The Story of Adele H. - Plot

Plot

In 1863, the American Civil War is still raging and Great Britain and France have yet to enter into the conflict. For the past year British troops have been stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, carefully checking European passengers disembarking from foreign ships. The beautiful Adèle Hugo (Isabelle Adjani), the second daughter of Victor Hugo, makes it through and takes a carriage into Halifax. Traveling under the assumed name of Miss Lewly, Adèle finds accommodations at a boarding house run by Mr. and Mrs. Saunders.

Adèle finds a notary and inquires about a British officer, Lieutenant Pinson (Bruce Robinson), with whom she's had a relationship. Later that day Adèle sees Pinson at a book shop. When she learns that Mr. Saunders will be attending a military dinner which Pinson is likely to attend, Adèle asks him to deliver a letter from her—a love letter announcing her arrival. While showing some old photographs to Mrs. Saunders, she talks about her older sister Léopoldine Hugo who died in a drowning accident at the age of nineteen many years ago just after being married. When Mr. Saunders returns from the dinner he tells her that he gave Pinson her letter but he did not reply. That night Adèle has nightmares about drowning.

The next day Adèle writes to her parents telling them that she must be with her beloved Pinson and that they are planning to marry, but she will wait for their formal consent. She spends her evenings writing in her journal about her life and her love for Pinson. "I'll be able to win him over through gentleness," she writes. Pinson arrives at the boarding house and tells Adèle that she must leave Halifax and stop following him. Adèle believes that if they marry all his concerns will be resolved. Pinson knows that her parents do not approve of him and his heavy gambling debts. Adèle tries to persuade him, telling him that she's rejected another marriage proposal, threatens to expose him and ruin his military career, and even offers him money for his gambling debts, but he remains unmoved.

In the coming days Adèle continues writing in her journal, convinced that she is Pinson's wife in spirit. She tries to conjure the ghost of her dead sister to help her. One night she follows Pinson to the home of his mistress where she watches him make love to her. Undeterred, Adèle continues her writing and her behavior becomes more eccentric. Mr. Whistler (Joseph Blatchley), the kind bookseller who provides her with writing paper, shows an interest in her. As she leaves his book shop, she faints from exhaustion. Mr. Whistler visits her at the boarding house bringing her paper, but she refuses to see him. Doctor Murdock (Roger Martin) visits and diagnoses a mild case of pleurisy. He notices one of her letters is addressed to "Victor Hugo" and informs Mrs. Saunders of the true identity of her boarder.

Adèle's obsession grows stronger and one day she writes to her parents notifying them that she has married Pinson and that from now on she should be addressed as Madame Pinson. Upon receiving the news, Adèle's famous father posts an announcement of the marriage in his local paper, news of which makes its way back to Pinson's colonel. After Pinson writes Victor Hugo explaining he will never marry Adèle, Victor Hugo writes back to his daughter urging her to return home to Guernsey. Adèle responds to her father's letter with more fantasy, urging her parents to accept Pinson.

Learning Adèle's true identity, Mr. Whistler offers her a gift of her father's books, but she responds in anger and paranoia. She hires a prostitute as a gift for Pinson. She follows him to a theater to see a hypnotist act, where she gets the idea that she can hypnotize Pinson into loving her. Trapped in a seemingly hopeless position, Adèle begins to go mad with despair. She goes to the father of Pinson's fiancé and claims that he is married to her and that she is carrying his child, thereby ending Pinson's engagement. After leaving the boarding house, Adèle's condition deteriorates rapidly. She wanders the streets in torn clothes talking to herself.

In February 1864 Pinson is shipped out to Barbados, and a destitute Adèle follows him. Now married, Pinson learns that Adèle is in Barbados claiming to be his wife. Concerned about his reputation, Pinson searches for her and finds her wandering the streets in rags. When he tries to confront her, Adèle does not acknowledge or recognize him. Helped by a kind former slave, Adèle returns to Paris where the French Third Republic is now established. Her famous father places her in an asylum in Saint-Mandé where she will live for the next forty years—gardening, playing piano, and writing in her journal. Adèle Hugo died in Paris in 1915 at the age of 85.