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