It has already been pointed out that Marie GUYART was married and the mother of a son.
Because of this, we are in possession of an intimate diary " journal
intime " which she has bequeathed to him. In 1639, at the age of 19, Claude
extracts a promise from his mother to explain her decisions in writing, in the hope of
making him one day understand. It is only 15 years later that Marie Guyart is able to
acknowlege this promise and organize her thoughts and feelings, enabling her to accurately
express them to her son. In this long explanatory letter she gives him the privilege of
being able to follow the progression of her inner life and motivation. Thus, we know the
major steps which influenced her social actions and the choices she made for her life.
This famous correspondence is better known under the name of " Autobiography
of Marie GUYART, 1654 ". This autobiography est considered one of the
masterpieces of French historical literature of the great century of mystique.
Toward 1900, a copy was discovered at the Ursuline convent at Trois-Rivières. We
suppose that because of the risks of the ocean crossing, a copy was systematically made of
all important letters. Several years later, in 1906, an in-depth study was published by
Dom Jamet together with an unabridged version of the letter of 1654. Since that time,
studies continue to be published, and writings continue to be revealed. Many researchers
are still involved today, studying the case in several countries of the world.
Marie GUYART is also one of the rare female writers of her century, European writers
included. The abundance of her writings give her a place of choice. Of course, it was
certainly not her goal to become a writer ; she was merely trying to justify her
choice of life to her son in sharing with him those intimacies. All of this has been the
inspiration for our screenplay.
Denis
Boivin
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