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Chanya Likitkunawong
''The Wife of Martin Guerre' questions whether truth is more important than personal happiness.' Discuss
'The Wife of Martin Guerre' showcases thoughts about how there is only true and false in this world. Bertrande as a character believes that not having the "truth" revealed is a false life, living in sin. However, characters such as the Housekeeper believe that the "truth" is destructive, and would much rather be "deceived" and "happy" than having "nothing" go well for the household. It is also suggested in the text that knowing the "truth" often comes with a price.
Bertrande's decision to denounce the "truth" about the new Martin being an "impostor" was so that she would no longer bear the weight of sin. "The truth is only the truth. I cannot change it" suggests that she sees truth as absolute. There is no in between, there is only true and false. She could not live with herself for living in a false life, a life of lies. She accepts the "truth" as to not live with the turmoil the sin is taking on her health.
The Housekeeper values happiness over truth because sometimes the truth is destructive. She claims that "all was well" before the
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denunciation of Arnaud and ever since then "nothing" ever went "well" for the household. The Housekeeper also says to Bertrande "I would still have you deceived. We were all happy then" which shows her values on the terms of "truth" and "happiness". By denouncing Arnaud, Bertrande "had rejected" the "love" that was "forbidden".
She loved him, and he loved her, as suggested by the way Bertrande opposed the court's ruling of death to Arnaud. Arnaud's "face bright...with joy" showed that he himself had also loved Bertrande because of her "love and grace" she had once shown him before the denunciation. After Arnaud had died, Bertrande had felt a "bitter, solitary justice" as she was now alone, but free of the guilt she once carried. She felt "isolated", much like the way Artigues is "isolated" from the other cities. She had paid her price for "truth" by losing the one she loved, and by losing all the mesnie. She later paid with her life as suggested in the text, "when hate and love together exhausted the soul, the body seldom endures for
long". It is shown that both "truth" and "happiness" are important values for different individuals. Personal happiness however, is a "wilful blindness". When people are not satisfied with the truth, they either turn to deceiving themselves, or to confront the truth, much like the Housekeeper and Bertrande have done. Living a life with regret, is not a life worth living for anyone.
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 search to define ones self is continuous, and ends only in death. Arnaud du Tilh had found a home, and was content. During the trials, he wasn't merely arguing for his life, he wanted to keep the life he once had with Bertrande and his daughters. Du Tilh did not plan to take their inheritance for himself, upon examining excerpts from the book; we see that he was establishing a profitable business for his new family. No matter his true motive the place and times conspired against him, and he ended no better than the man whose identity he sought to steal.
Eliza’s blatant disregard for the concern of those around her contributed heavily to her demise. Had she listened to her friends and family when they told her to marry Mr...
The Wife of Martin Guerre is a novel that takes us through the life of Bertrande de Rols, wife of Martin Guerre and her story of the life she lived with and without Martin in sixteenth century France. This novel shares many reason 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, 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 pursing the impostor.
The narrator begins the story by recounting how she speculates there may be something wrong with the mansion they will be living in for three months. According to her the price of rent was way too cheap and she even goes on to describe it as “queer”. However she is quickly laughed at and dismissed by her husband who as she puts it “is practical in the extreme.” As the story continues the reader learns that the narrator is thought to be sick by her husband John yet she is not as convinced as him. According
Nevertheless, Bertrande knows these self-centred intentions, when put into action, will ultimately be reflected by the displeasure and distress of her children and the Mesnie. ‘I am destroying the happiness of my family. And why? … to free myself from the deceit which was consuming and killing me.’ Bertrande’s strong desire to free herself from the cunning of Arnaud du Tilh inevitably brought considerations of the Mesnie and her children to mind. ‘Her affection for her kindred rose about her in a wall implacable as stone’ as she was ‘condemned to solitude’ knowing the hurt her accusations against Arnaud inflicted upon the mesnie. Furthermore, the drawn out process of the trial brought ‘heart-breaking uncertainty,’ with Lewis clearly indicating through this use of language Bertrande’s awareness of the affect of her actions upon others.
" Neighbours used to look out for each other, but now there seems to be less and less interaction because people go out and don't bother with them, long gone is the tight-knit community of the past. It seems that her obsession with housework has been a substitute for a child, she has never got over the fact that she lost her and Wilfreds child. She would not have coped with the mess of a child. The cleaning aspect of the monologue is to teach us that real life is messy and cannot be tidied. To show that this character has not really grown up and moved on her childhood.
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 main focus of the story is on Bertrande de Rols and her place in sixteenth century society, especially as a wife. At the age of nine, Bertrande was married to Martin Guerre who was a young peasant of Basque heritage. For several years, the two have trouble consummating their marriage. In 1548, Martin runs away from his village of Artigat, France to join the Spanish army, leaving his twenty-two year old wife Bertrande and a young son. After eight years of living in quiet desperation, an imposter Arnaud du Tilh nicknamed "Pansette," shows up in the village in 1548, in the guise of Martin Guerre. It is no wonder that Bertrande would finally find fulfillment of her hopes and dreams of a better life with the new Martin. The couple's marital bliss unravels the day Arnaud argues with his uncle, Pierre Guerre, over his desire to sell off some of his ancestral land. Under Basque tradition and custom, a man is never to sell his ancestral land this causes Pierre to be suspicious of the identity of his nephew and he decides to sue Arnaud as an imposter.
In early modern Europe, the 16th century presented a turning point in history where identities and values were challenged. Given the fluctuating state of identities, could the crisis of power centralization precipitate skepticism on the heroes of The Return of Martin Guerre? Can the monumental epistemological changes of the time (e.g. The Reformations and Counter Reformation, the rise of Protestantism, rational individualization in thought) be adequately conveyed or fully reflected using micro-histories?
George says, “Annie, you didn’t know what was done to that man. You don’t know what happened” (46). Truth about Joe’s faulty part is an inevitable truth that could take Ann away from Chris. Another truth that causes Chris to nearly lose Ann is Kate accidentally saying the truth about Joe’s health. It causes George to go mad and attempt to take Ann again. Also, Sue tells Ann about the Keller’s dark truth and this makes Ann hesitate about Chris for a moment. The truth that should resolve life’s conflict is creating more conflict, like how Chris nearly lose Ann and how he lose his relationship with his family later on.
Meursault shows very little love or sorrow at the fact of his mother's death. A normal man would feel pain and regret for not being by her side while Meursault does not even care much about the date she passed away. Immediately on the first page in the novel, we confront the situation where Meursault's mother dies, and he does not care about it. "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from the home: `Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday" (3). Meursault does not bother to call back and find information about his mother. Meursault shows no emotion or care for his mother because he sends her away for someone else to take care of her. During the last years of an elder person's life, they are invited to stay with the family in order to become closer with one another. Meursault could care less as he shows no sign of pain, and goes off to do something else. He resembles a figure where an issue as important as death does come as a priority. "We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw" (Lines 1-4).
The mother is also ashamed of her house, and knows Dee will be. embarrassed by it, as well. No doubt when Dee sees it she will want to tear it down," she thinks to herself. And while the narrator puzzled by Wangero's new style and behavior, the reader knows.
The relationship shared by Pierre and Helene is best described as a lustful charade. It is no coincidence that Pierre, one of the most introspective characters in the novel, first marries a shallow, inwardly-ugly adulterer. His first recorded attitude towards Helene is one of admira...
Moliere sets up the exposition of the play in Act I by the apothecary bills Argon is reading aloud. After Toinette, the maid, then enters the scene she sarcastically makes a comment about all of the bills lying on the table. Toinette lets the audience know that Argon is a hypochondriac by rebutting everything he says about his doctors and illnesses with sarcastic comments. For instance, when Argon says, “You leave my insides alone.” She comes back with, “I wish you would. You’d be a different man.” She also lets the audience know by saying, “Why, if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t even know you were ill,” speaking of the apothecary. The main conflict of the play is Argon’s unwillingness to accept that he is not ill and he is, in fact, a very healthy man. This “illness” leads to the selfishness that he shows his family, especially his daughter Angelica. Later in Act I his “illnesses” prove to have relevance to the conflict when she speaks of Cleante, the man she loves. Cleante is not a doctor; therefore, Argon will not give his blessings for Angelica to marry him.