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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wife of Martin Guerre, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Loyalty
Gender and Madness
Modernity, Tradition, and Change
Morality, Legality, and Deception
Summary
Analysis
Bertrande de Rols and Martin Guerre, the 11-year-old children of respective feudal families, are married in Artigues, a French village, in January 1539. The night of their wedding, they are laid to bed together in Martin’s father’s house. Outside, snow covers the ground. High in the Pyrenees mountains, the snow creates an “impassable wall” that traps the Spaniards and French soldiers on the other side, near Spain. Down in the village, the animals have been shut in barns, and the people enjoy a season on leisure.
Bertrande and Martin have no agency in their marriage. They “are married” and “are laid to bed” by their families and the community, not of their own free will. The geography of Artigues further illustrates the children’s lack of agency: Snowy mountains cut off Artigues from the rest of Europe, leaving Bertrande and Martin no recourse to other ways of life.
Themes
The day of the wedding, Bertrande walks across the snow in a red cape to meet Martin at the church. Until today, she has never spoken to him. After the serious ceremony, there is a party at Martin’s father’s house, where a fire is lit, and the floor strewn with evergreen boughs. The guests ignore Bertrande, who takes comfort in her mother’s reassuring embrace and feeds bread to a dog. After a while, Bertrand gets up to explore the room. Seeing a door, Bertrand slips into a storeroom. She finds Martin inside, opening the window shutters. Unhappy about his marriage and wanting to prove his power over Bertrande, Martin boxes Bertrande’s ears and scratches her face. Hearing Bertrande’s cries, Bertrande’s aunt enters and scolds Martin. Bertrande goes back to her mother.
Often a symbol of purity, the snow seems to represent Bertrande’s innocence and virginity, while her red cap against the snow evokes blood and alludes to a forced end to this innocence. It is telling that Martin’s instinct is to inflict violence on Bertrande. Whether or not they grow into a harmonious relationship, Martin is first and foremost a brutal and nonverbal person, and he seems to believe that Bertrande should be at his mercy.
Themes
After a while, Bertrande and Martin are taken to the bedchamber, where they are dressed in nightclothes and laid in bed together. The party commences in the bedchamber. After the guests leave, Monsieur Guerre says a formal goodnight to the couple. His serious expression, lit by a torch, frightens Bertrande. Martin’s father leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Bertrande is afraid of what Martin will do to her, but Martin rolls over and falls asleep. Feeling safe, Bertrande watches the torch flicker until the warmth of the bed envelops her and she falls asleep.
Bertrande’s first impression of Monsieur Guerre is marked by fear. Significantly, Monsieur Guerre’s face is lit by firelight, which will later become a symbol of stability and safety to Bertrande. Here, however, Monsieur Guerre towers over Bertrande and seals her fate by formally shutting her in the room with Martin. Bertrande only feels safe when both men—Monsieur Guerre and Martin—have turned away from her. At this point, she still questions the social customs that have put her in this position of fear and submission.
Themes
An hour later, Bertrande awakens when a female housekeeper for the Guerres enters, carrying a tray. Rousing Martin, the servant comments that if he were eight years older, he wouldn’t be asleep. She presents the couple with custard and pastry. While the couple eats, the servant says that one day Bertrande and Martin will be thankful for the peace their marriage has brought. She implores Martin to look at Bertrande, who will soon be beautiful, while he, Martin—though ugly—will be distinguished. After the couple finishes eating, the servant leaves, and Bertrande and Martin fall back asleep.
In facilitating this ritual, the housekeeper shows a deep knowledge of the traditions of Artigues. She prophesizes a near future when Martin and Bertrande will understand each other’s worth and develop, out of the unnatural circumstances, a mutual affection.
Themes
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At first, the de Rols and Guerre families benefited more from the marriage than the young couple. For generations, people had counted on the union of the de Rols and Guerre families. Then one day, great-grandfather Guerre remarked that he was “keeping” his granddaughter for marriage into the de Rols family. When great-grandfather de Rols joked that Guerre should “keep” her with salt, like cured meat, Guerre was insulted and spat in his face. The two families ended the marriage plans. It wasn’t until Bertrande and Martin were born that the Guerres decided to end the feud by betrothing the babies.
Grandfather Guerre is quick to anger, and he responds to the insult not with words but with a childish and animalistic action. On the other hand, grandfather de Rols makes a joke that acknowledges and upholds Artigues’s sexist social norms.
Themes
Great-grandfather Guerre’s sensitivity to de Rols’s joke stemmed from his pride and his responsibility as head of the household. The Guerres joined in hating the entire de Rols family. In those days, one person stood for their family: even though religious wars were sweeping France and Francis the First had had the throne for 21 years, Artigues retained its feudal structure. Artigues’s remote location made it slow to adopt a democratic social structure, and this helped many of its feudal lords to accumulate gold.
The feudal social norms in Artigues are regressive in their embrace of the feudal system and their resistance to democracy. Artigues’s antiquated social norms are due in part to the village’s isolation from modern European hubs. And, from the perspective of the feudal lords, change is not desirable: the stagnant social structure in Artigues profits them, and so there is no incentive for change.
Themes
At 14, when her mother dies, Bertrande moves in with Martin’s family. Attended by the housekeeper who visited her and Martin on their wedding night, Bertrande enters the Guerres’ house, where her mother-in-law greets her with kisses. Bertrande’s dowry chest is brought inside. Behind the dining table is Martin and Bertrande’s bed, surrounded by wool curtains. Martin and Monsieur Guerre are working in in the fields with the other men, so Madame Guerre puts Bertrande to work grinding meal in the kitchen among drying herbs. Madame Guerre shows Bertrande the farm—the storerooms, garden, and stables—with a kindness that Bertrande will never forget.
In Artigues, men and women have distinct roles: while men work in the fields, women work around the house. Women learn these roles directly from their mothers or a woman who is their senior. Significantly, Bertrande is not left motherless by her own mother’s death. Instead, she is taken in by her husband’s family where the husband’s mother becomes her role model. Thus, Bertrande always has an authority over her. This authority transfers seamlessly from her immediate family to her husband’s family.
Themes
After dark, the men return from the pastures and bring the animals to the stables. Monsieur Guerre and Martin are the last to arrive. Madame Guerre greets her husband and then seats him at the table. Monsieur Guerre calls Bertrande to him and announces that she will be served first tonight—but tonight only. Although she can still remember his stern expression on her wedding night, Bertrande is not afraid. In fact, Monsieur Guerre’s kindness and calm authority comfort her. To her, his presence means that the farm—and therefore Artigues and the whole world—is safe.
The qualities of Monsieur Guerre that once made him so frightening to Bertrande now give her a sense of comfort. His absolute authority—although it means that she has no freedom—means that she is safe from all harm. This suggests that freedom necessarily involves exposure and danger. Since freedom is not an option for Bertrande, she decides to be grateful for her protection that the patriarchal norms of Artigues affords her. Notably, her gratitude stems from her belief that no other way of life exists for her: she can either be powerless and on her own, or she can have someone like Monsieur on her side to protect her.
Themes
For a year, Bertrande feels only a distant gratitude toward Martin. One day, Martin joins a group on a trip into the mountains to hunt carnivorous bears that are threatening the village. When Monsieur Guerre returns from the fields that evening, Martin has not returned from the mountains. As the Guerres’ are preparing for prayer by the hearth, the door bursts open and Martin enters, carrying a bloody bear carcass. Martin relays his adventure. Monsieur Guerre orders Martin to kneel, then he strikes him across the jaw. Amid his mother and wife’s shocked silence, Martin spits blood into the fire. Monsieur Guerre orders prayer to commence.
Martin’s disobedience ends up benefiting his family: if he had not disobeyed his father, the family would not have the meat and furs that the bear provides. The fact that Monsieur Guerre punishes Martin anyway proves that his rules are absolute: they do not change based on circumstances. This suggests that Monsieur Guerre’s loyalty to tradition is extreme: he adheres to it even if it limits the prosperity of the family.
Themes
That night in bed, Bertrande whispers to Martin that Monsieur Guerre’s punishment was unjust. Martin says that his father was just, but he also praises himself for killing the bear. Bertrande agrees that Martin is brave. Martin falls asleep touching Bertrande’s shoulder. From this point on, Bertrande knows that her affection for Martin exceeds her respect for Monsieur Guerre.
Significantly, it is after Martin disobeys his father and Artigues’s social norms that Bertrande starts to develop real affection for him. This shows that while Artigues’ social structure generates gratitude, it doesn’t lend itself to true love. Love emerges only in a state of freedom.
Themes
As her body matures, Bertrande feels passion for Martin emerge “like wine.” When she is 20, Bertrande gives birth to a son, Sanxi. Per tradition, Monsieur Guerre rubs Sanxi’s newborn lips with wine. Now the mother of their heir, the Guerres treat Bertrande with new respect. Bertrande is proud to be part of a structure that reaches back to renowned ancestors and forward to Sanxi’s children. Martin’s family gives him more responsibilities, but he must still obey his father.
The narration presents Bertrande’s love for Martin as the result of the biological process of puberty: it is “like wine” because it grows with age. Significantly, the fruits of this process are not Bertrande’s: Monsieur Guerre marks her baby to assert his authority over Sanxi. Bertrande’s life is not her own, and so all she can feel is pride for the way she has contributed to the success of the family as a whole, not for the baby her body has made.
Themes
As long as Monsieur Guerre is alive, Martin is considered a legal minor. Fathers have the right to free their sons, but Martin, who wants to learn from his father’s authority, never considers asking for freedom. Martin is impatient with his inferiority but also respects tradition, and Bertrande is sure that he will be a good protector, like Monsieur Guerre. Martin is not handsome, but his ugliness, which resembles his father’s, is “ancestral.”
Bertrande understands her husband mostly through his similarity to Monsieur Guerre. In a society with social norms like Artigues, a person is known and praised for “ancestral” qualities. Outside of his positive “ancestral” qualities, though, Martin has few positive features of his own. In fact, he’s quite unlikeable. However, the traditional values of Artigues turn Martin’s ugliness into an asset: it indicates the strength of his lineage rather than the unfortunate “ugliness” of his personality.
Themes
Fate should spare hardworking, loving people like the Guerres, but soon, misfortune excludes Bertrande from the “peace and obscurity” of tradition. One fall day, Bertrande takes Martin’s lunch to him in the fields. Bertrande is barefoot, and her cheeks are rosy. As they sit admiring the gold leaves, Bertrande looks at Martin tenderly. After he finishes eating, Martin says that he had secretly planted some of Monsieur Guerre’s grain to increase the family’s crop. Fearing that his father will find out and beat him, Martin plans to go away for eight days, giving his father time to forgive him. Bertrande clutches Martin’s arm in a “premonition of disaster.” Martin promises to be safe and enjoy himself, and then he departs.
The novel takes a brief interlude to warn readers of the fate that is about to befall Bertrande. The interlude shows the paradox of her fate. Bertrande’s qualities that her society sees as positive—her hardworking and loving nature, and her commitment to a traditional way of life—should ensure her a life of “peace and obscurity.” In other words, if she follows all the rules, her life won’t be exciting or even especially fulfilling, but it will at least be peaceful and devoid of suffering. Yet this isn’t what happens: Martin disobeys his father, runs away, and destroys the peace and predictability that has thus far characterized Bertrande’s life.
Themes
Bertrande watches Martin disappear, wishing she could go with him. Under Monsieur Guerre’s shrewd gaze that night, Bertrande lies that she does not know where Martin is. When Monsieur Guerre discovers the stolen grain, he is furious. When he is still angry a week later, Bertrande hopes that something will delay Martin’s return. Weeks pass with no sign of Martin, and Bertrande fears that something has happened to him. After a month, Bertrande confesses to Monsieur Guerre all she knows. Monsieur Guerre says that he’ll only forgive Martin after Martin has returned and received his punishment. Humiliated to have conspired against a man she respects, Bertrande wishes she had told Martin to stay and face his punishment.
Monsieur Guerre proves that his values are even more absolute than Bertrande anticipated. Not only do his rules not change depending on circumstance, but they do not diminish with the passing of time. There is no such thing as forgiveness in Monsieur Guerre’s value system: if a person breaks the rules, they must be punished. Bertrande defied this authority only because she underestimated its power. Over the course of the novel, this surprisingly unforgiving nature becomes a characteristic trait of the Guerre men.
Themes
A year passes. Bertrande hopes for Martin’s return, too young to believe the reality of death. As another year passes, Bertrande wonders if Martin has found freedom enjoyable and is merely waiting until Monsieur Guerre is dead to return. By then, Bertrande’s youth and beauty would be gone, and Martin’s authority would be too great for her to rebuke him for leaving her. Two years after Martin’s disappearance, Madame Guerre dies. Monsieur Guerre’s anger increases with Martin’s absence: not only did Martin steal the grain, but now he is neglecting his inheritance. Monsieur Guerre carries his displeasure with him everywhere, and Sanxi is Bertrande’s only source of joy.
Bertrande begins to understand that it might not be in her best interest for Martin to return. If Martin waits until Monsieur Guerre’s death to return, she’ll no longer be young and beautiful and will no longer be valuable to Martin. What’s more, she wouldn’t even be able to condemn him for abandoning her. Increasingly, she sees how unequal her marriage is. When Martin and Bertrande were both under the authority of Monsieur Guerre, they enjoyed a greater sense of equality with each other: together, they conspired against Monsieur Guerre. However, upon Monsieur Guerre’s death, Martin’s authority will increase while Bertrande’s will stay the same. While the patriarchal norms of Artigues allow Martin a path upward, Bertrande has no opportunities to improve her situation.
Themes
Four years after Martin’s departure, Monsieur Guerre is thrown from his horse and killed. This death—“abrupt, violent, and absolute”—suits Monsieur Guerre’s nature: it would not have been like him to grow old. After Monsieur Guerre’s brother, Pierre, assumes the role of master and restores order to the farm, Bertrande thinks that it is now safe for Martin to return. But when another year passes, she fears that he has died—death is now a reality to her. More than his death, Bertrande fears that her memory of Martin’s face—already growing dim—will fade entirely.
The “death” of her memory of Martin strikes Bertrande as more frightening than Martin’s actual death. Without a memory of the details of Martin’s physical appearance, it feels as though Martin never existed at all. What is more, if Martin were to return to Artigues now, there would be no continuity between the young Martin who left Artigues and the new one who returns. Bertrande acknowledges the importance of physical characteristics in identifying a person.
Themes
One day, Bertrande thinks she sees Martin walking toward the spot he said goodbye to her five years before, but the man turns out to be a stranger. Bertrande stands in the cold wind, wanting to cry. She imagines Martin’s hands, with their familiar scars, holding hers. When the vision disappears, Bertrande worries that it was a bad omen that she hadn’t seen Martin’s face.
Bertrande can no longer see Martin’s face, suggesting that she could easily mistake someone else for Martin. The narration’s emphasis on Bertrande’s fading memory will be important to later developments in the story.
Themes
When travelers pass through Artigues, Bertrande houses them to inquire after news of Martin. No one has news of anyone fitting Martin’s description. The travelers tell Bertrande about the violence that King Guienne’s salt tax has incited, and how an old Emperor abdicated the throne to the young Yuste. Bertrande sends the visitors off with messages for Martin. Once, Bertrande travels to Rieux (where her aunt lives) to inquire after travelers and spread news of Monsieur Guerre’s death. However, Bertrande feels homesick for Artigues and Sanxi, and she soon leaves for home.
The world has changed during Martin’s absence. There is a rebellion against the King, an event that indicates that democracy is replacing old, outdated traditions. Against this backdrop, Bertrande’s search for Martin seems like the futile attempt to cling to the past. Perhaps it is Bertrande’s sense of this that sends her back to Artigues, where everything remains comfortably unchanged.
Themes
One day, eight years after Martin left, Bertrande is teaching Sanxi his catechism. Sanxi now resembles Martin’s charming sisters. Bertrande’s own beauty has matured through her grief and responsibility. Looking at Sanxi’s soft cheek, Bertrande feels that she is finally at peace. She reflects on the anguish, fear, and resentment she has felt over the years, but her mind settles “like a dove” on her love for Sanxi and the happy present moment. Bertrande gently corrects Sanxi’s work, and the two laugh at the silliness of the questions.
That Bertrande’s anguished mind settles “like a dove” suggests the relief Bertrande feels to return to the safety and predictability of tradition, here illustrated by her maternal love for her child. By contrast, Martin’s absence caused her nothing but pain, fear, and resentment: it forced her to experience new and unfamiliar places, situations, and feelings.
Themes
Suddenly, there is a commotion in the courtyard. Pierre bursts into the room, followed by Martin’s sister and a bearded man in a suit of armor. Pierre and the sisters exclaim that the man is the returned Martin. Bertrande stands slowly, feeling dizzy. The man steps from the shadows toward Bertrande, who is standing in the sunlight. The man is stockier than Martin used to be, but his eyes are the same. Looking astonished, the man remarks that Bertrande is beautiful.
Significantly, the man who appears to be Martin is first described as “a bearded man in a suit of armor.” This suggests that, at first glance, Bertrande does not recognize the man as her husband. While she is soon convinced by Martin’s sister’s claim and the man’s physical resemblance to Martin, it is important that she does not instinctively recognize the man as Martin.
Themes
Pierre urges the returned Martin to embrace Bertrande. When she feels the man’s hands on her, Bertrande is reminded of Martin’s goodbye kiss, and her shocked trance lifts. Bertrande rebukes Martin for his cruel absence. Pierre scolds Bertrande for this harsh welcome, and he assures Martin how much the household has missed its master. Martin says that he had heard of Monsieur Guerre’s death only recently, and he promises not to leave Bertrande unprotected again. Pierre commends Martin for speaking like a master. Martin greets each of the servants, and Bertrande observes that Martin is like Monsieur Guerre, but more gracious.
Throughout this scene, Bertrande thinks of the newcomer as “the man,” not as Martin. At this time, it is unclear whether this is because Bertrande’s memory of her husband has completely faded, or whether this man is truly not her husband. The strongest evidence in support of the man’s not being Martin is something that cannot be substantiated: his difference in manner from Monsieur Guerre. Unlike Monsieur, this man is gracious and kind.
Themes
The returned Martin asks after Sanxi. Bertrande coaxes Sanxi out from behind her skirt, where he has been hiding shyly. Martin hoists Sanxi into his arms. Sanxi cries for his mother. Putting Sanxi down, Martin turns away to Bertrande and the happy crowd. A swineherd looks back at Sanxi and remarks that it is a happy day when a boy gets a father.
Like Bertrande, Sanxi initially seems to treat this man as a stranger . However, Sanxi was a baby when Martin left Artigues. As a result, Sanxi’s initial fear of the man could be because he never knew his father at all.
Themes
At dinner, Sanxi works up the courage to sit next to the returned Martin. Bertrande comes and goes from the table, looking in disbelief at Martin. Pierre tells the priest of Artigues how he ran into Martin by the church; Martin then told him he was going to pray for Monsieur Guerre, whose death he had heard about the day before. At the dinner table now, the priest and Pierre tell Martin how Monsieur Guerre died. Bertrande weeps and smiles. Martin is grave. All day, Sanxi clings to Martin, listening to the stories of his adventures. That evening, there is a party. The next day, everyone goes to work in the fields. After more storytelling that evening, Martin orders prayer.
The newcomer is talkative and morally upright—characteristics that Martin Guerre was not known for. Despite this dissonance between the old and new Martin, the new qualities are favorable to everyone. The old Martin was always making enemies and treating others cruelly, but the new Martin entertains everyone with stories and kindness. Whatever might suggest that this man is not the real Martin Guerre, no one has cause to complain, for this version is far more likable.
Themes
The estate thrives with the returned Martin’s return. Bertrande surrenders to Martin’s leadership and love. Most evenings, there is conversation and music by the hearth, for which the priest often visits. A few months later, Bertrande becomes pregnant. She trembles with the fear that she has sinned: ever since Martin returned, she has feared that he is not the same man who kissed her goodbye years before. However, she was swept up in the joy of his return. Then, after seeing Martin talking easily with Sanxi, Bertrande feels certain that the man is not a Guerre: Monsieur Guerre would never talk so gaily to his son. Bertrande goes to her room and weeps.
While the hearth had been a place of solemn prayer and quiet family togetherness, the hearth returns here as a place of liveliness and connection. Everyone, including Bertrande, is happier now than they were before Martin left. What ruins Bertrande’s newfound joy is its very dissimilarity from the old days, in which the men were sullen and strict. In other words, Bertrande’s torment is not due to her unhappiness; it is due to the moral fear that she has sinned. She values her loyalty and purity above her happiness and chance at love.
Themes
At dinner that night, Bertrande accuses the returned Martin of being an imposter. Martin insists gently that he has spoken to Bertrande of the past, and that his hands are scarred as they always were. Bertrande says that the real Martin Guerre would have hit her just now—when he left, Martin resembled Monsieur Guerre in flesh and spirit, but now he resembles him only in flesh. Martin says that he is no longer the child who hit Bertrande on their wedding night. Monsieur Guerre’s severity sent him away to faraway places where experiencing modern people and culture made him wise. Can’t Bertrande believe that, if he’s willing, an evil man can become good? Bertrande says that Martin never had “the gift of the tongue.”
Martin and Bertrande argue over whether it is possible for a person to change. Bertrande recalls the moment Martin struck her on their wedding night, claiming this moment exemplifies Martin’s character. But the newcomer argues that a person has both an and a moral obligation to correct such evil habits. Bertrande is coming from a traditional mindset in which family members carry on the traits of their ancestors. Martin, on the other hand, is speaking from a democratic point of view, believing that individuals can change through self-determination.
Themes
The returned Martin laughs and says that Bertrande’s pregnancy is making her confused. Bertrande says that she sees a stranger inside Martin the same way she saw a strange place when she visited Rieux. Martin tells Bertrande stories from his travels of people who underwent transformation. Telling herself that her husband is right, Bertrande relaxes into joy and gratitude.
Martin discredits Bertrande’s doubt, saying that she is not in her right mind. Ironically, this argument is the only one that seems to assuage some of Bertrande’s doubts. In disparaging Bertrande’s mind, Martin embodies the social norms of Artigues that hold women to be less than equal. Bertrande’s relief in this moment reflects her acceptance of these social norms.
Themes
During harvest season, Bertrande rides into the fields to feel the invigorating chill of the wind. When she returns, the hearth smoke and the ringing church bells fill her with joy. At night, the howling of wolves offsets the pleasure of the doors being securely locked. Similarly, Bertrande’s lingering suspicion that the returned Martin is not the real Martin Guerre enhances Bertrande’s love. Even after Bertrande gives birth, the “shadow of sin” corrupts her pleasure in the baby son and in her husband.
Before Martin left, Bertrande was grateful for the safety that Monsieur Guerre and Martin provided. Now, that safety is gone. In its place, Bertrande starts to feel genuine love for and attraction to her husband—something she couldn’t feel before, when love was so intermingled with her desire for protection. Now, the sinful “shadow of sin” taints Bertrande’s love for Martin.
Themes
Through spring and summer, Bertrande’s internal torment grows. She feels obligated to either admit that she is insane, or to confess that she has knowingly accepted an imposter as her husband. One day, Bertrande decides firmly that she is not insane: she has been betrayed into adultery. She drops the spindle with which she had been weaving. Although she loves this man and he is the father of her son, she can no longer pretend. But she worries: would a public accusation of the returned Martin destroy her children’s lives? Through the window, Bertrande sees the old servant greet Martin as he comes in from the fields. Bertrande despairs at how much everyone loves this Martin.
Bertrande’s decision that she is not insane is an act of self-confidence. In a society that demands women’s obedience, her trust in herself takes true individual strength. However, her decision is also one that will take away her happiness. Bertrande sacrifices happiness for the sake of the truth—of being honest and doing what is right—showing that moral justness matters more to her than happiness.
Themes
The next day, Bertrande says to Martin’s sister that the returned Martin is so unlike Monsieur Guerre that he seems an imposter. Shocked, Martin’s sister makes Bertrande promise that she is joking. At Confession, Bertrande confesses that she has sinned by living with a man who is impersonating her husband. The priest assures Bertrande that her fears are unfounded: Martin’s time away merely changed his nature. He tells Bertrande to pray for peace and understanding.
Martin’s sister’s and the priest’s reactions suggest that both have perceived Martin’s dissimilarity to the old Martin, but both are too happy to pursue the issue. The priest resorts to the argument that travel must have refined Martin’s nature while Martin’s sister tries to silence Bertrande, afraid not that Bertrande might be right but that Bertrande might act on her suspicion and disrupt the peace that “Martin’s” return has restored.
Themes
Bertrande leaves the church as if in a dream. She feels condemned to solitude. Her lifelong affection for the church and for her kinspeople has become “a wall implacable as stone,” forcing her to live in a sin which her imagination can no longer keep her from seeing. The fact that Bertrande is again pregnant adds to her horror. She walks to the hill above the farm. Looking down on the farm, she feels that it is no longer hers: a treacherous enemy has stolen it. When Bertrande returns, there is tumult in the courtyard as the returned Martin and his troop depart to hunt bear.
Bertrande’s loyalty to her community comes back to bite her. Most contrary is the church’s response: trained by the church to abhor sin and to seek moral absolution, Bertrande suddenly finds the church forcing her to continue living in sin. Bertrande realizes that her efforts to uphold the moral ideals her society has instilled in her has ironically turned her society against her.
Themes
The next evening, the returned Martin asks Bertrande is looking at him with her “two-colored” eyes. Bertrande says that she has stopped loving Martin, and she begs him to return to fighting in the wars. When Martin politely refuses her, Bertrande flares up, saying that Martin has “the subtlety of the Evil One.” Martin leaves the room abruptly, leading Bertrande to think that the imposter is learning to act like the old Martin.
When Bertrande remarks that Martin has “the subtlety of Evil One,” referring to the devil, she is suggesting that he is a crafty and skillful liar. In this, Bertrande makes a case for the traditional Guerre virtues. Although cruel, at least Martin and Monsieur Guerre were direct and incapable of deception.
Themes
Over the weeks, Bertrande secretly watches the returned Martin, hoping to catch him in his deception. Soon, Bertrande suspects that the imposter’s calm demeanor stems from his knowledge that the real Martin is dead. Then, Bertrande wonders if the imposter killed Martin before coming to Artigues to claim his inheritance. Bertrande observes how Martin’s skill with argument gains him the favor of those who should support her: her children and the priest. Bertrande’s health deteriorates, but her eyes grow more luminous. Martin is so attentive to Bertrande’s health that Bertrande wonders if he is aware that they are enemies.
Bertrande’s failing health indicates the tole that her spiritual and emotional suffering has taken on her body. This point further suggests that it would have been impossible for Bertrande to pretend that her husband is the real Martin Guerre: the immoral act of knowingly living in sin would kill her. The new Martin’s kindness toward Bertrande cannot make up for her moral suffering: she would suffer through a miserable (but moral) marriage with the tyrannical real Martin than live a happy life of sin with this kindly imposter.
Themes
One day, the owner of an inn flags down the returned Martin as he returns from church with his sister, Pierre, and the priest. The owner sends out a soldier from Rochefort who says he is a “comrade in arms” from the battle in which Martin lost his leg. The man says he has come to share stories, and he asks if Martin’s sister is Martin’s wife. Confused, Martin says that he cannot remember the soldier. The soldier pinches Martin’s leg, then he accuses Martin of being a fraud—Martin Guerre would never return from church “neat and proper.” Martin raises his eyebrow the way Monsieur Guerre used to and says that there had been someone in the army who had greatly resembled him. Before returning to the inn, the soldier asserts that he knew the real Martin Guerre.
The Rochefort soldier is the first person who provides circumstantial and physical evidence to support that Martin is not the real Martin Guerre. The Martin Guerre that the soldier knows was missing a leg, whereas this Martin Guerre has his leg. Unlike with Bertrande’s testimony, there is no denying now that there are two people at large who look and present as Martin Guerre. However, this evidence is not enough to solve the case. The question of who is the real Martin Guerre and who is the one pretending remains impossible to answer.
Themes
Pierre threatens to arrest the “pig,” but the returned Martin regrets that he disappointed the man; however, he does not want to host the Rochefort soldier while Bertrande is in such poor health. At home, Pierre and Martin’s sister tell Bertrande the story. Bertrande triumphantly exclaims that God is saving her, then she leaves the room. Martin says that he would have given his farm to prevent that soldier from coming to Artigues.
Despite evidence surfacing to support Bertrande’s case, there are many arguments that could refute her. For instance, the Rochefort soldier could be confused, and Martin could merely be unsettled because he is worried about Bertrande. In other words, the question of Martin’s identity is not a simple question to answer.
Themes
In the other room, Bertrande tells Martin’s sister that she is dying and to send for the nurse. That night, she gives birth to a stillborn daughter. Bertrande, who appears to be on her deathbed, asks to see the soldier from Rochefort, but he has left. Bertrande is brought signed papers in witness of the soldier’s accusation of the returned Martin. Bertrande grows steadily healthier, but she remains in her room, refusing to see Martin. Everyone laments that Bertrande has gone mad.
Significantly, Bertrande’s health improves after she gets the signed accusation from the Rochefort soldier. This suggests that Bertrande was nearly put on her deathbed because she has been utterly isolated in her case. Now that Bertrande has an ally, however weak, she starts to regain physical and spiritual strength.
Themes
One day, the priest visits the returned Martin in the fields to lament Martin’s situation. Martin says that none of this would have happened if he had not tried to escape his father’s anger. Martin refuses to leave at Bertrande’s request, not wanting to confirm her accusation and condemn her to a false sin. Observing the emotion in Martin’s eyes and voice, the priest is sure that Martin is Martin Guerre. The priest offers to give Martin his official consent for a journey: after harvest, Martin should borrow money from Pierre, go to Toulouse, and return with a gift for Bertrande. Martin agrees.
The clear emotion in Martin’s eyes assures the priest that the returned Martin is the real Martin Guerre. However, emotional sensitivity and regret for his disobedience of his father are not attitudes that the reader would expect from Martin Guerre. On the other hand, the returned Martin’s emotional investment in his marriage to Bertrande is notable: if the man were simply a pillaging imposter, he would likely have fled the farm at Bertrande’s first suspicion. In this way, the narration continues to toy with the reader, leaving them uncertain whether the returned Martin is the real Martin Guerre or an imposter.
Themes
A few days later, Bertrande calls Pierre into her room, where she stands wrapped in a black cape. Bertrande beseeches Pierre to believe that she is not mad. Pierre admits that, since the visit from the Rochefort soldier, he has questioned the returned Martin’s true identity. Moreover, Martin has been acting strangely: he came to Pierre to demand a sum of money that had been saved for Martin at birth. When Pierre told Martin that the money had been spent after Martin’s departure, Martin got angry. Bertrande cries that Martin, having pillaged them, now wants to flee. Moved by Bertrande’s tears, Pierre vows to have Martin punished for his crime.
At this point, it is unclear whether Martin’s actions are truly suspect or whether they only seem suspect due to miscommunication. The priest told Martin to obtain the money and take a leave of absence, but this appears to Bertrande and Pierre like the cover story of an imposter. Thus, while in many ways it seems that Pierre and Bertrande are right in their desire for justice, it also seems that they may, due to miscommunication, be accusing an innocent man.
Themes
A few days later, armed men from Rieux arrive. They bring the returned Martin handcuffed from the fields into the house, where Bertrande formally accuses him of being an imposter. Pierre stands beside Bertrande, but Sanxi bursts into tears and flings himself at the guards, scratching them. Bowing his head, Martin has the housekeeper bring his youngest son so that he can kiss him goodbye. The priest bursts in, crying that Bertrande is mad. Martin calms the priest, and says that, God willing, he will return safely to his children. The guards lead Martin outside and put him on a horse. Everyone follows, except Bertrande, who finds herself alone. Sanxi cries goodbye in the courtyard.
Sanxi attacks the guards and scratches them, behavior which exactly recalls Martin Guerre’s behavior toward Bertrande on their wedding night. By contrast, the prisoner graciously accepts arrest, putting faith in God that he will be restored to his family. The contrast of their manners of handling emotion supports Bertrande’s case: even though Sanxi has been raised by the gentle Martin, he still possesses his father’s violent nature. In other words, Sanxi’s violence indicates that people’s fundamental natures do not change through experience. This, in turn, validates Bertrande’s belief that the kind, returned Martin is not her real husband.
Themes
