A Disney Adaption of Joan

We have discussed numerous times throughout the semester what we would do if we had the means to make our own Joan of Arc film. One brief discussion was what if Disney were to make a film based on Joan's life. What aspects would have to be met? Though some of their films have some dark aspects, their films normally have satisfying if not happy endings. Would it be appropriate to make this film since Joan's story involves plenty of violence around her and I do not think Disney's younger audiences would be too thrilled to watch the trial scene. Assuming that Disney was going to make Joan's tale an animated film the following aspects would help make the film possible.

1. If all Disney films have one thing in common, it is the main character always pulls through and live happily ever after. With Joan's story, it does not match that criteria. To match their criteria instead of having Joan as the main character, make her a supporting character. Make the main character someone that new Joan closely. Someone who was around her through her battles like her page or even her brother. What matters is that the plot can carry on despite Joan's death and the audience is not completely bummed out when Joan dies. Disney has killed off characters in their movies, but they have always been supporting characters or characters that have little impact to the plot. Joan being a supporting character, the audience will be devastated, but their main hero is not gone.

On another note if Joan has to be the main character maybe end the movie after her victory at Orleans. This aspect may be annoying for historians, but I don't believe that Disney is into historical accuracies 100%. At least in this aspect, Joan can be the main character and the idol for all the young viewers and in the end, still have a happy ending. 

2. The death scene is a defining scene in all Joan of Arc films. With Disney's younger audience, this scene would not be very appropriate for them to see. However, the scene should not be omitted from the plot. Let the audience know that she has been sentenced to burn, and have the whole scene happen off camera. Afterwards, capture the reactions of each character in the film to Joan's death. Then maybe have one of the characters, maybe a priest reassure the cast (and the audience) that Joan's soul is in a better place. In the end of the film, maybe show a brief scene showing the retrial, and her being named a saint years later. This shows the audience that she still has an impact and presence in today's world.

3. There always needs to be a antagonist in Disney's films; a "bad guy". In this case, the English would be an obvious choice. When you look at antagonists in other Disney films, you can notice a pattern. They always seem to be older than the protagonist(s), ofter larger or taller in size, and many of the times, wearing red. Maybe make one of the English commanders the main villain and like many of the Disney films, a lackey that provides some comic relief.

Regardless, a Joan of Arc Disney film will turn some heads and maybe raise some controversy. Some may argue that Joan's story is not appropriate for Disney's target audience. I believe with my suggestions above, it could be possible. For some reason if Disney were to go through with a Joan of Arc film, I'm sure it will be heavily attacked by not only film critics but historians as well.



What aspects do you think need to happen in a Joan of Arc Disney film?

Burned at the Stake; Questions Answered

We have watched a handful of films this semester and of course, each Joan film has the key scene of her execution, being burned at the stake. Each time I watch these scenes, I always end up with the thoughts in the back of my head, "what if this was me?" I cannot imagine what not only Joan was going through, but what every other person was feeling as they were burned alive. This method of execution seems extremely unreasonable and I don't understand why they use this method over others. The whole concept of raises a few questions for me and I found the answers.

1. What causes death in this form of execution?

There are a few possible causes when one is being burned. The most common cause of death came from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by the smoke. Normally, this cause of death would come to effect before any damage to the body would occur. For a quicker death from this poisoning, the executioners should use more wood to create more smoke. However, if they did not use enough wood, there are other possible causes of death. In some cases, the victim would die from pure shock. In other cases the victim would die because of heatstroke. For those unlucky cases, then the victims would die because of thermal decompositions to key body parts.

2. Was burned at the stake used as the punishment for many crimes of just secular crimes?

 In the medieval period, burned at the stake was the go to form of execution for those deemed a heretic or guilty of heresy crimes. There were even acts or laws put into place that made this official such as the  De Heretico Comburendo Act. However, death by burning was also an option for sexual crimes or other crimes against nature. This form of execution was not just limited to this historical period. Throughout time and around the world has references of burned alive as a form of execution. There are even examples dating back to the times of Ancient Egypt.

3. How was the pyre set up?

Pyres were very simply set up. A key part was the stake in the center. The person was tied to the stake usually with their limbs bound together. Underneath and surrounding the stake were numerous bundles of sticks. As the pyre is lit, more and more bundles had to be added because this was a time consuming process to completely burn the body.

Works Cited:
Carroll. "The Benefits of Burning Heretics at the Stake." The Benefits of Burning Heretics at the Stake. January 1, 2002. Accessed November 5, 2014. http://biblelight.net/burn-heretics.htm.



"Death by Burning." Wikipedia. July 12, 2014. Accessed November 1, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_burning.

Myth Hunters: Joan's Relics

I tuned into a little Netflix on Saturday night after a long day of studying and editing. In my search to find something to watch, I came across a show called Myth Hunters. The summary of the show is in the title; the story of people who hunt for answers about famous myths like Noah's Arc, The City of Gold, and Nazi treasures. After watching one episode, and I was less than impressed, I scrolled through the two seasons of episodes trying to find one that I may find interesting. In the second season, I found an episode by the name of, "Relics of Joan of Arc".

The pace of this show is pretty slow. Each episode runs for about 47 minutes and it repeats a lot of the information they told you several times. There are even crude reenactments of the people's actions who are hunting the myths. Each episode starts with the introduction of the myth. In this case the myth was; were the relics authentically Joan's. This is the part that caught my attention. The relics were suspected cloth from Joan's clothes and even bones from Joan herself. I was doubtful from the beginning of this episode on the relic's authenticity since I'm pretty sure we would have mentioned this in class.

The relics were found when workers were clearing out an old building in France. In the attic were jars with the cloth and bones. The bones looked to be of a rib and there were other pieces that were hard to pin point where they belonged in the body. In the jars was an old parchment that read these were of Joan. Word got out pretty quickly and of course, the Catholic Church was interested to know the authenticity of the relics. There was a variety of methods they went through to prove their authenticity. A forensic examiner was brought in to start things up. He in fact was an expert with remains dating back centuries. His first attempt was to extract DNA from the bones and compare it to DNA from Joan's known ancestors. However, their was no DNA within the bones. The conclusion for that was, even though DNA could survive all these years, it can be lost through being exposed to extreme heat or tampering. For lack of better terms, this did add fire to the argument that this was Joan's.

Then the argument of how these relics survived the fire when Joan was burned. That was countered with the argument that bodies can explode with the gases inside the body being exposed to extreme heat. It was a possibility. They even brought in a perfumer with a trained nose to smell. In his analysis he detected hints of vanilla. This was extremely important information because ancient forms of embalming and body preservation used a material that left a scent of vanilla.What was really the kicker, was with closer examination of the specimen and with more experts, the relic that was thought to be one of Joan's ribs, turned out to be a thigh bone for a cat.

Finally, what really took away from the argument that these were authentic Joan relics was the examination of the cloth.  Under close examination, the stitching pattern did not match the common method used in Medieval Europe. Though the cloth was centuries old, it did match the stitching patterns used in the Middle East. Through all the information gathered on the relics, the relics were in fact not Joan's, but from a mummified cat. Something that still is interesting, but not from a Saint of France.

If you want to watch the full episode, I said at the top, it is on Netflix. Just search Myth Hunters. From what I researched on the show, the third season is actually supposed to show actually this week on the History Channel.

Joan: From Armor to High Fashion

As I was thinking about Cindy’s presentation on Joan’s male dress, it actually prompted me to question whether Joan has inspired any modern dress, although I had no doubts her cultural imprint would, of course, encompass the realm of fashion. One of the first items I ran across was a 1998 Alexander McQueen fashion show, in which he utilized Joan as an inspiration. Interestingly enough, in a video in which McQueen is interviewed about the show, McQueen himself states that he was “pushing boundaries.”  Thus, in this way, McQueen chose the right inspiration, as Joan did push the boundaries of societal restrictions. McQueen goes on to comment “you can’t get much stronger than a head of an army.” Therefore, the “strong” Joan was clearly the one at large in this particular fashion show. As to the actual clothing, some of it is strikingly red, other includes bits of material that at least appear as chainmail, and some of the models even take on a bald appearance. Finally, the spectacle ends dramatically with one model in the middle of a ring of fire as you can see below, to indicate Joan’s burning. What do you think of McQueen’s inspirations from Joan?

To watch the interview and clips of fashion show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN1gS2KcK0w
Some of best images are in the above video, but here are a few as well:

Joan as Leader of Men

In is article “A Woman as Leader of Men: Joan of Arc’s Military Career” Kelly DeVries provides an argument on why the soldiers in Joan’s army chose to be loyal to a young peasant woman.  It would seem to be counterintuitive for the French soldiers to be okay with having a woman as their captain. However, Joan ended up being one of the most influential captains in the Hundred Year’s War. Her soldiers followed her into battle and seemed to have no ill feelings about this, as they all remembered her and her military capabilities fondly years later at the Rehabilitation Trial. DeVries points out that women leaders were rare in the Middle Ages and could even have been used against Joan. He states that “Often, too, the rumor of a woman leading an opposing army had been used by eaters to incite their troops against the obvious heresy, sorcery and immorality of their opponents” (DeVries 4). This is exactly what the English did in response to Joan. One soldier at Orleans asked whether they were expected to surrender to a woman and called her soldiers “unbelieving pimps” (DeVries 4). 

DeVries goes on to argue that Joan shares many similarities with a mercenary captain, who would command large numbers of soldiers who were very loyal and who in return received various forms of payment. In explaining this idea, DeVries says that “Joan did not offer her troops terrestrial possessions; she offered them religious possessions, in particular salvation” (DeVries 5). Joan’s religious presence was very important to her military success. Her faith and the holiness that she represented seemed to make her soldiers that much more loyal to her. DeVries states that Joan’s soldiers “seemed to have welcomed the holiness that she represented, and in fact some marveled and even relished the spirituality of their own existence when with her” (DeVries 12). 

Joan leading the attack on the Tourelles. 

                           By Jules Levenpeu

My research paper is about Joan and other Medieval female warriors. Part of my paper will focus on how Joan was atypical in the fact that she was not only accepted and liked by her fellow soldiers but that she was also respected and followed. DeVries’ analysis of why Joan’s military career was so successful directly relates to my argument. In comparison to other female warriors at the time, Joan did not already command respect because of her family, but she garnered more respect on the battlefield anyway due to her natural talents in warfare, but also because of her religious position. It is easy to prescribe her military success to her military capabilities, but, as DeVries points out, her religious standing is just as important.

 DeVries, Kelly. “A Woman as Leader of Men: Joan of Arc’s Military Career”. In Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood, 3-18. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996. 

An Open Letter to Joan of Arc

As I think back over the semester, I cannot help but feel immense gratitude for Joan. I am grateful first for the strength and courage she exemplified. She was unafraid to forge a new path for herself – and one no less that her parents nor society were quite fond of. I am also thankful for her steadfastness in both religion and moral conviction. She was indeed unwilling to compromise what she wanted for her life, a lesson any twenty-something can surely relate to. Lastly, I am thankful for Joan’s sensitivity. She was brave and strong, but she also displayed gentleness and kindness. I am thankful for her example, and revealing over five hundred years prior that women can do and be both. After feeling oddly nostalgic for both Joan and the experience of this class, I have taken the liberty of comprising an open letter to Joan from those who desire to study her.

Dear Joan,

Your life and experiences rings out from the history books. You are often discussed and debated, but scholars and students alike are seldom able to definitively describe your existence. You defied numerous societal norms and rules of your time, unwavering in your beliefs. You bested the English in combat, although you lacked any knightly training or otherwise. You gained male friendships, while remaining a virginal anomaly. You often outwitted the judges at your trial, never forgetting to speak strongly. And lastly, you went to the stake, dying for your cause.

Because of these reasons and so much more, we study you. The historical records often provide answers, and yet we debate. Primary sources reveal the extensive following you had, a following that has outlived even you. You are questioned, revered, misunderstood, and cherished. Regardless of what answers scholars will provide next, we thank you for your humble and yet astonishing life. May we seek to better understand you.

Sincerely,

Those Who Simply Wish to Know You More

"Jeanne at the Coronation of Charles VII in the Cathedral of Reims" by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1854. 

"Pearl" -- Katy Perry

Katy Perry has many empowering songs along with fun songs. One song that I stumbled upon included Joan of Arc and also fits the feminist theme. Her song "Pearl" is about a girl who is forced to dim her potential by a guy because of the strength of their love.

The song compares the girl to the statue of Liberty, a pyramid, hurricane and other strong and powerful influences, including Joan of Arc. It suggests that Joan of Arc is a strong and admirable woman that girls should look up to. With the inclusion of Joan of Arc, Perry also has a recurring line "She is unstoppable".

Joan of Arc is used as an image for oppressed women to stand up for themselves and to use their full potential, regardless of an obstacles. In the end of it all, those who try to diminish who you really are and what you can do have no power to take it from you, just like Joan. Although the court tried their best to make her terminate her belief and style, and were successful for a short time, Joan returned to who she was knowing it would cause her death.

This song is very similar in its use of Joan as Gage's play. It takes her life to illustrate larger issues in the society, in this case domestic violence or women's rights.



Lyric Video:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKMDXnPmWDM

Photo:
http://www.pearlsonly.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Katy-Perry-Photoshoot-Wallpaper2.jpg

Blashphemous Joan

Doing research for my paper I came across an image of Joan in our, Joan of Arc: Her Image in France and America.  It is captioned, “’Joan as Minerva,’ frontispiece from Friedrich Schiller, Joan of Arc, or the Maid of Orleans” (Heimann and Cole 42).  Like the caption states it is Joan of Arc as Minerva the Roman goddess of wisdom, her Greek equivalent of Athena. 

I imagine, Joan would have been appalled by this image of her as a pagan goddess.  The thought of a Christian soldier being honored as a Roman goddess is quite idiotic no matter your religious affiliation.  Although Schiller was a successful writer, I cannot see how any successful writer would allow for the main character to be displayed as something that the character would have not approved of.  A writer’s purpose is to capture the moment, the mood, the authenticity of the moment, not distort it.

Schiller’s Joan does make sense from a purely analytical point of view; as Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom.  Joan of Arc was excellent at maneuvering troops and lifting sieges, the characteristics of a wise person.  And her wisdom did not come from any real schooling other than what her mother had taught her and from God’s words as well as her voices guidance. 

 

Was it appropriate for Schiller to allow Joan to be portrayed as something Joan would have probably disliked?

 

Works Cited:

Heimann, Nora and Coyle, Laura.  Joan of Arc: Her Image in France and America.  London, UK: D Giles Ltd, 2006.

The Different Viewpoints: Response to Barstow Article

     In the excerpt in the course packet written by Anne Llewellyn Barstow, she provides many examples throughout history of how Joan was an example or influenced them. It amazed me was the extremes that Joan has influenced. I understand how Joan influenced many of the feminist movements. Joan exceeded and went beyond was expected of her in the life time like the women in these movements are aspiring to. It did not surprise me. What did surprise me was some of the ends that Joan did inspire.
     One example was Isabel O'Reilly, who wrote a Roman Catholic treatise. What was interesting about this part was she had the main point of that a woman's place was in the home. She uses Joan as an example and admired many aspects of her life like her virginity and how she was able to spin. She claims that Joan can be the model for the traditional Catholic woman, despite the fact that Joan left the home. The reason Joan still qualifies was because she was commanded so by God. From my point of view, it is a long shot to claim Joan a model for Catholic women. Times change and there is a a significant time difference between Joan's lifetime and 1894 when O'Reilly wrote this. I do believe she is a great example, but naming a single model for Catholic women is impossible.
     On the other side of the extreme was the mention of the Ku Klux Klan. The women's order of the KKK wrote Joan, the Militant Kamelia. This claims that women in present day (then 1920) hear voices telling them to establish the supremacy of the white race. The claim was those voices were similar to the ones Joan heard to motivate her to liberate England from France. This surprised me because such an extremist organization associated themselves with a Saint like Joan. It seemed as if they used Joan to justify their actions and beliefs. I personally look at their actions and disagree with their train of thought in this one.
     My biggest take away was how Joan inspired many different groups. What surprised me the most was the certain groups that associated themselves with Joan and what they took away from Joan. Some of the examples made sense, but others raised a few questions for me. I enjoyed the reading in the sense that it provided an insight to me of how others reacted to Joan.

Who is Joan to women?

Anne Barstow's "She Gets Inside Your Head: Joan of Arc and Contemporary Women's Spirituality" uncovered many interesting truths about how women portray Joan of Arc as a trend-setter for women. In Anne's chapter, she asks contemporary women what Joan means to them. She shows how women have adopted Joan for women's rights movements, spiritual role models, redefining their place in the home, and showing courage.

Barstow begins by calling on the events of the Seneca Falls convention of 1848. At the convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton used Joan's mysticism to further her reformist faith. She is quoted by Barstow by saying "when all human power seemed unavailing, the French no longer despised the supernatural aid of the damsel of Domremy." She also applies Joan's strategies to reform-minded women by saying that women hear voices every day. She says these voices come from sorrow, degradation and despair. By applying Joan's actions to her own cause, she puts Joan down on their level. Her mind set was if Joan could do it so can we.

Conservative women also had their chance to apply Joan's image to their cause as well. According to conservative women, Joan was the model of the woman in the household. Barstow points out that this view is contradictory to Joan's life. Isabel O'Reilly praised Joan and explained that Joan was an exception to her dictum of a woman's place in the home. This was because Joan was commanded by God to enter public life. Barstow concluded that Joan was not a martyr in the eyes of women but a powerful visionary.

Barstow also discovers what Joan's voices mean to women as well. The survey revealed that few women mention her voices. When they did, they described the voices as a single voice from God and that Joan obeyed God despite the doubts and pressures from the outside world. This prompts some women to follow their own "inner voice" and to follow what they really believe.

I thought it was interesting that Barstow also included information about other women hearing voices just like Joan. One woman, a former Mormon explained that "Voices tell me what to write, give me no peace until I've done it and then more speak up." It is interesting that women that do hear voices of some kind try to make this connection to what they're experiencing to what Joan experienced. Other women explained that Joan showed how to be true to ones beliefs and provides an example of saying no to peer pressure.

Barstow's survey also uncovered some extreme beliefs about Joan of Arc and what their thoughts about her were. One woman rejected Joan's image and described it as "simpering, syrupy piety" and that she had an obligation towards martyrdom. Others thought that Joan's story made the Church look scary. Another even prayed to Joan at an altar and even meditating on a statue of Joan.

These cases reveal that Joan is wide open to interpretation. Women see Joan as a role model both spiritually and morally. Although interpretations vary greatly on what she was, she has proven to be a go-to source for women who need direction and are looking for answers. Barstow's survey also revealed that people choose what they want to see in Joan. Women look at Joan and focus on what they need help with. Although Joan has been looked at in every way possible, she continues to be a source for women to look up to and look for answers.

Work Cited

Barstow, Anne. "She Gets Inside Your Head: Joan Of Arc And Contemporary Women's Spirituality." In Coursepacket compiled by Dr. Woldbrink. Fall 2014.

Joan as a Raging Feminist

"I submit that every one of you is an insert in the textbook of your country. I look out over this sea of nonessential faces, and I can see the little borders around you lives, individually and collectively. You are inserts in the lives of men. You are inserts in the history of your nation. You are inserts in the roll book of your government. And when it comes down tot eh real issues, we will all be missing from the program..." (Gage 7)

Carolyn Gage's "The Second Coming of Joan of Arc" is about a very feminist version of Joan. She presents many ideas on why women are brought down by men and talks about how her identity was changed by men.

In the play, her identity is as Jeanne Romée whose role models are saints. She talks about how women's identities are wrapped up in how men see them. She talks about the roles of women as mothers and wives and how that saps what they are actually about.

All of her ideas about women can be summed up by the quote above. Women, as portrayed in this play, are only "inserts" in the lives of men.

Carolyn Gage's Jeanne is quite a bit different from the Joan that is generally known from history. This Jeanne is brash and outspoken. She hates on the church and she has an implied, if not fully out, lesbian relationship with one of her friends.

What do we stand to gain from this interpretation of Joan? Overall, Joan would have a lot of feminist ideals, and given that she dressed in men's clothing, there is also the question of gender identity. Gage's play helps us to think about these issues, although I think that Gage's Joan is a little out of character in respect to religion. Although she was condemned by the Catholic church, I don't think Joan would have actively spoken out against them.

                                                   Gage as Jeanne in a tour of the play

A Female Heroine

When reading the article “She Gets Inside Your Head: Joan Of Arc And Contemporary Women’s Spirituality” by Anne Barstow, it raised several questions about how Joan was interpreted by women from different societies. What’s interesting is that these women are using Joan’s story to influence their own movements. One particular example that I noticed Barstow used was Seneca Falls convention in 1848, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She used Joan to illustrate that women should be allowed to be active in the public realm. (Barstow 159). These women often were liberal and active in the public advocating for women’s rights using  Joan as an independent figure to influence others. Stanton used Joan's mysticism to prove her own point, she quotes," when all human power seemed unavailing, the French no longer despised the supernatural aid of the damsel of Domremy" (Barstow 159). She uses Joan's religion to help convince the audience, she states," the same religious enthusiasm that Joan of Arc to her work nerves us to ours" (Barstow 159). Although Stanton warns her audience that a women's movement would not be easy, but together they can earn the rights that they deserve as women. Similar to Joan that she never gave up on her mission even  when it cost  her, her life.

 

Above is an Joan of Arc "The Suffragette" poster used by Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in early 19th century to promote women's rights.

 

So why have we used Joan’s image in the past to promote Women’s movement? Is it effective?? Or is it simply because we view her as a female heroine as Simone de Beuavoir in The Second Sex suggest.

Works Cited
 Barstow, Anne. "She Gets Inside Your Head: Joan Of Arc And Contemporary Women’s Spirituality." In Coursepacket compiled by Dr. Wolbrink. Fall 2014.

Joan and the 21st Century

From Carolyn Gage's portrayal of Joan, I was curious about when her play was written to get a better understanding of why Gage wrote it. It was written in 2005, a more acceptable time for both feminism and homosexual rights. Although the play exaggerated aspects of Joan's life, the play itself is a very inspiring piece to read.

Anti-Feminist group propaganda

Joan (or "Jeanne" as Gage referred her as) came off as an extreme feminist but with some really good points. The narration was targeted to the female audience in order to encourage them to keep fighting. In the prologue, Gage made it clear who her target audience was by stating "You are inserts in he lives of men. You are inserts in the history of you nation" and "My story is the story of all women, and my suffering is identical to ours. My trial is the trial of all women. My misguided crusade is all of our misguided crusades... The voices I hear are your voices" (Gage, 7). Both lines were very strong. Gage's extreme feminist Jeanne directing her narration to the audience in such a way implied that the same struggles that Joan had faced based on her sexuality is still an issue about six hundred years later.

A common theme in the play was the female dependence on a man and over-all inferiority. Jeanne analyzed the saints that spoke to her and had drawn a conclusion: "the only happy ending was the man's" and "a conquering male gets a whole different reception than a conquering female" (Gage, 11). From Jeanne's narration, she had come from a male-dominated and abusive home. Between her relationship with her father and her connection with her best friend who she took first communion with, it wouldn't be a far-off idea for a 21st century interpretation of Joan is that she was a lesbian.

Gage's Jeanne not only had the issue of being a woman in a man's world. She had also been in love with the same sex. Gage built on an interesting idea about Joan being a lesbian because of her sleeping with women instead of men. Jeanne had admitted that she loved the body of a young girl. Although she was talking about her own body, it seemed to foreshadow Gage's interpretation of Joan at the end of the play. Jeanne rejected her God but was still spiritual, stating "the closest I had ever come to an real sense of spirituality was alone with my voices, or in the company of other women" (Gage, 32). Whether or not Joan really was a lesbian, it would be hard to argue that she didn't face a lot of challenges and threats being a woman in a man's world.

Gage emphasized the aspects of Joan's life that would fit to modern-day causes such as women's rights and same-sex rights. Jeanne advised the female audience "We must clothe ourselves in self-respect, arm ourselves with our finely-tempered rage, and obey only those voices that we women alone can hear" (Gage, 32). Although women's rights are not an obvious issue in the media today, Gage's point was that it is still an issue and it won't end. You just have to fight it when it gets in your way. Homosexuality is a more obvious issue in the media. The main advice for that cause was to accept who you are and who you love: "there was a Jeanne Romee who made the terrible, terrible mistake of trying to find a substitute in the world of men for the love she had experienced in the arms of a woman" (Gage, 34). From the sources read in the class, I doubt Joan was really a lesbian or as much of a man-hater as Gage portrayed but for the causes she wanted to address, emphasizing Joan's life and using her as an example would have been clever.

Photo Credit
http://i0.wp.com/www.antifeministtech.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/feminism-does-not-pay.jpg
http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2012/October/10-05-gay-rights-flag.jpg

Joan was a Hard Core Feminist

In Carolyn Gage’s play “The Second Coming of Joan of Arc”, she presents an image of Joan that we have not even come close to seeing in our studies of her this semester. In Gage’s play, Joan is self-assured, hostile, sarcastic, judgmental, and bitter. But the best part about Gage’s Joan is that she completely unapologetic about who she is. She created her voices because she wanted something more than she was being offered, and then proceeded to believe entirely in those voices that she had created, which to some extent is saying that she believed in herself. She decided to wear men’s clothing in order to get men to really see her and not just her sex. She rode off to save France because she wanted to be a hero, and to be known for something other than her husband and her children. She took her life into her own hands and did something to shape her future how she wanted to, rather than listen to want other people said she should do.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding Gage’s depiction of Joan. The real Joan probably didn’t hate men, or the church the way Gage’s Joan did. In fact, Joan’s life was based around a love of God and a respect for the clergy of the church. There are so many sources that tell us how she was an extremely devout person up to the day she died. Calling God a lie, and calling the clergy self-interested is not something that I can easily image Joan doing, like she did in Gage’s play. So maybe it is an insult to Joan’s memory to portray her in this manner. Much of what Gage’s Joan stands for is against what the real Joan stood for, so we cannot rely on this play to provide historical accuracy. 

However, what this play does really well is expose the reality of what Joan suffered through. We know from the sources that Joan constantly complained about being guarded by men and not women, but I never considered why Joan would have been so uncomfortable. I always assumed that she considered it to be improper, and since Joan was a very religious person, I thought this was the reason that she would have wanted female guards. This play made me realize that Joan probably felt unsafe and exposed every day. Gage remarks that “rape, of course, is not the issue. The fear of rape, as men have known for years, is just as effective as the real thing. The woman is scared to live alone, scared to go places by herself, sacred of the dark…she is perpetually distracted, self-conscious, subverted, terrorized” (CP 151). Just the fact that the men guarding her were there, with plenty of opportunity to take advantage of the situation, would have been enough to terrorize Joan. Gage’s commentary on Joan’s struggle to gain the respect of the men around her was also very accurate. Gage takes many of these issues to an extreme and depicts Joan in such an intense light, that she probably alienates many of her readers. However, she still manages provide insight and commentary on many issues that Joan faced and that other women today are still facing. 

Did you think that Gage's play used Joan's story to expose important social issues, or was it too extreme to be effective?