Babette's Feast

Martine is Philippa’s older sister and one of the story’s protagonists. She is named for the German priest and founder of Lutheranism, Martin Luther, and is described as “extraordinarily pretty, with the almost supernatural fairness of flowering fruit trees or perpetual snow” (5). When she catches Loewenhielm’s eye, he thinks of her both as a “Huldre, a female mountain spirit of Norway, who is so fair that the air round her shines and quivers” and as a “gentle, golden-haired angel” (6). Like Philippa, Martine is devoted to a spiritual life and avoids all worldly pleasures. As the elder sister, she takes on the role of the leader in community and family matters. Her primary concerns are tending to the Dean’s congregation, doing charitable works, and maintaining a calm, ascetic life.

It is not clear whether she has romantic feelings for Loewenhielm. It is hinted that she has no desire for physical romance when the narrator says, “the fair girls had been brought up to an ideal of heavenly love; they were all filled with it and did not let themselves be touched by the flames of this world” (5). Martine changes the subject when Philippa brings up Loewenhielm, but it is never clear whether modesty or discomfort motivates her to do so.