The Man in the Iron Mask Reflection EssayAccelerated Social Studies 101

By Michelle Pigeon

In The Man in the Iron Mask there is a character named King

Louis XIV. Since King Louis XIV is king, he believes in the Divine

Right. The Divine Right is a theory that God picked certain people

to rule as king. King Louis XIV used this theory to exhibit

complete control over the lives of his subjects. Some examples

from the movie include the bedroom scene where King Louis XIV

comes out and tells Christine that he has the Divine Right,

sending Rauol, Christine’s fiancé, to the front lines of a war to kill

him, and locking up Philippe, King Louis XIV’s twin brother.

In the scene, King Louis XIV and Christine are in King Louis

XIV’s room when Christine starts to feel guilty about going to King

Louis XIV after Rauol died. So she states to say how they’ll both

wind up in hell, when King Louis XIV says “‘No, no my love. You

shall burn in hell. But not I. For I am King... ordained by God!’”

King Louis XIV openly said that he believes in the Divine Right.

Since Rauol and Christine were to be married King Louis XIV

knew that Christine will never actually love him unless Rauol was

dead. So using the excuse of the Divine Right he sent Rauol into

the front lines. Since literally God is speaking through King Louis

XIV and to defy King Louis XIV is to defy God, Rauol has to obey.

King Louis XIV locked up Philippe because he knew that

Philippe could become an imposter and take his throne. So King

Louis XIV, abused the Divine Right again, and made Philippe wear

an iron mask and go to jail; so no-one could mistake Philippe for

King Louis XIV.

Locking up Philippe, killing Rauol, and confessing to

Christine all showed how King Louis XIV used Divine Right to get

complete control over the lives of his subjects and those close to

him.