Joan of Arc as a Theatre Production: Is it Possible?

  This week we have been discussing Joan's portrayal in different movies and television shows. One thing I wondered was if any theatre productions had been performed concerning Joan of Arc. It turns out that there have been many productions, some of a more elaborate production, others done on a very small budget.
  This link provides a trailer to the National Theatre's production "Saint Joan": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9lVE7yTW8c. From this clip we never hear Joan speak but we see the actress that has been cast as playing her. Do you notice anything? Once again we see that Joan is cast as looking much older than she actually was but interestingly enough Joan is shown looking more masculine than what we have previously seen her as. For example, her hair is much shorter and the look of an innocent, naive girl is not visible. Instead, this portrayal of Joan seems more harsh and it makes her seem older than she should be.
  Another theatre company produces a Joan of Arc show annually and while I could not find any videos of any of the productions, the description from the website seems as if Joan's story is one of elaboration and wonder. According to "Joan of Arc Play", "Joan of Arc is a legendary historical character enshrouded in mystery and wonder. The 2014 production is thrilled to be bringing pieces of her epic story to life in new and exciting ways through a fictional world newly crafted and designed" (1). I wonder about this "new and exciting ways through a fictional world." Is this maybe one reason why the history of Joan of Arc can have many variations in it? Meaning, is it because of the influence of pop culture that the history of Joan has become "tainted" to the point that people are often surprised when they learn the truth about her life and the influence she had? Has elaboration of Joan ruined the chances of accurately portraying her? Furthermore, do you think there can ever be an "accurate" portrayal of Joan in pop culture?
  The following two images are scenes from the "Joan of Arc Play" production. What do you make of the way in which the actress playing Joan is dressed?

Works Cited
"National Theatre: Saint Joan." Uploaded July 3, 2007.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9lVE7yTW8c.
"Joan of Arc Play."http://www.joanofarcplay.com.

Warfare: Masculine or Feminine?

Joan, as a woman who wore male clothing, made war, and even inserted war cries into her letters to the English (aka “hahu”), is often studied from the perspective of a woman entering the male sphere, as a woman becoming “like a man,” and assuming power she would not have held typically during the Middle Ages. However, based on the sources, gendered ideas still clearly followed Joan onto the battlefield. Apart from simply her name being Pucelle, in the source, “Virgo puellares,” a Latin poem about Joan dating possibly from 1429, the poet states, “she believes that the deceitful English will also succumb to death, when the French overthrow them with maidenly war” (Taylor 78). In this, the violent tone of Joan’s belief in English death is contrasted by the description of war as “maidenly.” Joan is also described as “kindly,” the Pucelle who is going to wage war to bring back “love and piety,” and a “beautiful peace” (Taylor 77-78). Thus, due to Joan’s key role in the war, the ugliness of warfare itself almost seems to float into the background, masked by the concept of Joan’s femininity and the terms that accompany it. This may be due in part to the fact that the source is a poem, yet there seems to be a presence of gendered descriptions even when not directly related to Joan. For example, in the treatise, “De mirabili victoria,” the author describes in reference to the English, “Also that the enemy, even their leaders, retire into hiding out of many fears and feel sluggish as if failing like a woman giving birth” (Taylor 80). The comparison is obviously based on concepts of gender. In general, I wonder if Joan’s significant involvement in the French victory at Orleans and therefore, the crowning of the King at Reims increased the integration of the feminine into discussion of war more than has been typical throughout history? Additionally, seeing as how “maidenly” war was termed in a positive manner describing French actions, did Joan’s participation actually cause a reversal in perceptions of gender at least temporarily?

Source:Taylor, Craig. Joan of Arc: La Pucelle. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006. Print.

 

Image Source: Illustration by Frank Schoonover, 1918

Casting the Best

Should the actresses playing Joan be around the same age as Joan was?   Casting is perhaps one of the most important things in the movie industry; the choice of who plays certain characters ensures that the storyline is represented accurately.  If Joan is portrayed in a way that the audience perceives to be wrong it will be hard for the audience to enjoy the movie.

At the same time the movie industry is always trying something new to be the “next big thing.”  When the movie industry alters what people look like or their past it offends historians but the non-history viewers may enjoy the movie.  Historians are about the small details and in class we have often discussed Joan wearing a red dress when meeting the Dauphin.  When this is absent in popular culture representations historians are forced to “bite their tongues” or appear as though they are too critical. 

During class Wednesday we discussed how Sandrine Bonnaire looked older than Joan would have been.  In addition to being older than Joan, she looked determined like Joan was.  Surely there was a younger woman who could have played Joan that had the same look of determination as Joan.  Should the producer find perhaps an inexperienced person to replace the small flaw with a more professional actor/actress?  In short, yes.  Not everyone will do research on Joan and therefore producers have an obligation to provide the most accurate representation of history as possible.

Works Cited:

Images: Google Images

Joan the Punk Rock Maid

When looking into popular culture for images and videos of Joan, there are many satirical and artistic renderings of the life and experiences of the Pucelle. While many are filled with inaccuracies or illustrate Joan’s motivations as less than historical, one particularly good (read: factual) video describing the life of Joan is found on YouTube under an account of history teachers who rewrite popular songs to lyrics that describe certain historical events or people. Joan made the list, appearing in the history teachers’ rendition of “Seven Nation Army” (the Joan version) by the White Stripes. The video itself is rather well complied, featuring a “music video” of Joan accompanied by background video footage of a Joan of Arc film. The actress playing Joan in the music video is shown wearing armor complete with a sword, a short “male-esque” bob haircut, and black hair. The lyrics discuss Joan as a “peasant” who was told of her destiny by “saints” – all very factually accurate. It becomes quite clear by the end of the film that the intention of the filmmakers was to present a factually-based account of Joan that would play on current pop culture images and songs while presenting historically accurate information on the Pucelle.

The White Stripes was an interesting band choice to use in comparison to Joan, a seemingly methodical move on the part of the filmmakers. The White Stripes emerged in the 1990s as an American rock band that would last until 2011. The rock movement itself was seen as a more rebellious musical movement, which proves to be quite an interesting comparison to Joan. Were the filmmakers attempting to draw parallels between the band’s rebellious rock movement and Joan’s own “rebellion” of gender roles and her ensuing trial where she proved to be quite feisty? Also crucial to the parallels between The White Stripes and Joan is the color red. Joan is often described throughout Nullification trial sources as having worn a red dress before she ditched her peasant female dress for men’s battle attire. Similarly, The White Stripes were known for their sole use of the colors white, black and red. The motif of red is also shown throughout the entire video. These similarities, therefore, make for a perfect parallel between The White Stripes and Joan of Arc. The rebellious, rock band meets the Maid of France who was unafraid to push boundaries of her own time, earning this video a solid A from me.

Below are some images from the music video itself, highlighting both the physical look of Joan, some of the notable lyrics, and of course, the red motif. 

You can find the link to the YouTube video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQydMhY9OpI&list=UUAiABuhVSMZJMqyv4Ur5XqA

How to Change Your Stars: the Essence of Knighthood and Chivalry

In the movie A Knight’s Tale, directed by Brian Helgeland in 2001, Heath Ledger portrays a peasant boy whose greatest ambition is to become a knight. He gets this opportunity when his master, Sir Ector, dies suddenly and Ledger’s character William has to pretend to be him at a jousting tournament. William and his friends Wat and Roland continue this charade in order to make money, eventually obtaining forged patents of nobility by none other than Geoffrey Chaucer himself. As William, disguised as Sir Ulrich of Lichtenstein, becomes more famous at jousting, he begins to embrace his knightly persona more completely. He falls in love with a princess, and does all that he can to win her favor. He comes under attack from the evil Count Adhemer and eventually prevails due to his courage and perseverance.

There are several moments in the film that are obviously not historically accurate. The most obvious example of this is the music. The film opens with the spectators at a jousting tournament chanting the song "We Will Rock You" by Queen, complete with the hand clap rhythm that is so famous today. Later in the film, the characters attend a ball and begin to dance to "Golden Years" by David Bowie. This dancing is also atypical of the Middle Ages. Several of the costumes and hairstyles look more modern than medieval, and some of Chaucer’s pronouncements do not seem to fit the culture of the Middle Ages either.

However, while there were several details in the film that were not historically accurate, the tone of the movie and the major themes all portrayed the past well. One of the most important points was William’s need to maintain his honor as a knight. He was brave to the point of foolishness, and was prepared to die in order to maintain his honor. The first glimpse of this occurred in his first jousting tournament as Sir Ulrich. A man remarks that Ulrich is fearless, and when Jocelyn asks why, Count Adhemer replies that “The slit in the visor is narrow, but splinters can penetrate it. Most knights raise their chins at the last instant. You lose sight of your opponent, but protect your eyes. Ulrich doesn’t” (Knight’s Tale). William was single-minded in his purpose of winning the joust to the point where he would risk an injury to his eyes in order to succeed. He continues to behave this way throughout the film, with the most intense example occurring at the end of the movie. He is jousting Count Adhemer and losing badly. He cannot breathe in his armor or support the lance with his already injured arm, so he takes off his armor and has Wat tie the lance to his arm. Jousting without armor could have killed William, but he insisted that he had to finish the joust in order to maintain his honor.

                                                    William jousting without his armor

William’s reckless courage is summed up by the character of Prince Edward in a scene at the end of the movie, when Prince Edward knights William. Edward remarks of William that “you also tilt when you should withdraw... and that is knightly, too ” (A Knight’s Tale). William believes that to give up or not face a challenge would be an insult to his character. This idea that a knight must be fearless and courageous to the point of injury captures the essence of chivalry.  In another exchange with Prince Edward, William remarks that “it is not in me to withdraw” (A Knight’s Tale). Although William was not technically a knight at this point, he had the chivalric spirit of knighthood that is a major theme throughout the Middle Ages.

                                                William being knighted by Prince Edward

Another theme throughout the movie that accurately represents the culture of the Middle Ages is the idea of courtly love. William meets a princess named Jocelyn and immediately falls in love with her. He spends the rest of the movie attempting to win her favor. She takes over his thoughts, to the point where he cannot sleep for thinking about her. Eventually, she becomes the one thing for which William is willing to disgrace himself. Jocelyn asks him to prove his love for her by purposefully losing the jousting tournament. Begrudgingly, William agrees in order to prove his devotion to her. William’s love for Jocelyn is an apt depiction of the ideal for courtly love during the medieval era. According to the idea of courtly love, knights would be consumed by their devotion to their lover and would do absolutely anything for them. Losing the tournament on purpose was the worst thing that Jocelyn could have asked William to do as it goes against his prideful nature. However, William’s willingness to lose for Jocelyn proves his complete devotion to her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                       William speaking to Jocelyn

 

 

This movie does not get every detail about medieval society completely accurate, and it brings in several of the elements of modern society in order to keep the audience engaged. However, what it does do really well is capture the spirit of chivalry and knighthood. William does not actually become a knight until late in the movie, but his attitude and mindset was always that of a knight. If the audience was trying to learn about the clothing or the dances of the Middles ages, this would not be the correct film, but if they wanted to better understand the themes behind chivalry and knighthood, A Knight’s Tale is a very good example.

 

Sources:

 

A Knight's Tale. DVD. Directed by Brian Helgeland. Culver City, Calif.: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2001.

 

Pathos, Propaganda, & Joan

      A major off the battlefield part of World War One was propaganda. The clever ads were created to persuade the at-home Americans to give the support for the war across the ocean whether it was their emotional support or physically contributing. The main goal of these propaganda ads is to persuade. Based on Aristotle's Rhetoric, there are three main keys to persuasion: ethos, logos, and pathos. (Michelstaedter, 21) When dealing with propaganda, pathos is the main factor in it's persuasion goals.

      Pathos in persuasion is the emotional factor. The pathos factor drives to its audience's emotions to get its results. In most propaganda, the ad contains an image along with a simple tag line. There were numerous propaganda ads created during this World War One time frame, but one in particular features Joan of Arc. The question is, how would Joan be used as an effective propaganda ad?
      The ad is obviously targeting women. Joan was a popular figure in popular culture back then. Her image and story would be well known amongst the American public. The message is pretty straight forward; Joan saved her country through her efforts, the women of America can help assist in the saving of the country by buying war stamps. Joan's patriotism is supposed to inspire patriotism in American women. The Joan of Arc propaganda ad is just a small part in a successful war effort on the American home front.

Works Cited

 Michelstaedter, Carlo, and Russell Scott Valentino. Persuasion & Rhetoric. New Haven:

Yale UP, 2004. Print.

Joan of Arc Propaganda Ad. 1918.