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Pierre
The priest of Artigues becomes an important character after the man who claims to be Martin Guerre returns home. Afraid that her husband is an imposter and that she is therefore committing the sin of adultery, Bertrande confesses to the priest in the church confessional. The priest ignores Bertrande’s suspicions, believing that Martin simply changed while he was abroad. The priest sides with the new Martin. When Bertrande makes a formal accusation against the new Martin, the priest advises him to obtain a sum of inheritance money from Pierre and take a leave of absence. The priest also agrees with the new Martin’s belief that Bertrande has gone mad, and he testifies in support of the new Martin in court.
The Priest Quotes in The Wife of Martin Guerre
The The Wife of Martin Guerre quotes below are all either spoken by The Priest or refer to The Priest. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Artigues
Quotes
She felt like one who has been condemned to solitude, whether of exile or of prison. All the circumstances of her life, the instruction of the church, her affection for her children and her kindred rose up about her in a wall implacable as stone, invisible as air, condemning her to silence and to the perpetuation of a sin which her soul had learned to abhor.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
[…] Bertrande could not but admit that this man was wise, subtle, and, if not learnèd, infinitely skilled in argument. The priest valued him, the children loved him, and these virtues of his which entrenched him with those who should have supported her, but made her the more bitter against him. Passionate as had once been her love for this stranger, so passionate became her hatred of him, and her fear.
Part 3: Toulouse
Quotes
Can you not see, it is in this love that he has wronged me most, that he has damned my soul? I have sinned, through him, and you will not understand it even long enough to give me absolution! No, Father, I cannot believe him to be other than the rogue, Arnaud du Tilh.
It would not be possible for her to appeal this decision. It waited for her, behind those doors, in the quality of a doom. […] She saw herself as borne forward helplessly on a great tide of misunderstanding and mischance to commit even a greater sin than that of which she had been afraid.
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The Priest Quotes in The Wife of Martin Guerre
The The Wife of Martin Guerre quotes below are all either spoken by The Priest or refer to The Priest. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Artigues
Quotes
She felt like one who has been condemned to solitude, whether of exile or of prison. All the circumstances of her life, the instruction of the church, her affection for her children and her kindred rose up about her in a wall implacable as stone, invisible as air, condemning her to silence and to the perpetuation of a sin which her soul had learned to abhor.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
[…] Bertrande could not but admit that this man was wise, subtle, and, if not learnèd, infinitely skilled in argument. The priest valued him, the children loved him, and these virtues of his which entrenched him with those who should have supported her, but made her the more bitter against him. Passionate as had once been her love for this stranger, so passionate became her hatred of him, and her fear.
Part 3: Toulouse
Quotes
Can you not see, it is in this love that he has wronged me most, that he has damned my soul? I have sinned, through him, and you will not understand it even long enough to give me absolution! No, Father, I cannot believe him to be other than the rogue, Arnaud du Tilh.
It would not be possible for her to appeal this decision. It waited for her, behind those doors, in the quality of a doom. […] She saw herself as borne forward helplessly on a great tide of misunderstanding and mischance to commit even a greater sin than that of which she had been afraid.
