WHO'S GOT A PROBLEM WITH JOAN OF ARC?
Joan of Arc was immortal while she was still alive.
An innocent young girl, called to battle by angels, leading hardened men into victorious combat against an occupying force, she was unique in history. Even now, nearly six hundred years later, people are still trying to make sense of her.
She’s not easy.
Well, for us, she’s not.
Modern observers are at least skeptical of her claims of conversations with angels, for starters. But okay, she believed it, and she convinced everyone around her to believe. So was she sent by the Divine (however you understand it) or was she a master scammer? Does it even matter?
We spend a lot of time pondering the mysteries of faith, motivation, and persuasion. In our secular time, it’s hard to accept her story at face value, never mind wrapping our heads around the idea that a whole lot of smart, powerful people did just that.
You can tell yourself that the French cynically bought her story to give them a mechanism to push out the English. You can argue that the English burned her to scare the fire out of the next rebel – not because they feared her power.
Reasonable arguments that don’t quite get you there.
So Joan is tough.
Not just for modern observers. Victorians had a different problem with her: she was the exact opposite of appropriate female behavior. Taking her orders from the angels – to whom she personally spoke! – leading men into combat while wearing armor, and refusing to back down, even at the cost of her life.
Absolutely wrong by the standards of the time, and absolutely admirable, if not something you want to see in your wife or daughter.
Not to mention, just one heck of a story.
No painter, poet, playwright or composer in his (and it was usually his) right mind could resist the tale, with the angels, the triumphant victory – and of course, the big finish of heroic and utterly horrific martyrdom. Spectacle on spectacle.
Plus, of course, the fun of seeing a beautiful woman in men’s clothes, and later in that white martyr’s shift. And yes, whatever the real Joan looked like, she was always beautiful in the paintings and cabinet photos.
That, the Victorians could handle. I have a wonderful old print of Joan in armor getting ready for battle. She’s lovely, and she looks like every sweet maiden dreaming of her prince. Of course she does.
Martyr Joan also worked really well for the 19th century mind: the “good victim” at her best. Usually, she showed up in a white dress, and often with historically inaccurate hair flowing around the chains holding her to the stake.
No wonder Ella Shane has a problem with Joan. In A FATAL OVERTURE, she’s singing Joan’s martyrdom aria for a benefit, and absolutely hates the idea.
Victorious Joan pushing the English out of France is someone Ella can identify with, considering that she’s spent much of her life fighting one battle or another. The holy victim on a stake, not so much.
So Ella comes up with a take that makes sense even now: Joan chooses martyrdom. She knows the English won’t let her live, so she goes out in a last great act of defiance.
It fits the facts, it’s very Ella, and it’s not her fault that things go very, very wrong…
No spoilers here!
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
An innocent young girl, called to battle by angels, leading hardened men into victorious combat against an occupying force, she was unique in history. Even now, nearly six hundred years later, people are still trying to make sense of her.
She’s not easy.
Well, for us, she’s not.
Modern observers are at least skeptical of her claims of conversations with angels, for starters. But okay, she believed it, and she convinced everyone around her to believe. So was she sent by the Divine (however you understand it) or was she a master scammer? Does it even matter?
We spend a lot of time pondering the mysteries of faith, motivation, and persuasion. In our secular time, it’s hard to accept her story at face value, never mind wrapping our heads around the idea that a whole lot of smart, powerful people did just that.
You can tell yourself that the French cynically bought her story to give them a mechanism to push out the English. You can argue that the English burned her to scare the fire out of the next rebel – not because they feared her power.
Reasonable arguments that don’t quite get you there.
So Joan is tough.
Not just for modern observers. Victorians had a different problem with her: she was the exact opposite of appropriate female behavior. Taking her orders from the angels – to whom she personally spoke! – leading men into combat while wearing armor, and refusing to back down, even at the cost of her life.
Absolutely wrong by the standards of the time, and absolutely admirable, if not something you want to see in your wife or daughter.
Not to mention, just one heck of a story.
No painter, poet, playwright or composer in his (and it was usually his) right mind could resist the tale, with the angels, the triumphant victory – and of course, the big finish of heroic and utterly horrific martyrdom. Spectacle on spectacle.
Plus, of course, the fun of seeing a beautiful woman in men’s clothes, and later in that white martyr’s shift. And yes, whatever the real Joan looked like, she was always beautiful in the paintings and cabinet photos.
That, the Victorians could handle. I have a wonderful old print of Joan in armor getting ready for battle. She’s lovely, and she looks like every sweet maiden dreaming of her prince. Of course she does.
Martyr Joan also worked really well for the 19th century mind: the “good victim” at her best. Usually, she showed up in a white dress, and often with historically inaccurate hair flowing around the chains holding her to the stake.
No wonder Ella Shane has a problem with Joan. In A FATAL OVERTURE, she’s singing Joan’s martyrdom aria for a benefit, and absolutely hates the idea.
Victorious Joan pushing the English out of France is someone Ella can identify with, considering that she’s spent much of her life fighting one battle or another. The holy victim on a stake, not so much.
So Ella comes up with a take that makes sense even now: Joan chooses martyrdom. She knows the English won’t let her live, so she goes out in a last great act of defiance.
It fits the facts, it’s very Ella, and it’s not her fault that things go very, very wrong…
No spoilers here!
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
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James wrote: "A thought-provoking look at a fascinating woman of history, Kathleen. Sadly there are too many forgotten examples of incredible women down through the ages to name them all here. They are the Palad..."Thank YOU! More impressive and interesting women for me to study!
Deborah, for instance, is one of the most influential women of the Bible. She served ancient Israel as a prophet, judge, military leader, songwriter, and minstrel (Judges 4–5).
Lady Christian Bruce (1273-1357) the older sister of Robert the Bruce and played an active role in the Wars of Independence, leading the defence of an Aberdeenshire castle against English forces.
Thank you for your vignettes into history, Kathleen. They are very interesting and always educational.