Two Stories about the Lives of Two Different Couples - Essay Example

? ASSIGNMENT ONE The depiction of love throughout the lives of Giovanni and Lusanna is broader in aspects of entanglement with law, as opposed to Martin’s and Bertrande’s lives. These aspects expose themselves in this story especially when the couple has to deal with a Florentine law concerning marriage that triggers marriage disputes as the story advances1. There is an explanation of themes such as social interaction of people and their roles in relation to marriages as the story progresses. Men and women interact in several ways in the story, and in some instances, the expected occurrences divulge themselves while at the same time some lead to unforeseen outcomes. The lives of Giovanni and Lusanna further portray the differing social statuses of women as well as the role they play in the revitalization. On the other hand, the lives of Martin and Bertrande show the arising events throughout the lives of this couple. However, all these events come back to a common ground, which is love. Love then grows and ends with marriage, and at this point, its relationship with law starts to develop2. These two stories about lives of two different couples are similar in a number of ways. To begin with, both stories reveal a lot of love between the couples, which in turn leads to marriage. According to the story about Giovanni and Lusanna, for instance, the theme of love proves to prevail on their day of marriage. The author states that their lives together proved that marriages actually happened out of love, not arrangements by parents. This means that two people had to come together and have a relationship before getting married to each other. Consequently, it served to enhance how much they knew each other and gave time for the two families to familiarize with each other. Similarly, the lives of Martin and Bertrande develop the aspect of marriage. Their story begins with the two getting married. Although their first appearance in the story is when they are teenagers, the author straight away drives us to the wedding ceremony. The usual procession then takes place after paying the bride’s dowry, and the wedding ceremony is over. However, with them it occurs in a much-unexpected manner. This renders marriage as a tremendously significant aspect in the story since it introduces it. In addition, the couples in each story go through a marriage ceremony perhaps with the intent of sealing their relationship and making it public. Furthermore, both stories incorporated the facet of law in them. In the life of Giovanni and Lusanna, her representation by her brother in the archbishop’s court incorporates the aspect of law. As mentioned in the Florence law, women could not represent themselves, but instead their legal guardians presented their cases. The author also explains the use of law to fight for the rights of women. Nevertheless, in the life story of Martin and Bertrande, law was a pivotal aspect in resolving disputes. The characteristic of law developed when Martin came back to their home and out of nowhere claimed himself as the rightful heir to the family’s wealth. Martin demanded that he get his portion of the inheritance despite his disappearance. He made it worse by threatening his uncle, who now headed the family, that if he did not give him his inheritance, he would take the disagreement to court. This tells the reader that people in the story recognized the presence of the courts, and they were subject to its ruling. Conversely, both stories had disagreeing aspects, for instance, the social interactions. In the lives of Giovanni and Lusanna, there is a clear background of social interactions, as opposed to the story about Martin and Bertrande. Additionally, in Giovanni’s and Lusanna’s lives, the entire process diffuses into the story in a progressive manner, perhaps in the effort to explain their background. Although support of premarital relationships was minimal in their times, people still engaged themselves in premarital intercourse. This explains the realities of relationships but in the shadow of courtship. Supposedly, young men were to be in the fields with their fathers while young women were to be at home learning from their elders how to be suitable wives. Furthermore, their lives emphasize the fact that marriages actually resulted from love. This suggested the importance of courtship rather than marriage arrangements made by parents. Exposure of the difference between the two stories clears up following the avoidance of courtship in Martin and Bertrande’s lives. These similarities and differences may result from several reasons such as cultural backgrounds, values, beliefs, and, probably, the difference in time of the two stories. In the outset, cultural beliefs profoundly influence the way of life of different groups of people3. Both settings are conceivably related due to the adoption of similar activities, such as advocacy for marriage and law. On the other hand, the difference in cultural beliefs enhanced activities like courtship before marriage in some cultures whereas in other cultures marriage took place as planned and organized by the parents. Correspondingly, the times when the stories were written may account for their difference. Evidently, the story of Martin and Bertrande fits more into the earlier culture than that of Giovanni and Lusanna. This is because in their story courtship did not triumph, thus suggesting planned marriages by parents. Nonetheless, the advancement in time may have allowed such activities to prevail in the story of Giovanni and Lusanna. According to the available historical records of these stories, there was variation in what different people believed about marriages, its existence in the society, and how they perceived courts. Primary representation of weddings unfolds in a prevailing manner in both; however, the process of reaching the stage of marriage differed. In the case of society, the story of Giovanni and Lusanna as recorded reveals the aspect of upholding culture. To them, young men and women were obliged to learn from their elders how to be responsible men and appropriate wives when they were of age. Oppositely, there is no mentioning of responsible upbringing in the story of Martin and Bertrande justifying the disrespectful behavior towards the family’s elders as portrayed in the story. Therefore, the law, as depicted in both, served the greater purpose of maintaining peace and order among the members of the society by setting guidelines and resolving possible disputes4. In the story of Giovanni and Lusanna, the law acted as a platform to fight for women’s rights whereas it served as the rightful basis to settle the dispute between Martin and his uncle Pierre. Bibliography Brucker, Gene A. Giovanni and Lusanna: love and marriage in Renaissance Florence: with a new preface. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005. Davis, Natalie Z. The return of Martin Guerre. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.]: Harvard University Press, 2002. Crothers, Lane, and Chaeles Lockhart. Culture and politics: a reader. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. Whittington, Keith E., R. Daniel Kelemen, and Gregory A. Caldeira. The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics. Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2008. Read More