Charles Bernhard

Western Civ

9/22/10

First Response Essay – Women

What was the role of gender in early modern Europe? What were women's rights and duties? Were

women independent? Did they have agency? Why? Why not?

The subject of women’s rights became pertinent in the 20th century, and remains relevant

to this day. While women have earned equality with men in theory in most developed countries

in the world, it is well known that these rights were only recently acquired for many women of

the world. Does this mean that women’s place in society was essentially static until recently?

Looking into different periods of the past through The Return of Martin Guerre which takes

place in the 1540’s and Candide which takes place in the middle 1700’s it can be seen that there

was little to no change in women’s rights during the intervening time. In both times, women

were still sold into arranged marriage, treated as extensions of their husbands instead of

individuals, and unable to own property or create business on their own.

The 1500’s were a time of great change in Europe. The Reformation was well underway,

causing great rifts not only between countries, but also between countrymen. There were many

changes across the continent, such as the strengthening of smaller nobles’ political power at the

expense of the Pope and Catholic Church. In the middle of this century the Counter-Reformation

also began, fighting back against the weakening of the Church through re-organization. Despite

all the turmoil and change however, women’s rights remained nearly unchanged. Although in

certain regions, the Protestants allowed women to become part of the clergy, this was a small

change, and not very widespread. The Return of Martin Guerre is a tale of a man and his wife
during the 1540’s, as well as another man who assumes his identity while he is away. Through it,

one can see the rights and duties of women during the period from a peasant’s standpoint.

From the very beginning of The Return of Martin Guerre, it can be seen that it is a

normal practice for parents to arrange marriages in which the women are essentially sold to the

family of the groom. The groom’s family paid a type of fee, and sometimes also gave gifts such

as land (Guerre 17). This, combined with the fact that many women were married young, such as

Bertrande, who says she was only nine or ten at the time of marriage (Guerre 16), establishes

that women are essentially bargaining chips, equivalent to objects or property. In this way,

women were often used to solve financial problems, or to keep the peace between families. Of

important note is that Bertrande wants to be an independent woman, to have her childhood. It is

said that she stayed with Martin despite his inability to consummate because she knew she would

be arranged into another marriage, this time without as much freedom (Guerre 28). However,

once Martin left she was in a difficult position, as she was not allowed the freedoms of a widow,

because proof of death must be provided to escape the connection to her husband (Guerre 33).

Then, the imposter Martin Guerre shows up, and convinces everyone he is real. In the

case of Bertrande, this is surprisingly good, as he is a much better husband than the real Martin

Guerre. They have a relationship that could be called ideal at the time (Guerre 46). Yet, when the

real Martin Guerre returns, he is not punished for being a poor husband or for abandoning his

family. Rather, the imposter is punished for stealing Martin’s property and marriage, and

Bertrande is suspected of having known he was a fake. She escapes punishment thanks to her

own story and the testimonial of the imposter, but the message is clear: no matter how beneficial

her marriage was with the imposter, she is the wife of Martin Guerre, forever his property, and to

allow herself to be “stolen” would be a serious offense. This shows that the woman had no rights
whatsoever to a better life as long as she was still attached to a man. Only by becoming a widow

could women gain any semblance of independence, and that was only because they were once

validated by a man. It is of great importance to note that Bertrande and the imposter likely

converted to Protestantism, being directly affected by the Reformation, and yet it changed

nothing in the way of her personal rights. Despite all the changes the Reformation may have

brought, women’s rights were not part of them.

Centuries later, in the 1700’s, the Enlightenment was occurring across Europe, the

Reformation and Counter-Reformation having long passed. The Enlightenment was about the

emerging emphasis of human reason and empirical knowledge over faith and irrational thinking

(Davies 596). Churches and the nobility lost power, while great strides in the sciences and

freedom of the individual man were the new subject du jour. Though the freedom of men is

important in the Enlightenment, it is hard to say the same for women. In 1759 the novel Candide

was published in Europe. Written by the philosopher Voltaire, it is a dark satire on nearly

everything he considers wrong in society at the time, told through the journeys of the central

character Candide and his acquaintances. Almost no one is spared from Voltaire’s wit in

Candide: it mocks all religions, the nobility, the peasantry who dream only of money, the

philosophers, the optimists, the pessimists. In the end, the only people who escape Voltaire’s

scathing criticism are the small group of people who can earn what they need to live, and think

for themselves. This stresses the idea that the most important thing for a man is to be

independent and free from the blind following of other’s ideas. Although this may seem to

imply that women would be valued for thinking for themselves and gaining independence from

men, it is quite clearly not the case.

 The women of Candide are not as naïve or misguided as the main character. In fact, in

some instances, the women show insight or reason, as well as strength of spirit and dignity in the

face of cruelty, putting them equal or above the men of the story. This insight can be seen when

Cunégonde withholds intercourse from the Inquisitor and Jew, for she believes that they are only

interested in sex with her, and will lose interest thereafter (Voltaire 56). The dignity can be

witnessed in the Old Woman’s story, for despite all of the misfortunes which befall her, she

keeps her spirit, admitting that she loves life despite everything that had happened (Voltaire 65).

Though this indeed may be a higher opinion of women’s thoughts or spirit than the past, it

amounts to nothing in terms of actual rights. Despite their insight or dignity, the women in

Candide are often raped, abused, or forced into slavery. Even though Voltaire may recognize that

they have thoughts of their own which could be as valid as any man’s, it is clear that society has

no interest in such things, and instead continues to treat women as objects, for sexual satisfaction

or personal gain. The depictions of the cruelties brought forth against the women are particularly

graphic, and prevalent throughout the plot, with the first instance showing up as Cunégonde is

raped and stabbed only a few pages into the novel (Voltaire 48).

It is after all Candide’s desire to be with Cunégonde that begins the plot, with him being driven

from the castle (Voltaire 43). Yet, as the story develops, it is seen that rather than an active

character, Cunégonde is more of a prop, as are all of the women in the story.