Morality and Decisions: A Case Study on Bertrande

The question of morality is a daunting one. Killing someone is not considered moral, but may be if it is to save the lives of thousands. Sleeping with a man other than your husband is immoral, but what if your husband has abandoned you for nine years? Bertrande was faced with this same exact problem and she chose to sleep with Arnaud even though according to Davis she was well aware this was not Martin Guerre, her husband. However, Bertrande’s decision to sleep with Arnaud was the correct decision based on her circumstances. According to a Utilitarianism view on morality, people should strive for the greater good even if sacrifices need to be made to do this. 1 This decision was a product of her circumstances created by the time, and it can

Women had few rights, and almost all of their status was determined by their husband. Bertrande and Martin were married at the young ages of ten and fourteen. Nine years later Martin had a kid and then suddenly disappeared.2 By abandoning his wife Martin established a horrible situation for her. While woman were important in the household they had few rights as Davis points out in her article: “... women have important roles in economy and family but relatively little authority and access to property ownership and a more precarious legal personality than men.”3 Had Bertrande been a male, then being abandoned by someone’s significant other would not have been so crippling. However, Martin left Bertrande with very few powers. Additionally, not only did women have few powers, but women got what little power they had from their husband in this time period. So, to suddenly not have one was a significant disadvantage. As Davis points out, Martin leaving without a word, left Bertrande in a gray area, “Neither wife nor widow, she was under the same roof with her mother again. (...) that a wife was not free to remarry in the absence of her husband, no matter how many years had elapsed, unless she had certain proof of his death.”4 Since Martin

At the beginning of Martin and Bertrande’s marriage, they are unable to have a child. As Davis state, this was troubling: “Bertrande’s family was pressing her to separate from Martin; since the marriage was unconsummated, it could be dissolved after three years and she would be free by canon law to marry again.”5 While Bertrande had a way to evade this marriage, she stood by Martin remaining faithful. She waited for him for nine years until they finally were granted a child, and then another eight where he left her alone to care for their child. Not only was she given an opportunity out that she did not take, but she remained faithful to him in his absence. Or at least she did until Arnaud showed up. However, Bertrande owed Martin nothing. While she was shown to have upstanding character, this loyalty does not just apply to her husband; Bertrande obviously had to worry about her child. Committing adultery to help provide for her child who’s father abandoned him, no one can really blame her for that. As one can see, Bertrande is a loyal wife, and would not have settled on this option had it not been for her child. She had to look out for her son, and therefore made the decisions that benefited the greater