"We're all going to end up at the stake"- A Warning From A Retrospective Joan

In her play about Joan of Arc, although referred to as Jeanne Romée in it, Carolyn Cage writes an interesting take on Joan, one steeped in a modern interpretation and within the author’s own personal themes. For instance, Cage expresses, “We must clothe ourselves in self-respect, arm ourselves with finely-tempered rage, and obey only those voices that we women alone can hear” (CP 156). This statement epitomizes the objectives of Cage’s play, a fiercely feminist account definitely prone to degrees of “finely-tempered rage” as Cage describes it. Thus, Cage’s play certainly utilizes Joan’s story to tell another one, if it perhaps strays from a Joan familiar to us from primary sources. Arguably, though, Cage would likely classify most of those sources, as many were male, to be Joan from the lens of the “man behind the curtain,” and thus, not accurate either (CP 156). Cage gives a Joan in the midst of retrospect, a Joan recognizing the theme of women’s self-defeat, a defeat that was just “a little more flamboyant” or memorable in her case than most women’s (CP 145).

Thus, Cage obviously employed Joan to deliver a targeted narrative. However, her interpretation of Joan is, at times, helpful in seeing Joan and other cultural interpretations of her in a new light. For example, Cage states, “Hey, come on, we all invent our voices” (CP 144). This is a refreshing attitude towards Joan’s voices-rather than crazy, Cage presents the voices as the norm for us all, rather than simply permit Joan’s voices to exist in her narrative, Cage embraces them. Secondly, in response to Joan’s martyr status, Cage in Joan’s voice states, “it’s time we stopped believing it’s some kind of honor to be tortured by men” (CP 144). This reminded me immediately of much of the theme of The Passion of Joan of Arc¸ which stands as a picture of Joan’s suffering, and thus, honorable and worthy martyred status. Cage would not agree with Dryer's Joan. Altogether, the play shows a Joan, in a rarity of interpretation, as intentionally playing outside of the rules, not foundationally due to a strong sense of divine mission (here more of a convenient reason to bend the rules) but more so to a sense of self-preservation that still goes quite awry. This Joan is a different Joan, one committed to a fruitless escape, but entirely of her own prerogative, ironically much like her literal escape. In this way, Cage credits Joan, but not for the triumphant deeds usually sung about, of which Cage barely acknowledges in one small paragraph.  A Joan of her beginning and of her end is more suited to the author’s warnings to women of today.

Question: Is Joan represented positively in the play? What do you think of the motivations that Cage applies to Joan and her story?