Bertrande De Rols-Research Essay

As well as underestimating the piety that Bertrande had, Davis may also have overestimated the magnitude of freedom granted to a peasant woman in this place and time period. Women were not yet granted nearly as much freedom as men, and in comparison to today’s standards were under oppression. It is highly unlikely that Bertrande would act with as much freedom as Davis portrays. Bertrande was a young housewife in a peasant village, who may or may not have had the sort of feminist capacity and knowledge required for acting in the way Davis portrays. The women at the time were probably taught to unconditionally obey the man of the house and could do little to improve their circumstances merely on their own. Being educated accordingly, most likely

This being said, it must be taken into consideration that The Return of Martin Guerre uses little concrete factual evidence to support all of Davis’ claims. She may incorporated bias into her explanations for the actions of Bertrande, and she has no way of knowing for certain the thought processes and ideas of de Rols. Davis often makes statements that seem as if she is certain of the notions of Bertrande, using words such as “must have”, and statements such as these should be taken extremely lightly. If she wishes to psychologically analyze Bertrande she should ensure that she uses language that makes it apparent that there is no record of what Bertrande de Rols knew or desired. Davis sheds a new light upon the events of the Martin Guerre mystery and how du Tilh possibly got away with his charade, but her claims should not be considered historical fact. Davis may have let her imagination run away with her, resulting in hardly a historical novel, but rather a sort of fable based on a factual