Written in a lively prose style, the book is highly readable, but not sketchy. The Return of Martin Gale is perhaps the most vivid, informative, and fascinating historical work since Barbara Takman's The Distant Mirror... It presents a fullness and splendor of life, love and justice in 16th-century France.
--Robert E. Miller C． Campo, Seattle Times
In the French countryside in the sixteenth century, a "husband" who ran away from home for 8 years suddenly returned and staged a wonderful drama of the dove occupying the magpie's nest, facing a husband who was not a real "husband", what kind of psychological process did the heroine Bertrand go through?
In the mid-to-late 20th century, with the rise of Western microhistory, The American female historian Natalie Zemon Davis created a classic work with a unique microhistory writing style - "The Return of Martin Gayle"
Modeled on a bizarre trial at the High Court of Toulouse in southern France in 1560, Davis draws on jean-clairvoyance in The Unforgettable Judgment to tell a true and false Martin story in the 1540s.
The Return of Martin Gale is an exemplar of a 'new cultural history' and a 'microhistory'. The book was translated into many languages and widely circulated around the world, and Davis's reputation was greatly enhanced to become a famous scholar of microhistory, and western historians set off a lot of "Martin Gehr fever" for this purpose.
The author imaginatively describes the change in the fate of a small historical person, and uses the microscopic spirit of the historian to enlarge and extend it to the whole family and even the social and rural customs and judicial procedures, thus completing the whole process from small to large and from shallow to deep.
In 1556, at the High Court of Toulouse in the south of France, just as the judge was preparing to sentence the fake "Martin Gail" as the real Martin, a middle-aged man with wooden legs appeared in the courtroom, and everyone present was in an uproar, and it turned out that this was the real Martin Gail.
Eight years ago, Martin suddenly abandoned his wife and son, abandoned his family business, and died alone. But after eight years, "he" returned to his homeland, this time he changed his previous idleness and became industrious, capable and positive, and the husband and wife were harmonious and agreeable.
But after a brief period of happiness for three or four years, he was sued by his wife, Bertrand, for impersonation.
In the end, the case was transferred to the High Court, and just when the fake Martin won everyone's trust by eliminating public objections, the story began, and the court finally sentenced the prisoner to hanging for stealing property inheritance rights, adultery, etc.
Many articles in the discussion of "The Return of Martin Gale" are from the 16th century French lower peasant family life and the relationship within the family, the relationship between the family and society to deepen the theme.
Interpret a series of related social issues such as marital status, customs and customs, cultural differences between regions, justice, religion, etc. This is exactly what microhistory wants to reveal behind the fate of small people to reveal major historical events.
This article is based on the understanding of the book "The Return", and makes a comprehensive interpretation of the book from a feminist point of view. Through the inner world of the heroine Bertrand and the process of her continuous reshaping of her own identity, it reveals the oppression of French women represented by Bertrand and their active efforts to change their own destiny, so as to spy on Davis's view of femininity.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Bertrand was ruled by patriarchy during the teenage years. </h1>
Whether in ancient China or in rural France in the 16th century, fathers occupied an absolute dominance in the family because they were the dominant economics. Children must fully obey the opinions of their parents in their studies, life, and marriage.
In the book, Bertrand was born into a wealthier family in the town, but Bertrand did not have the right to choose her love freely, and she was married by her parents as a child. She said:
"I married Martin when I was a little girl of nine or ten years old, and he was very young at that time."
The marriage was an unfortunate start to her, and even on the night of her marriage, she was forced to drink a drink called "resveil" (made with strong herbs and spices) to ensure that her children would be full.
Under the patriarchal system, both parents held greater power than in the legal orders, and the people had their own way of life, which the king acquiesced to. The book says:
"Under canon law, Bertrand's marriage was illegal. But both Rawls and Gale families were very keen on marriage, and artiga's priest did not stand in the way. ”
Her obedience to her parents from an early age has carried the reputation of the Drolls family from her, and in the depths of her young soul, she has also planted a sense of being ready to sacrifice her happiness for the benefit of the family.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Bertrand did not escape the cage of her husband's power after marriage. </h1>
Through marriage, Bertrand was to a certain extent freed from the control of the patriarchy, but the family model and the role of the wife were regarded as important manifestations of women's oppression.
After Bertrand and Martin's marriage, their attachment to the family obviously changed to attachment to their husbands, and the book mentions that martin's impotence and two people did not have children for eight years, so they were ridiculed by the villagers.
According to the customs and regulations of the time, a husband's infertile wife could file for divorce, and Bertrand's family also asked her to divorce Martin, but Bertrand "categorically refused".
It can be seen that, on the one hand, the role of Martin's wife after marriage has replaced the role of being a child of the Drolls family. On the other hand, as a woman, she obviously began to have a sense of the right to self-choice, and at this time, Bertrand began to shape and sublimate her own personality.
"That act (refusal to leave Martin), like a litmus test, provided important proof of Drows's reputation."
Later, when her husband regained her fertility under the treatment of a wizard, she finally gave birth to a son, which meant that Bertrand entered the real first step of adulthood, and fertility guaranteed her place in her husband's family and in her heart.
However, at this time, her husband Martin ran away from home after stealing, causing his uncle Pierre to take charge of the Gayle family's property situation, and his uncle also married Bertrand's widowed mother, which made Bertrand into a very embarrassing situation.
"She was neither a wife nor a widow, and was living under the same roof as her mother again, but she had to face other village women in the mill, at the well, in the brick factory and in the harvest."
Traditional law even stipulates that no matter how many years her husband has been away, she has no freedom to remarry unless she holds some evidence of his death. So, during the eight years that Martin had fled, Bertrand had no freedom to divorce.
The poor woman obeyed the rules of the woman and raised her son, but the long disappearance of her husband caused great difficulties for the orphaned and widowed mother, and she needed a "husband" at this time.
"A husband and lover who is about to return, but very different."
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the happy life brought to Bertrand by the arrival of her false husband Martin. </h1>
What kind of person is "Fake Martin" Dieter in the book?
Dieter is a "jerk" character who is sociable, quick-witted and has an amazing memory. When he met two of Martin's friends by chance, and the two men mistook him for Martin, he took the opportunity to find out everything about Martin.
So he had the bold idea of impersonating Martin to own all his life, not only martin's property but also his identity and status.
He cleverly combines deception tricks to perfectly replace the real Martin, and Dieter's performance has made everyone believe that he is Martin who has been away from home for 18 years.
Five or six hundred years ago in France, there were no photographs, no recordings, no handwriting identification, and only the appearance and figure in a person's memory could be used to identify a person's true and false.
When a bearded middle-aged man who resembled Martin appeared, his sister and relatives, deceived by vague memories, happily went to hug him as a real Martin.
At this time Bertrand's performance was a step back in surprise, as a wife she was keen, but under the gentle summons of the fake Martin, she told her about the past, and even told where his white pants were placed.
These small fragments of the past aroused her tenderness, so she accepted him. The appearance of the false Martin undoubtedly satisfies Bertrand's need for a lover. According to the book, Bertrand realized that the "returning" Martin was not her husband.
"A stubborn and reputable person like Bertrand is not like a woman who is easily deceived, and by the time she goes to bed to accept him, she must have realized the difference."
But Bertrand still chose to help Dieter become the "new Martin", and for Bertrand, he accepted this strange man, because this man made her feel different.
He was industrious and capable, honestly living with Bertrand, fulfilling his duty as a husband everywhere, giving Bertrand a love she had never had, igniting the passion of her life, and Bertrand even bore him two daughters.
Perhaps at this time, Bertrand's long-suppressed and lonely soul was released by love, and she also got a real married life from Dieter. There is no doubt that the love between them has far outweighed the feelings between her and the real Martin.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Bertrand in court no longer appears as a weak image of a traditional village woman, but a woman with distinct personality characteristics. </h1>
Because Dieter asked his uncle Pierre for the right to administer the property, Pierre. Gayle took Dieter Dieter to court on Bertrand's name. At trial, Bertrand's vague and unclear attitude helped fake Martin escape the judge's questioning.
Bertrand, under pressure from his uncle, took Dieter to court, and privately plotted testimony with Dieter so that the judge could re-sentence Arnold Dieter or his husband.
However, when the real Martin stands in court, Bertrand confronts the real Martin, and she has to complete the most reluctant but necessary identity reconstruction of her life, and the tragedy of her life reaches its climax.
Judging from the author's psychological description of Bertrand, Bertrand did not lose his judgment of reality because he loved this fake Martin. She was at all times trying to plan for her own good.
"After taking a look at the newcomer, she began to tremble and cry, begging him to forgive her for the mistakes she had made because she was powerless to resist Dieter's tricks and temptations."
In the end, "the judge unanimously agreed to believe in her good intentions", and in the eyes of everyone, she turned into an innocent, pitiful, and hurt woman. It can be seen that at this time, Bertrand was still seeking the possibility of escaping the court trial in front of the law. Eventually she was acquitted and Dieter was sentenced to death by hanging.
"A concern for one's own reputation as a woman, a stubborn independence, a shrewd realism that is free to deal with the constraints placed on one's gender."
From the departure of Martin Gayle at the beginning of the story to the imposter of Arnold Dieter to the debunking of the whole event, there is nothing that does not reflect the microhistory spirit of the author Davis. In addition to paying attention to the development of the storyline of "The Return of Martin Gayle", it is not difficult to find Davis's unique depiction of women, and many places reproduce the shaping of women's personalities dominated by Bertrand. In Davis's eyes, rural women not only have financial independence, but also have sexual impulses. At the same time, there are cultural values that are easily overlooked by historians, which makes history begin to return to the pursuit of human nature.
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