16th vs. 17th Century Life

Natalie Zemon Davis' book The Return Of Martin Guerre is an excellently detailed, understandable and well-researched account of the famous Martin Guerre and his impostor, Arnauld du Tilh. But even further than only outlining the truth of the story, Davis also uses her research to enlighten us on the responsibility of various family members in 16th Century rural French life, the politics of family life and peasant life in general, and the role of the mounting change from Catholicism to Protestantism among the elite as well as the peasant classes. Likewise, in Jonathan D. Spence’s historical novel, The Death of Woman Wang, this describes the rural society which relegated women to second-class citizens. Spence concentrated his novel on county of T’an-ch’eng in the seventeenth century, and referred to examine the Chinese social structure from the bottom, rather than at the top. In this way, Spence attempted to recreate social history as seen through the eyes of the people who not only constituted the majority of the Chinese population, but who were the most adversely affected by the fixed structure. The primary social issues which were explored by The Death

In addition to that, Natalie Zemon Davis reconstructed a vivid, informative, and entertaining historical picture of sixteenth century rural life in France. It tells the story of the beginnings of European society’s development. Unlike the Chinese society of the seventeenth century this story displays the ever changing and developing customs and traditions that have come into effect for today’s age of people. During this period was a time of transformation. The role of the woman was no longer just an attachment to her male counterpart. Because of woman like Bertrande, a strong feminine figure, she influenced the likes of others, not to keep role as weak-minded tidy housewife. Their indulging in self interest was still very limited but was beginning to at least be recognized. At this time also was an enormous religious reformation. The people’s will to defer from what was traditional beliefs and choose others that reflected more of what they wanted sparked an outbreak of focus on individualism. Sure this resulted in a series of religious wars in that century and the next to follow; change doesn’t come easily in most cases and is necessary to its development. As seen in the story the influence of this change in religion ultimately decided the fate of Bertrande. By looking at the social aspects from the peasant level Natalie Zemon Davis was also, similarly to Spence, able to isolate the cause for change and the method in which it influenced the justice system. The class structure could only be changed at the top if it was initiated at the bottom or grass-roots level. After all, what goes up must come down, if any hope of establishing gender, social or economic equality is to be achieved.

In relation to family and marriage life, Davis uses Bertrande de Rols, Martin Guerre's wife, as an example of a strong, virtuous woman with familial duty and an obstinate nature. Davis uses this characterization to explain how de Rols was not a weak-minded woman who was so easily duped by her missing husband's impostor, but was rather a woman who was in love and used her strength in order to facilitate her new relationshi

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