Jean-François de la Rocque de Roberval: Marguerite's Cruel Guardian in Isola

Overview

Jean-François de la Rocque de Roberval is a historical figure reimagined in Allegra Goodman’s Isola as the cold, calculating guardian of Marguerite de la Rocque. He controls her inheritance, forces her onto his 1542 voyage to New France, and ultimately abandons her on a remote island as punishment for her love affair with his secretary, Auguste. His actions are drawn from the conflicting historical accounts cited in the Historical Notes, including his murder in Paris in 1560 and his ties to a Protestant reformist circle. In the novel, Roberval functions as both a personal antagonist and a symbol of patriarchal authority who interprets faith, law, and power entirely for his own benefit.

Plot Role

Roberval first appears in Chapter 1 when Marguerite is nine. He visits the isolated château where she has been raised by her nurse Damienne. He examines her coldly, shows her a cabinet of gold coins that represents her inheritance, and gives money for her upkeep before dismissing her. This moment establishes him as the gatekeeper of Marguerite’s material and social existence. He later decides to bring her on his colonial expedition, and throughout the sea voyage he exercises absolute command over the ship Anne and over Marguerite's movements.

The climax of his plot role comes in Chapter 21 (chapter 23 in the EPUB), when he sentences Marguerite and Auguste to be marooned. Speaking to Marguerite, he says, “I will leave you on an island… As long as you can.” This act drives the entire second half of the novel and directly leads to Marguerite’s survival ordeal. His role is minimal in the island sections but remains a shadowy cause of her suffering.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

The novel reveals Roberval’s character primarily through his dialogue and decisions. Several explicit traits emerge:

• Controlling and possessive: In Chapter 14 (EPUB chapter 16), Roberval says to Marguerite, “Look at this, but never touch it,” referring to the navigator’s astrolabe. This reflects his belief that Marguerite may observe but never possess power. He later says, “I gave you a place. I gave you a profession. I taught you. I raised you up and trusted you—and how did you reward me?” This speech shows he views Auguste as his creation, and Marguerite as his property—any love they share is theft from him.

• Cruelty dressed as justice: When he maroons the couple, Roberval offers the secretary his cittern and says sweetly, “Take this with you,” with a challenge, as if to say, “And play it if you can.” This reveals a cruelty that takes pleasure in creating a mocking gesture rather than outright execution.

• Religious hypocrisy: He quotes scripture on deck in Chapter 20: “We will reign over the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky, and the animals upon the ground.” Yet his rule is self-aggrandizing, not godly. He uses the King’s name and God’s grace to justify conquest, but his real motive is personal glory and wealth.

• Vindictive and erratic: His reaction to Jacques Cartier’s desertion shows his capacity for rage. He vows that Cartier “will hang in France” and punishes his own men by accusing them of sleeping. But his moods shift—after Cartier flees, he becomes eerily calm and “pleased” by his navigator’s request to chart islands, then uses that same opportunity to exile the lovers.

Chronological Arc

• Before the voyage: Roberval is absent for most of Marguerite’s childhood. She meets him at age nine; he is distant but asserts his authority and grants money for her upkeep. He spends her inheritance on equipping the fleet, as Marguerite reflects, “These ships are my inheritance” in Chapter 14.

• During the voyage (Chapters 14–21): Roberval is increasingly possessive. He demands that Marguerite eat with him, tests her obedience by forcing her to drink wine, and treats her as a token of his success. He is jubilant upon reaching New France, but his mood darkens when his secretary Auguste draws a sword on him and Cartier escapes.

• The marooning decree (Chapter 21): Roberval personally cuts Auguste’s ropes, listens to no pleas, and orders his navigator to find an island. He gives them minimal provisions—only what they can carry—and abandons them, saying, “I will leave you both.” This is his final action in the main narrative.

• Historical epilogue: The Historical Notes record that Roberval was murdered in the Cimetière des Innocents in Paris in 1560, along with several Protestants. He never returned to rescue Marguerite.

Relationships

• With Marguerite: He is her guardian, but acts as a jailer and would-be seducer. Marguerite fears both his approval and his anger. She tells Auguste in Chapter 14, “I have come to fear approval as much as anger. Gentle or berating, kind or cruel, in all his moods he exercises his power over me.” He treats her as an object—a vessel for his dynasty or his desires.

• With Auguste: He initially values the secretary for his diligent work, but after Auguste’s betrayal, Roberval’s rage is personal. He accuses Auguste: “I gave you a profession. I taught you. I raised you up and trusted you.” Roberval’s eventual decision to free and then maroon both lovers shows a peculiar mix of restraint and sadism—he will not execute them quickly.

• With Jacques Cartier: He names Cartier a “deserter” and “coward” but cannot prevent his escape. This failure enrages him and leads to an intensification of his tyranny over those who remain.

• With his crew and colonists: He commands with a mix of force and rhetoric. He threatens flogging (“Shall we flog you then?”) but also knows when to yield to the captain’s logic. His authority is absolute but brittle, dependent on fear.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The marooning is the most consequential. Roberval explicitly says he will “kill them slowly, leaving them to perish out of sight.” This decision reveals that he values control over death—he wants them to suffer rather than making them martyrs.

Theme and Symbol Connections

• Power and Cruelty: Roberval embodies the theme of power and cruelty. He uses his legal authority and physical force to dominate others, and his cruelty is magnified by his self-righteousness.

• Female Agency and Solidarity: By trying to erase Marguerite’s agency, Roberval inadvertently forces her to develop it. His actions propel her into the central struggle for survival, which aligns with the theme of female agency and solidarity.

• Survival and Resilience: Roberval is the obstacle that tests Marguerite’s survival and resilience. The island becomes a crucible where she must overcome what he has taken from her.

• Faith and Doubt: Roberval’s use of scripture contrasts with authentic faith. He quotes Genesis to justify domination, while Marguerite’s later faith is personal and desperate. This ties to the theme of faith and doubt.

• Storytelling and Truth: The multiple historical accounts of Roberval’s actions—Queen Marguerite of Navarre’s romanticized version and André Thevet’s grim report—reflect the theme of storytelling and truth. The novel itself is an act of reclaiming Marguerite’s story from Roberval’s narrative.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Roberval maroon Marguerite rather than execute her?
   He wants to inflict prolonged suffering, not a quick death. In the novel, he says, “he would not execute us now, but he would kill us slowly, leaving us to perish out of sight.” He also enjoys the symbolic humiliation—giving them a cittern to “play if you can.”

2. Did Roberval ever intend to rescue Marguerite?
   There is no evidence in the novel that he intended rescue. The Historical Notes indicate he was murdered in 1560, long after the events. The only rescue that occurs in the story is by Basque fishermen, not by Roberval.

3. What motivates Roberval’s obsession with controlling Marguerite?
   He sees her as his property and a vessel for his lineage. Spending her inheritance and calling the ships “my inheritance” shows he has conflated her wealth with his own. The fact that she defies him by choosing another man is an intolerable challenge to his authority.

4. How does Roberval justify his actions religiously?
   He quotes Genesis to claim dominion over the new land and its creatures. He also frames obedience as a spiritual duty when he tells the secretary, “Obedience in heart and mind.” However, the novel portrays his religion as a mask for ambition and cruelty.

5. What happens to Roberval after the marooning?
   The Historical Notes record that he was murdered in Paris in 1560 in the Cimetière des Innocents along with several Protestants. He never faced justice for his treatment of Marguerite within the story, but his violent end suggests a poetic justice.

For further exploration of Roberval’s role in the story, see the ending explained and the questions and answers page.