Introduction
The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis, is a historical recount of the extraordinary case of the imposter Martin Guerre, who was really named Arnaud du Tilh. For four years Arnaud was able to fool Bertrande, Martins wife, as well as the rest of the family and the entire village of Artigat. It wasn’t until Arnaud began demanding the inheritance from Pierre Gurre, Martin’s uncle, that he became under suspiscion and that he was put under trial. He may have gotten away with it, had the real the Martin never walked into the courtroom. Some would say he was not a monster for having to deceive an entire village for so long and that he was the loving husband that Bertrande always wanted. After all, the original Martin was the one who deserted his family in the first place, leaving his wife Bertrande in a state of limbo. However even if the real Martin had abandoned his wife, it does not change the fact that Arnaud du Tilh was a con artist looking to inherent the fortune that was left by Sanxi (Martins Father). Although it was possible that Bertrande de Rols knew “Martin” wasn’t really her husband, she had little influence due to blah blah blah something about being a loving husband to Bertrande and friendly to everyone. Before his quarrel with Pierre, Martin’s uncle, many of villagers said he was very friendly.
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Content and Sources
Princeton historian and anthropologist Natalie Zemon Davis, not only tells and entertaining story of real life event but also gives the readers an idea of what life was like for sixteenth century villagers. To do this Davis uses what she says “part my invention, but held tightly in check by the voices of the past.”(p.5). Among these “voices of the past” was Jean de Coras’s, Arrest Memorable du Parlement de Tholose which was published in 1551. Jean De Coras was responsible for being one of the judges of the Martin Guerre case. It is a very critical source of Davis’s work as it summed up all the evidence, formal arguments and judgments. An entire chapter is devoted to Coras and how came to write about the case. Another major source she used was Guillaume Le Sueur’s Admiranda historia de Pseudo Martino Tholosae Damnato Idib. Other sources she used where Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles and Propsi Rustiques.
Analysis
There
Conclusion
Overall