An Analysis of Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre [Paperback]

Few stories are more captivating than the one told by Natalie Zemon Davis in The Return of Martin Guerre. Basing her research on records of a bizarre court case that occurred in 16th-century France, she uses the tale of a missing soldier  whose disappearance threatens the livelihood of his peasant wife  to explore complex social issues. Davis takes rich material  dramatic enough to have been the basis of two major films  and uses it to explore issues of identity, women's role in peasant society, the interior lives of the poor, and the structure of village society, all of them topics that had previously proved difficult for historians to grapple with.

Davis displays fine qualities of reasoning throughout  not only in constructing her own narrative, but also in persuading her readers of her point of view. Her work is also a fine example of good interpretation  practically every document in the case needs to be assessed for issues of meaning.

Ways in to the Text  Who was Natalie Zemon Davis?  What does The Return of Martin Guerre Say?  Why does The Return of Martin Guerre Matter?  Section 1: Influences  Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context  Module 2: Academic Context  Module 3: The Problem  Module 4: The Author's Contribution  Section 2: Ideas  Module 5: Main Ideas  Module 6: Secondary Ideas  Module 7: Achievement  Module 8: Place in the Author's Work  Section 3: Impact  Module 9: The First Responses  Module 10: The Evolving Debate  Module 11: Impact and Influence Today  Module 12: Where Next?  Glossary of Terms  People Mentioned in the Text  Works Cited