1. Describe the village of Artigat.
   
   In the movie, who inhabits the village? What social roles are presented?



2. How does the movie show the economic life of the town? What manufacturing work is shown? What is the nature of agricultural life?
   
   What tasks are performed by women? What tasks by men? What work do both genders do? What do these distinctions mean?



3. What is the relative status of men and women? Are they shown to be equals? What evidence supports your answer?



4. How does the film show distinctions of wealth and status among the inhabitants of the village?
   
   How important is literacy in this community? Who is literate?



5. How does the movie present the institution of marriage?
   
   What role do the noisy charivari play in the community? Who are the charivari? Why would they humiliate Martin and Bertrande? Why does the village tolerate their misbehavior?



6. Why did Martin leave the village?
   
   Why did he return?



7. Why did Artaud pretend to be Martin?
   
   What aspects of 16th-century life enabled Artaud to get away with his imposture for so long? Why was it so hard in the 16th century to establish the man's identity?
   
   What led to his exposure?



8. Why did Bertrande accept Artaud as her husband? Given the seriousness of such an act, how did she dare to accept Artaud as her husband?
   
   Why did she defend him before the courts?
   
   Why didn't the court punish Bertrande for adultery or for assisting Artaud's imposture?



9. Why was Artaud's crime of imposture considered so serious?
   
   Did you think the legal process of discovering the truth was fair? Why was the court about to release Artaud?
   
   Knowing that he would be condemned to death for his crime, why did Artaud confess before the court and again in the village?



10. At the end of the movie, the filmmaker indicates that the trial judge, was hanged for his Protestant beliefs. Does that detail provide clues about Coras's handling of the Martin Guerre case?
    
    How did the religious wars of 16th-century France affect the villagers of Artigat?
    
    Why were 16th-century Europeans so intolerant of other religions?

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