Cardillac was a goldsmith who was so obsessed with the jewellery he made that he found it hard to sell them. People could contract him to make jewellery for them but even after having completed the work, he was hesitant to hand them over to them. Most of the time, he only gave out the jewellery after violent protests by the customers. It is quite unfortunate to note that even after having handed over the precious metals to his customers, he still attacked them and stole the jewelllery from them. He was the person behind murders that were taking place within Paris during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. He attacked wealthy people who were taking gifts to their lovers. He attacked his victims by blows on the head which rendered them unconscious after which he took the jewellery from them. Other victims were stabbed to death by use of a dagger. He did not care about the lives of people as much as he cared about his artistic work. He caused the authorities to conclude that there was an organized band of thieves unleashing terror on the people when in essence he was the sole cause of insecurity in the city.
Cardillac can be described as a deceptive person. This person is considered as a noble and respected person in the society. In fact the authorities believe that he is a very important of the society who can not attempt any criminal activity. He uses this public perception to commit murder in order to feed his insatiable desire for jewellery. His deceptive nature is further evidenced by the fact that he commits murder in the middle of the night when nobody can identify or even suspect him. He is ability to attack people and steal from them for such a long time without being caught only proves his tricky and deceptive nature. When he finds out that Oliver has witnessed his murder, he decides to buys Oliver’s silence by marrying him his daughter Madelon. Although he had been initially opposed to a love relationship between Oliver and his daughter, he quickly changes his mind and allows his daughter to marry Oliver for the latter to conceal the murder case. The act of silencing Oliver by marrying him his daughter further shows that Cardillac is very deceptive.
He can also be considered to be cruel. This is due to the fact that he was murdering people without caring about their human dignity. Cardillac considered the precious metals to be important than people lives. Indeed, it is the reason why continuously murdered people in order to recover the jewellery which he had initially sold to them. His obsession with the precious metals caused him to lose any concern for people’s lives. The cruelty of this character is evident in the manner in which he was stealing the jewellery from his customers. He either used blows to render his victims unconscious or simply stabbed them to death. He did not care about the fate of his victims. What mattered to him is getting the possession of the jewellery. It can, therefore, be argued that Cardillac was a very cruel member of the society in Paris within this period of time. The victims who became unconscious as a result of his blows could experience serious health problems but this did not matter to Cardillac (Hoffmann, 2014). Moreover, some victims were stabbed to death but Cardillac did not care about them nor their friends and families who would be left mourning. He was, therefore, so cruel that he did not care about the welfare of the people who bought jewelry from him.
Cardillac can also be described as insensitive. Olivier worked for him as an assistant until he fell in love with Madelon, Cardillac’s daughter. Since he did not want his daughter to engage in a love relationship with Oliver, he sent the latter away. He did not care how Oliver would sustain himself without an employment opportunity. In stead, he simply sent Oliver to prevent him from having a love affair with his daughter. Cardillac was also insensitive to his daughter’s needs. He could not allow his daughter to relate with a person whom she loved. By sending Oliver away, he proved that he did not care at all about his daughter’s welfare. It is quite unfortunate that Madelon had such a parent who did not care at all about her welfare. Since Cardillac did not care about the welfare of Oliver, his assistant and Madelon, his daughter; he is insensitive.
Cardillac also has selfish traits. A selfish person is only concerned about his personal affairs and not about the welfare of others. Such person would delightfully undermine other people in order to pursue his selfish interests (Hoffmann and Hesperus, 2002). This character is evident in Cardillac who did not care about his daughter’s need for love and affection. He sent Oliver, his personal assistant, on finding out that he had fallen in love with his daughter without considering his Madelon’s feelings. His selfish nature further emerges when he allows Oliver to marry Madelon to prevent him from disclosing about his murder. If Oliver had not witnessed the murder, Cardillac would never have allowed him to marry his daughter regardless of their love for one another. This act shows that Cardillac only uses his daughter to achieve his selfish ambitions but does not have any regard for her welfare.
Work Cited:
Hoffmann, E.T.A (2014) Mademoiselle De Scuderi Paris: Lemur Books
Hoffmann, E.T.A. & Hesperus, G.A. (2002) Mademoiselle de Scudéri: a tale of the times of Louis XIV London: Hesperus
