La Princesse De Clèves (BBC Radio 3 Drama On 3) recap

At the court of Henri II, the carefully raised Mademoiselle de Chartres marries the honorable Prince of Clèves without loving him. Soon afterward she and the admired Duke of Nemours fall silently in love. Determined not to become part of the court's culture of deception, she avoids Nemours and finally tells her husband that she feels an attraction to another man, withholding the name. Nemours secretly hears the confession. The prince becomes consumed by jealousy and has her watched; a misleading report persuades him that Nemours has been received as a lover. He dies believing himself betrayed, though the princess has remained faithful in action. Free to marry Nemours, she admits her love but refuses him, fearing that passion will fade and feeling responsible for her husband's death. She leaves court for a secluded, religious life and eventually dies, while Nemours's hopes and devotion diminish with time.

Madame de Chartres brings her beautiful, carefully educated daughter to the glittering court of Henri II. The young woman attracts several possible matches but marries the Prince of Clèves, an honorable man who loves her deeply, even though she feels esteem rather than passion for him. After the wedding, she meets the Duke of Nemours at a court ball. Their immediate attraction is visible to observant people around them, though neither declares it. Madame de Chartres recognizes her daughter's danger and urges her to withdraw from temptation and preserve the integrity on which her happiness depends. Her death soon deprives the princess of her closest guide, leaving her to manage her feelings within a court full of concealed affairs and strategic appearances.

The Princess of Clèves tries to avoid Nemours, but court duties repeatedly bring them together. He steals a miniature portrait of her while she watches without exposing him, creating a private understanding neither can safely acknowledge. A lost love letter then appears to implicate Nemours. The princess's distress reveals the depth of her attachment, but the letter actually belongs to the Vidame of Chartres, whose overlapping loyalties would cause scandal if discovered. Nemours helps construct an explanation and is able to clear himself in the princess's eyes. Her relief only confirms that jealousy has drawn her more deeply into the passion she is trying to resist.

Alarmed by her own feelings, the princess asks to retire from court to the country. When her husband presses for a reason, she makes an extraordinary confession: she is attracted to another man but has never acted on it and seeks her husband's protection against weakness. She refuses to name the man. Nemours, hidden nearby, overhears and believes the confession concerns him. He later allows the remarkable story to circulate without names, and the prince realizes that someone witnessed the private conversation. Suspicion enters the marriage. The princess remains outwardly faithful and continues to avoid Nemours, but her candor does not produce the trust she hoped to preserve.

The Prince of Clèves, increasingly certain that Nemours is his unnamed rival, sends a gentleman to watch the country estate. Nemours comes there only to observe the princess from a distance, but the spy's incomplete report convinces the prince that a secret meeting occurred. He falls ill and dies believing his wife unfaithful. The princess, who has not committed adultery, is overwhelmed by grief and responsibility. Nemours later offers the marriage that is now legally possible. She admits that she loves him but refuses, arguing that passion may fade, jealousy may return, and her husband's death has made their union morally impossible for her. She withdraws from court to a life divided between religion and seclusion. Nemours's devotion eventually weakens, while she maintains her decision until her early death.

The Prince of Clèves dies convinced that his wife has betrayed him with Nemours, although she has never committed adultery. His accusation and death leave the princess burdened by grief and guilt. Nemours remains devoted to her and, once mourning and convention no longer make marriage impossible, approaches her openly. She acknowledges that she loves him but refuses to marry. She fears the instability of passion, believes happiness with him would not last, and feels bound by the memory of the husband whose jealousy their attachment helped destroy. Neither persuasion nor time changes her decision. She withdraws from court, divides her life between a religious house and her own retreat, devoting herself to duty and quiet acts of charity. Her feelings for Nemours eventually subside, and she dies relatively young, remembered for a virtue that has required the sacrifice of the life she might have shared with him.