In Janet Lewis’ “The Wife of Martin Guerre,” the author illustrates the family dynamics of the sixteenth century. Martin would legally remain a minor for the extent of his father’s lifetime, and women’s identity and importance were only known through their husbands. However, Bertrande de Rols, the wife of Martin Guerre, is known as herself in this novel, which expresses that the novel was written according to her experience as the wife of Martin Guerre. Even though it wasn’t acceptable for women to go forward with such accusations, Bertrande de Rols did the right thing by pursuing Arnaud as an impostor because she knew he was not her husband, despite what everyone else said. In sixteenth century France, women were not independent and treated as equals as they are today. Women didn’t have much or any identity of their own apart from their husbands, let alone any importance outside of their household duties. This meant that women didn’t have a voice within the home or publicly. Bertrande’s decision to go publicly to trial with the accusations of Arnaud being an impostor was a huge deal to the rest of the family. All of Martin’s family, except for his uncle, believed Arnaud was none other than Martin Guerre. This was pressure for Bertrande to no longer go forward with the accusations against Arnaud. Determined, independent, honourable, and brave were all qualities that Bertrande had shown through the actions she had taken to fight what she believed was the truth in the process of pursuing the impostor. Bertrande proved that women could stand up for themselves and not just stand behind their husbands. She chose to live a life of truth and honour over happiness and comfort with a man who wasn’t her husband, no matter how convincing he was. “The Wife of Martin Guerre” takes us through the life of Bertrande de Rols, the wife of Martin Guerre, and her story of the life she lived with and without Martin in sixteenth century France. This novel shares many reasons for why she pursued the alleged impostor that was within her home impersonating her husband, such as women not having a voice within the household, her religious values and beliefs, and her choice to live a life of truth and honour over happiness and comfort, through the doubts of her family that she had to push against and trusting her better judgment. Bertrande proved to herself and the audience of readers of this novel why even within their time period then it was still right for her to do so in pursuing the impostor.
Martin Guerre from Artigat had left his wife Bertrande and their son Sanxi and their inheritance to seek adventure in Spain as a mercenary. After leaving his family for nearly nine years a man claiming to be Martin returns to the village to claim his wife and land. Bertrande accepts the man as being her husband and they have another child together. Martin has a dispute with Pierre over the management of the family estate and ownership of the rents from Matins land during his absence. During their dispute a passing by veteran had claimed that "Martin" is not who he claims to be. He said that Martin had lost a leg at the battle of Saint Quentin and that he really was Arnaud de Tihl from a neighboring village. Both Martin and Arnaud had soldered together in the war, where they had became friends. The Guerre family was very divided over the story. Pierre and his sons-in-law believe the soldier's story, and Pierres daughters and Bertrande continue to believe "Martin" is Martin. As their ca...
The Return of Martin Guerre, written by Natalie Zemon Davis, is the tale of a court case that takes place in sixteenth century France. Martin Guerre is a peasant who deserted his wife and family for many years. While Martin Guerre is gone, a man named Arnaud du Tilh arrives at Martin’s village and claims to be Martin Guerre. Bertrande, who is Guerre’s wife, Guerre’s sisters, and many of the villagers, accepts the imposter. After almost three years of being happily married, Bertrande takes the fraud to court under pressure of Pierre Guerre, her stepfather and Guerre’s brother. Arnaud du Tilh is almost declared innocent, but the real Martin Guerre appears in the courthouse. Throughout this tale, many factors of the peasant life are highlighted. The author gives a very effective and detailed insight to a peasant’s life during the time of Martin Guerre. Davis does a successful job of portraying the peasant lifestyle in sixteenth century France by accentuating the social, cultural, and judicial factors of everyday peasant life.
...ths of the sixteenth century. Yes, women of that time and place left a very light mark on history. Eventually, the story the book tells spirals down into just some nasty courtroom feuds among family members. The story provides a driving narrative that brings into intimate contact disparate kinds that are still prevalent today. And the conclusion drawn from Anna's actions and reactions may surprise. In both everyday life and in times of crisis, women in the twenty first century has access to effective personal and legal resources.
The notion of Bertrande de Rols in The Wife of Martin Guerre as having good intentions suggests not only that she was mindful of her own feelings in her pursuit of the truth, but also of the feelings of others. However, Bertrande’s intentions were to cleanse her soul and absolve herself from sin by indicting the impostor, Arnaud du Tilh. Yet, she undertakes this task considering the despair it would inflict upon the mesnie. These actions also are detrimental to Bertrande in causing her perhaps the most anguish and grief of all. Bertrande intends to uphold the status quo, yet she has due knowledge that pathway to the greater good will be harmful to her and the Mesnie.
It is my intention to compare the book, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos, to its modern movie version, Cruel Intentions starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. I intend to examine how the original French text was modified in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes. I also plan to discuss how these transformations change the meaning of the story and reflect different cultural/historical contexts. There are some major differences between these two works, if only because of when they were written.
Therefore, I still have found that Bertrande Guerre truly believed that Arnaud du Tilh was her husband, making her an unknowing player in the entire charade. Natalie Davis made the point that Bertrande must have known that the new Martin was an impostor due to their sexual relationship and the differences therein (110). However, this point is hard to believe due to the fact that Bertrande and Martin were married for nine years without having intercourse, and when they finally did, it was in order to conceive their future son, Sanxi (Finlay, 558). Only a few months after Sanxi was born, Martin disappeared for over eight years, which is a long time for a woman to remember the specific details of a sexual relationship that couldn’t have lasted for more than a few months (Finlay, 558). Even if Bertrande had noticed a difference in the sexual relationship, she would have doubted her recollections, not having any kind of proof or true memories of those sexual experiences (Finlay, 558).
The “beautiful young woman” began to show her stubborn ways early. According to the reading, Bertrande was concerned more about putting aside her wifely duties than to ruin her reputation and independence (27-28). When Martin abandoned Bertrande, she was left without a defined position in the village social structure. Being the honest women that Coras said she was, Bertrande would not separate from Martin, and under Catholic law she could not remarry unless there was strong proof of death. The values that Bertrande grew up with showed that she never saw herself leaving village customs (32). Though the devastating experience of Martin leaving left her weak and yearning for a husband, she lived “virtuously and honorably” through her “stiff-necked sense of herself and her reputation” (34).
Catherine de Medici’s culpability for the turbulent events in France in 1559-72 remains a topic of some debate. Highly personal protestant pamphleteers associated Catherine with sinister comparisons to the contemporary evil Machiavelli which eventually developed into the ‘Black Legend’. Jean.H. Mariégol consolidates this interpretation, overwhelmingly assuming Catherine’s wickedness; the Queen Mother was deemed to be acting for ‘personal aggrandizement’ without an interest in the monarchy. Neale provides a corrective arguing a ‘dominant maternalism’ drove Catherine’s policies. Sutherland critiques Neale, suggesting he is guilty of using misconceived qualifying phrases from the ‘Black Legend’ stemming from the contemporary pamphlets, instead Sutherland and Heller attempt to disentangle Catherine from the context of the xenophobic Protestant pamphleteers that shaped much of Catherine’s historical analysis thus far, revealing the ‘politique’ whose moderate policies were a force for stability. Knecht is most convincing in his assertion that whilst the ‘Black Legend’ is a misrepresentation of her character and policies, Sutherland goes too far in whitewashing Catherine. Ironically, Catherine as a ‘politique’ aimed for complex policies and yet her role in French politics was over-simplified by contemporaries and arguably even by modern historians contributing to overly polarised interpretations. Instead we should bear in mind the violent pressures Catherine faced in the context of the collapse of monarchical authority and follow the more nuanced interpretation of her role.
In the novel, later, Mme. de Clèves asks for further explanation for the love between a woman and the king with “several other lovers” (1039). This passion forms the “political and social effects” (1039) that change the norms in the court. The court mixes this false “event into its own structure, so that the implausible now becomes the norm for the entire court” (1039). This incident drives to the extent of passions, “political ambitions and social events”, that utilize M. de Clève’s passion. Hence, the power of Duchesse de Valentinois doubles “the power of the monarch” (1039).
The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.
Louise Mallard is a woman who enjoys freedom and independence. She feels soaring relief and fiery triumph upon realizing that, yes, she is finally free. She is free of the weighted ropes of marriage. She fantasizes of her days ahead, living for herself and only herself. “A kind intention or cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (Chopin 234). She views the imposing of one’s will on another person as a crime, no matter the intention behind it. She has a taste of freedom after Mr. Mallard’s death and can finally see days without stress ahead of her. Prior to her husband’s death, young Mrs. Mallard feels tied down and even oppressed. “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength” (Chopin 233). Despite the typical oppression of women throughout the centuries prior to the 1920s, Mrs. Mallard possesses a free spirit.
When women are kept in their classical role of mother and caretaker, all is well and their lives are simple. Children relate positively to their mothers in this typical setting; while Dantés was in prison, during a time of distress, he remembered something his mother had done for him. For example, Dumas writes, “He remembered the prayers his mother had taught him and found meanings in them which he had formerly been unaware.” (41). Mothers teach their children to the best of their ability, evidenced in Dantés, as well as when Caderousse says Mercédès is instructing her son, Albert. It is in these moments that a mother’s love, compassion, and necessity are revealed. Lives are calm and enriched as long as women are in their niche. This includes non-maternal nurturing roles, for example, Mercédès attentiveness to Dantés father and Valentine’s special ability to care for Nortier. This loyalty is valued and shown as essential for the stability of life. Though The Count of Monte Cristo depicted women as best suited to the home, they intermittently stepped further out of that r...
In America, the 1890s were a decade of tension and social change. A central theme in Kate Chopin’s fiction was the independence of women. In Louisiana, most women were their husband’s property. The codes of Napoleon were still governing the matrimonial contract. Since Louisiana was a Catholic state, divorce was rare and scandalous. In any case, Edna Pontellier of Chopin had no legal rights for divorce, even though Léonce undoubtedly did. When Chopin gave life to a hero that tested freedom’s limits, she touched a nerve of the politic body. However, not Edna’s love, nor her artistic inner world, sex, or friendship can reconcile her personal growth, her creativity, her own sense of self and her expectations. It is a very particular academic fashion that has had Edna transformed into some sort of a feminist heroine. If she could have seen that her awakening in fact was a passion for Edna herself, then perhaps her suicide would have been avoided. Everyone was forced to observe, including the cynics that only because a young
In the past, literature for women strove to reinforce the culturally approved ideas of femininity. Tremendous volumes of literature were written to reinforce appropriate female behaviour. By the mid-eighteenth century, the ideological division of women into two classes, the virtuous and the fallen, was well developed (Armstrong, 18). Literature often portrayed both of these women, with the virtuous triumphing at the end and the fallen receiving her appropriate punishment. Chopin followe...
The Marquis’ father made up for the loss of his mother by having a close relationship with his son, but that did not help the negative opinion the young child was already forming about women. The personality conflicts that later arise in de Sade’s life are said to come from his hatred of women because his mother was not present in his childhood (Lever 14). The relationship between the father and son was described as “This symbiosis was undeniably emotional, a pr...