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The Wife Of Martin Guerre Theme
447 Words1 Page
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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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
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The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Davis
1452 Words | 3 PagesThe 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.
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490 Words | 1 PagesMartin 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...
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645 Words | 2 PagesNevertheless, 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.
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