safety.

2. How does Auguste contribute to their survival on the island?
   He hunts game, collects water and firewood, builds the shelter, marks a calendar, and leads the group in prayer. His strength and resourcefulness provide food and structure, especially in the first weeks.

3. What is the significance of Auguste’s cittern?
   It symbolizes his past as an apprentice musician and the generosity/cruelty of his master who gave it to him. On his deathbed he asks Marguerite to burn it, but she cannot; the instrument survives as a relic of his love and artistry.

4. How does Auguste’s death propel Marguerite’s transformation?
   After he dies, she sees a bear devour his body. In a rage she takes his gun, sword, and cloak, killing the bear herself. This act makes her the hunter and protector—the role Auguste had urged her to adopt—marking a shift from passive sufferer to active survivor.

5. What does Auguste’s relationship with Damienne reveal about his character?
   He treats her with genuine respect, calling her a good woman, making her comfortable, and acknowledging that her prayers are as important as his labor. This reveals his humility and his understanding that survival requires both practical effort and spiritual hope.

For a full overview of Marguerite’s entire journey, visit the main book page. To see how the story ends, read the ending explained section. Additional questions and answers cover other facets of the novel.