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.
Works Cited:
Heimann, Nora and Coyle, Laura. Joan of Arc: Her Image in France
and America. London, UK: D Giles
Ltd, 2006.
Even though Joan would not like being compared to a pagan goddess, placing Joan as an equal to the Roman goddess of Wisdom was probably meant to be a compliment. I agree she would have disliked it because of the religious difference but aside from that, it would have symbolized Joan being a very wise while at the same time uneducated woman.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cindy, the portrayal of Joan is probably less dishonoring, as giving credit due to Joan. However, Joan herself may have seen the comparison as unlikely, not so much for religious reasons, but more so for the idea of being a goddess, as Joan seemed humble and concentrated on the realities of war, not wanting to be a wise goddess creating miracles without her boots "on the ground" so to speak.
ReplyDeleteIt really is an argument of perspective. Schiller did seem to make this comparison as a form of respect for Joan. However, at the same time an argument can be made that this is not a suitable way to honor Joan by comparing her to a pagan goddess. Something that Joan most likely would disagree with.
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