The Imposter's Accomplice

1768 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay of medieval women roles

Medieval women are typically portrayed as being submissive and compliant, but is this portrayal true and unanimous? Is it possible that some women may have had more influence over their social circumstances? Natalie Davis’s “The Return of Martin Guerre” certainly seems to indicate that women were capable of more than housework and childbearing. The woman in question of such behavior is Bertrande de Rols, a peasant woman who allows an imposter to replace her missing husband for her own benefit. Yet in contrast to this account, Robert Finlay, author of “The Refashioning of Martin Guerre, claims that Bertrande had no real intent in her actions and that she was simply mislead by the imposter. Davis responds to this criticism in “Of the Lame,” where she further clarifies her reasoning behind her assertions. Using accounts of the historical trial, Davis provides multiple sources of evidence and a motive for her claim that Bertrande was, in fact, a collaborator of the imposter and that she deliberately took advantage of him to improve her quality of life.

In her rebuttal against Finlay, Davis explores how the imposter assimilated himself into becoming Martin Guerre with the implicit aid of Bertrande. When the imposter, Arnuad du Tilh, presented himself to Bertrande, “she recoiled in surprise. Not until he had spoken to her affectionately, reminding her of things they had done and talked

about…did she fall upon his neck and kiss him”. Clearly, Arnaud had some prior information to initially capture the attention of the Guerre family. Yet the question remains as to how Arnaud could have gained the information to continue and maintain his facade. Finlay claims that “[Arnaud] had gathered information about the Guerres’ marriage before hi...

... middle of paper ...

...., 1983), 42.

Robert Finlay, The Refashioning of Martin Guerre, 588.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 577.

Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre,44.

Robert Finlay, The Refashioning of Martin Guerre,588.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 578.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable du Parlement de Tolose (Lyon: Antoine Vincent, 1561), 52.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, 74.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 578.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, 86.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 580.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, 66-67.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, 66-67.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, 135.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 593.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 580.

Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre, 30-31.

Natalie Zemon Davis, On the Lame, 585.

Jean de Coras, Arrest Memorable, 12.

Show More
Related

  • Salem Witch Trials: Women’s Rights

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    During this time period women were not respected at all and were belittled by all med in their lives. Even though men don’t appreciate what women they still did as they were told. In particular, “Women have an astoundingly long list of responsibilities and duties – th...

    Read More

  • The Return of Martin Guerre

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Peasant Lifestyle In Davis´ The Return of Martin Guerre

    1599 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Book Review of "The Return of Martin Guerre"

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Return of Martin Guerre, one man's impersonation of an heir from an influential peasant family in the French village of Artigat ultimately leads to his public execution. The tale of Arnaud du Tilh alias Pansette (meaning "the belly") is full of ironies, not the least of which is his death at the hands of a man who by some accounts harbored some admiration for the quick-witted peasant. Set in a time and place where a hardly discernible line separated proper behavior from that which was grounds for death, du Tilh was guilty of more than one serious charge. Yet he was well-known as a strong farmer, loving husband, shrewd rural-merchant, and eloquent speaker. Arnaud's actions are not the result of his own audacity, rather of something more universal, so universal its results can be seen in other historical figures from the text. Du Tilh assumed Martin Guerre's identity because doing so represented a unique opportunity to test the extent of his abilities and leave behind his presently troubled life.

    Read More

  • The Divide betwen Truth and Honour or Happiness and Comfort in The Wife of Martin Guerre

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between Lanval And The Wife Of Bath's Tale

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marie de France’s “Lanval” is a brilliantly witty and captivating narrative poem—one illustrating a knight’s unyielding honor and loyalty to his king as well as his enduring chivalric devotion to the woman he loves. Written in the twelfth century, amidst a time when women were looked down upon and considered useless and unnecessary, Marie’s portrayal of a knight needing to be rescued by his female lover breathes comic irony into this otherwise misogynistic and antifeminist world. In addition to this cleverly depicted romance, a further literary work, Geoffrey Chaucer’s early fifteenth century “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” extends its own explicitly satirical outlook

    Read More

  • The wife of martin guerre

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Return Of Martin Guerre

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Davis’ The Return of Martin Guerre is challenged when trying to connect the heroes to the current or modern times. Despite Arnaud’s teetering morality, ethical behavior or actions, he was still able to develop a modern identity. He effectively presented himself in the necessary role of Martin Guerre, as though he was a professional actor or artist.

    Read More

  • Marie de France’s Lanval and Laustic

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    Popular culture depicts Medieval chivalry as a glamorous and high time for women, with knights bending their knees in worship to them in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and the fairness and virtue of women being celebrated in literature. Chivalry is often understood as the elevation of the lady fair, with men taking upon themselves the task of protecting and defending women. In fact, though, this was not an elevation of women but a limitation of their freedom and an undermining even of their intelligence and strength of will. Medieval chivalry, in essence, subordinated women to men while claiming to elevate women. In Lanval and Laustic, women are shown to have a subordinate status to men in three ways: being painted as temptresses, being subject to protection from men, and being subservient to orders from men.

    Read More

  • Bertrande de Rols Analysis

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    After years of abandonment, an absent man presumed to be Martin Guerre appeared in front of a woman who longed for a strong love and different husband. An “obstinate and honorable” woman could no...

    Read More

  • Frankenstein: Shelley Use of Mascuine and Feminine Roles

    2033 Words  | 5 Pages

    Justine, too, is an ‘idealised figure’, described during the trial as having a countenance which, ‘always engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful.’ She is the archetypal innocent, being beautiful, weak and entirely accepting of her fate to the point of martyrdom.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Wife of Bath and The Canterbury Tales

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.

    Read More

  • Relationship Between Men And Women Essay

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most important roles for women was the act of alliance between nobles, to avoid a conflict, for instances, Charles the Simple gave his daughter to Rollo the Walker to elude a fight with the Vikings. Moreover, monasteries became very powerful during this period. They created foundations that provide accommodations to males as well as females. The monasteries became ruled for women. Females in the monasteries had power over their bodies and minds. During the Charlemagne governance, he made the Capitularies , a series of documents that everybody follow. On document said “If anyone rapes the daughter of his lord, he shall die”. It is reflected that the women of the noble families were very important and they should be respected. Medieval Women were subject to their men. People believed that because the men is the image of God, and women were a creation from the men, the men should rule the women, and women should not have the right to be a witnesses or have justice. People blamed the women for the wrong of the world, because of Eva seduced Adam to eat the apple. As is reflect, people in the medieval period believed several things about men and women

    Read More

  • Les Liaisons Dangereuses

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    The protagonists, The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, consider it their life’s ambition to sadistically control and dominate those around them through sexual intrigue. These two villains are indeed locked in psychological combat to see who can actually ‘out-do’ the other in stalking, capturing and destroying the souls of others. Taking absolute pleasure in ripping any virtue from the hearts of their prey, Merteuil and Valmont wave their accomplishments in front of each other like spoils of war. The less the chance of surrender, the more relentless is the pursuit.

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Views on Women: Griselda and the Wife of Bath's the Loathly Lady

    3022 Words  | 7 Pages

    As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.

    Read More

More about The Imposter's Accomplice

Open Document