When reading the article "The Second Coming of Joan of Arc" by Carolyn Gage, several thoughts came to mind. The first, is the article screams FEMINISM! I do not think there is a way to read this article and not come away with the idea that Gage's Joan of Arc was a hard-care feminist. The second thought that I had while reading this article relates to the section where Gage paints Joan as being a "freak." Gage's Joan states, "I'm a freak. There's a lot of pain in being a freak, but there's a lot of respect. People have to deal with you on your own terms-they can't project their fantasies onto you. There's dignity in being a freak. I was a freak. I still am" (CP 146-147). Immediately the question popped into my head whether Joan was ever seen as freak in Medieval society? Is the concept of being a "freak" even applicable to the Middle Ages?Another connection I had was thinking about the song "Freak Like Me" by the band Halestorm. Halestorm is my all-time favorite band and this song is defiantly a mantra urging people to "let their freak flags fly." Here is the link to see the music video of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sXoA7B5yJo. The song describes how being a freak is something to be proud of and to let it show. This idea relates back to Gage's version of Joan and how this Joan embraces her "freak side" and is proud of it. Did any of you have any reactions to reading the statement about Joan being a freak? Do you think Joan ever saw herself as a "freak?"
I found this article to be quite entertaining and I have to admit that I appreciated the high-level of feminism throughout it. Even though I found the article interesting, I also found it to be far from the truth in certain aspects. For one, this version of Joan is vulgar and a little over-dramatic. Some of the references in the article paint Joan as being this stubborn, teenage-rebel who despised authority. From reading countless primary sources of Joan I think we can all agree that Joan may have been stubborn at times but she was never vulgar or brash. She herself reprimanded her soldiers for being vulgar so why would she have been vulgar?
After all is said and done, this article is entertaining and gives "Joan's voice" a little spice and flare. But this alters the perception readers have of Joan that disagrees with the primary sources just about a hundred percent of the time. Gage's article distorts the truth of Joan of Arc but does allow for the question to be raised, did Joan or anyone else ever consider her a freak? Could we consider Joan to be a "Jesus Freak?"
Thoughts?
Works Cited
Gage, Carolyn. "The Second Coming of Joan of Arc." In Coursepacket compiled by Dr. Wolbrink. Fall 2014.
"Freak Like Me." Written by Halestorm. YouTube.Accessed November 19, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sXoA7B5yJo.
Images from Google.
I think that the concept of "freaks" has existed throughout most of history; however, I believe the term ascribed to them has changed. They could have been called anything from witches to heretics or products of sin if they were born with deformities. Just a thought though.
ReplyDeleteBeth, you asked a good question, provoked by the play. Did Joan ever feel like a freak, or not-fitting-in (that the sources reveal)? One thing is to just say no--as we have a high level of confidence displayed. Another thought is to say--let's imagine that once in her life she felt this way (don't we all); if so, when would that moment be? Would it be when she was to be married to the boy from Toul? I would be interested in hearing ideas. Perhaps it was after she signed the abjuration?
ReplyDelete