Miss
Topic: ‘You, and only you, Madame, are answerable for the dishonour which has befallen me.’ To what extent is Bertrande to blame for the situation confronting the Guerre family?
The wife of Martine Guerre by Janet Lewis is a 16thcentury love store set in the bleak and harsh society of medieval France. The main protagonist in the novel, Betrande De Roles is faced with an unusual and appalling situation when an imposter poses as her husband Martin, who has been absent for 8 years. Despite the belief of her husband, Bertrand is not to blame for the awful situation, but instead it is the family and those surrounding Betrande who are to blame for her acceptance of the imposter, ArnaueDeTil. Her husband’s sisters, Martins Uncle, the priest , her son Sanxi, Martin and even the imposter, ArnauDeTil, himself are all equally, if not more to blame for the situation that confronts the Guerre family.
Bertrand lives the life that many women with well-off families lead in medieval France; she is married at the age of 11 and goes to live with the family of her betrothed husband at the age of 14. Although Bertrande and Martin initially do not care for one another (on their wedding night Martin hits Betrande, and when they are forced to share a bed, she is fearful of him), after a period of living together, Betrande and Martin find themselves attached to one another, and they share a special bond within the household “they were a camp within a camp”. Shortly after Betrande gives birth to a son, Sanxi and the household flourishes and prospers. When Martin decides to leave, due to fear of punishment from his father after stealing grain to plant his field, the peace and happiness within the household that Betrande and the family have so become accustom to, is disrupted. The untimely death of Martins Mother is an indication of how unstable the household becomes “she was not an old woman and it may have been possible, as her daughters believed that the illness which she
The wife of Martine Guerre by Janet Lewis is a 16thcentury love store set in the bleak and harsh society of medieval France. The main protagonist in the novel, Betrande De Roles is faced with an unusual and appalling situation when an imposter poses as her husband Martin, who has been absent for 8 years. Despite the belief of her husband, Bertrand is not to blame for the awful situation, but instead it is the family and those surrounding Betrande who are to blame for her acceptance of the imposter, ArnaueDeTil. Her husband’s sisters, Martins Uncle, the priest , her son Sanxi, Martin and even the imposter, ArnauDeTil, himself are all equally, if not more to blame for the situation that confronts the Guerre family.
Bertrand lives the life that many women with well-off families lead in medieval France; she is married at the age of 11 and goes to live with the family of her betrothed husband at the age of 14. Although Bertrande and Martin initially do not care for one another (on their wedding night Martin hits Betrande, and when they are forced to share a bed, she is fearful of him), after a period of living together, Betrande and Martin find themselves attached to one another, and they share a special bond within the household “they were a camp within a camp”. Shortly after Betrande gives birth to a son, Sanxi and the household flourishes and prospers. When Martin decides to leave, due to fear of punishment from his father after stealing grain to plant his field, the peace and happiness within the household that Betrande and the family have so become accustom to, is disrupted. The untimely death of Martins Mother is an indication of how unstable the household becomes “she was not an old woman and it may have been possible, as her daughters believed that the illness which she