The Wife Of Martin Guerre Sparknotes

Janet Lewis masterfully entwines and relies on the context in which The Wife of Martin Guerre is written. Lewis writes the setting intentionally to contribute to the story through giving the readers details and information to create a framework of the society without extending the novella with burdensome descriptions. The author shows the reader where authority is placed, how characters identify themselves, and whether humanity is in control or powerless to the forces of nature. These aspects move the story along in effort to give the reader a sense of what sort of people the characters might encounter and what sort of social climate they may be subject to; this is done for showing the reader the transformation that takes place in Bertrande

They are identified by their association with their family, and nothing more. They don’t even understand the division in the Church, and are Catholic simply because that is the only option. Furthermore, on page eleven we read of the offences in the past and the allegiances of families. This reinforces the emphasis on identity by way of family relation and nothing more. Lewis writes that “the deed of one man became immediately the deed of his family” (11). These people were not seen as individuals in a village, but rather perceived as whole family units, carrying last names with pride before first names were even

If one was to say that the family name was most important in Artigues, the personal, first name would be the most important in Toulouse. In Toulouse, differences in people are appreciated as well as argued over; one reads of the toleration between Protestants and Catholics by a hostess, as well as the talk of potential rebellion (83). Citizens of Toulouse are identified by the various causes or loyalties they have, not to families but rather to ideas. These citizens claim themselves to be modern, sophisticated people in contrary to the simple mountain folk that visit for the court case. It is important to note the terminology Lewis uses to describe the main characters; the Guerre family name is replaced with more generic terms of mountaineer and peasant (84, 87). Further, this is compounded by the feeling of being lost expressed by both Bertrande and Pierre; Bertrand asks, “what am I doing here?” and Pierre states, “we are lost” (84, 87). These characters no longer have the identity associated with their family name; they are alone in the city, not used to being individuals but rather used to being a part of a whole