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With Sword And Conviction She

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With Sword And Conviction She Rides:
An Analysis Of Jehanne La Pucelle As A Continuing Figurehead
Of Feminism In Popular Culture

“Long Before Buffy, Jeanne D’Arc was a true teenage
Super heroine.” - Anonymous

Although the writers of the online magazine, www.Women.com, do not overstate their case by any means, this simple statement declares the lasting effects that the 15th century virgin has on women in society.  Listed among the top 100 women of the millennium, as voted on by the webzine’s readers, Jehanne pulled in a vote of 65% as the most influential woman of historical times.  Why is it that in the year 2001, more than 500 years since the woman’s death, she is still listed among feminist role models?  Darlow R. Safley, an Historian from the International Joan of Arc Society, points out that as a political figure, Jehanne accomplished more than many men of her stature, and has, to date, never been surpassed in her own militaristic feat.  He claims that no man in history has ever commanded the sizable army that Jehanne had at her disposal at such a young age, not Alexander the great, not even Napoleon Bonaparte.  And it is because of this that, like many incredible people before her, Jehanne has since risen to the level of ‘Legend.’  Jehanne La Pucelle, known to most as Joan of Arc, rose to fame as an icon of the popular culture of her time.  Today, in spite of the fantastical and mythical quality that her story has taken on, Jehanne La Pucelle remains a role model and heroine for young women within this century’s popular culture.

The History and The Myth

Even if the details of her life and conquests are unknown, most people can at least summarize the woman called “Joan of Arc.”  Children are taught of the teenage girl that was “sent by God” to save France from the invading English armies and was burned at the stake for Heresy.  There was, in fact, so much more to the woman, than simply that.  Raised as any other woman of her time, being taught the skills of weaving and sheep herding, Jehanne could not read nor write.  In spite of her lack of education, the girl was noted as being extremely intelligent and remarkably articulate.  The A & E documentary, Biography: Joan of Arc tells us that at the age of thirteen she claimed to have heard the voices of the Saints Catherine, Michael and Margaret, and by sixteen she was betrothed to marry.  Her father had arranged the marriage although Jehanne declared that she had no interest.  It was not revealed until much later in her life, very shortly before her death in fact, that Jehanne had taken a sacred oath before God to remain chaste, so marriage would have hindered her ability to maintain the honor of that promise.  She denied the young man a bride and was, in result, taken to civil court for a breach of engagement contract.  Jehanne won the case.  Her argument was what many feminists today would call ‘classic.’  If she were old enough to marry, she argued, then she was of an adult enough age to make her own decisions and therefore should not be subjected to those made by her father.  The judge was convinced and awarded Jehanne her marital freedom.  Shortly after this incident, Jehanne fled to see the Dauphin of France where she would reveal the revelations she believed to be from God.  It was through Jehanne’s use of popular prophecies of the time, that she gained public support.  A & E’s Biography even goes so far as to say that she and the powers in place manipulated the popular culture of France, which at the time relied heavily on religious superstition, to rally an army. Jehanne did nothing to discourage people from believing that she was the Virgin of Lorraine foretold in the prophecy, and in fact, insinuated on several occasions that to deny a messenger of God would only bring God’s anger.  Kathy O’Connell notes that Mary Gordon’s book “Joan of Arc” suggests “Joan was probably the first saint created more by forces of popular culture than the ecclesiastical dictum (O’Connell 32).”

Most history lessons focus on Jehanne’s accomplishments as a military leader.  Her victories helped to bring to an end the lengthy conflict between England and France labeled the “Hundred years War.”  This accomplishment alone is enough to win her recognition as a historical Hero.  It is her death, however, that propelled Jehanne into the ranks of the legendary.  While most history books make Jehanne’s trial sound as if it were a brief few hours, it in fact spanned many months, in all almost a full year.  Those who analyze and study the transcripts of the trial seem to agree that the only reason that the church succeeded in burning Jehanne was because she was a woman.  And it was as simple as that.  She was never proved to be a witch, never admitted to any folly of heresy or evil, if anything her only notable character flaw was arrogance.  She was very presumptuous and it was this aspect of her personality that so infuriated her judges, particularly when she proved, in the end, to be right and they wrong.  Had the issue of Jehanne wearing men’s clothing never been attacked, the woman may never have been executed.

So many questions still circulate today about this woman and her deeds.  Was she a Saint?  Did she hear the voices of angels or God?  Was she insane?  Like any Legend, these questions will continue to be asked, each new answer proposing a new and exciting theory, but a concrete truth will never be defined.  The scholars of today no longer focus on what was, but what was the effect.  Jehanne’s story has been pulled so far from truth, and lacks enough written and concrete evidence to properly research, that it shall forever be a myth like Cleopatra or King Arthur.  The truths we do know will continue to grow in our minds until their mystique is far more powerful than their truths, in the same manner as the Roman Empire has become a place as mystical as Atlantis.  Michelle Roberts stated in her article “The Virgin Queen” that “Joan resides as much in the stories woven about her in successive centuries as in anything approaching verifiable historical fact: on one level, she is her own myth.  In that sense, further versions of those stories can be added and welcomed (Roberts 51).”

Jehanne’s Appeal

It is hardly a new hypothesis that teenagers are in a perpetual state of self-discovery.  As young adults, teenagers are often trying to find their own identity in a society that continually offers up conflicting models, mixtures of realism and fantasy, sexual and otherwise.  Rarely are they presented with a teenage role model.  Michelle Roberts points to Jehanne’s “youth, her shining sincerity, her cockiness, and her capacity to make mistakes.  Joan becomes an adolescent for our times, idealistic and stubborn (Roberts 50-51).”  And it is these two qualities, idealism and stubbornness that are most often beaten out of young adults as schools prepare them for a future of “hard knox”, where principles only get you knocked down.  

Kathy O’Connell comments on the reasons for Jehanne’s popularity still today.  One of O’Connell’s reasons is Jehanne’s defiance of stereotypical gender roles.  Jehanne deftly broke the “Ornamental” role of a woman by being everything that a man was and yet still female and eternally “the Maiden.”  There is testimony in the Condemnation, Rehabilitation and Nullification trials indicating that Jehanne was seen as a beautiful woman.  But it was also stated; in trial records and in A & E’s Biography, that because of her masculine dress, strength of character, and outspokenness, she was revered and in that sense developed a kind of “sexless” perception.  The men admitted that she was attractive and yet never in all the months of sleeping beside her and bathing along side her did they ever see her as anything but a fellow warrior, and never as an object of feminine sexuality.   Jehanne had reached a status that many women seek today, but always seem to fall short of; she was not important because of her body, but rather her deeds, and thusly respected.

In today’s society the woman warrior is as much a desire as it is a popular culture staple.  From figures as Trinity, a kung fu fighter in the film, The Matrix to Xena: Warrior Princess, the face and shape of our modern day female fighters changes, but the message stays the same, ” be beautiful, sexy, strong and kick some ass.”    Mark Kingwell writes in his essay Babes in Toyland on the female warrior in the 21st century’s popular culture.

“You might think Xena is just comic book cheesecake, the way Lynda Carter’s playboy-style ‘Wonder Woman’ series was in the ‘70’s, but don’t underestimate Xena’s ability to inspire self-reliance in young female fans, even a kind of new-style Power Feminism.  In this age of explicit televisual disclosure of bodily attributes, when ‘Baywatch’ is the worldwide standard of what’s watchable, the warrior Princes compellingly combines action with appearance.  In an episode that found her transported into the equally luscious body of her arch-enemy Callisto, Xena shut down one man’s amorous approach by saying, ‘It’s not my body that makes me who I am – its my deeds.’  Then she punched him.”

Mimi Nguyen makes a similar observation in regard to Walt Disney Company’s “Mulan,” a fictionalized retelling of a true story, her contention being that it is in fact these gender role barriers being broken that make the woman memorable.  

“What’s amazing is the sly acknowledgement that gender norms are socially constructed – both Masculinity and femininity are as exposed as elaborate performances, while concurring that these same gender norms prove to be the source of injustice.  Never mind Feudal China, it is a critique that resonates in contemporary US society.  So throw in lots of drag and transvestitism, and ‘Mulan’ becomes a veritable boiling pot of gender trouble.”  

However the figure of Mulan, much like Jehanne lasted throughout centuries of history to become a legend today, her story much distorted and not easily remembered in truth.
The only problem with Xena is the fact that she is not real.  There is no written historical proof of Mulan’s existence, only the oral history of a centuries old tale.  It is, in fact, not portrayed so much a s a true story any more as ‘The Legend of Mulan.’   While the written and historical artifact proof of Jehanne’s deeds is limited in comparison to say, Napoleon or Julius Caesar, there is enough to draw a fairly accurate determination of her personality, her deeds, and her accomplishments all of this making her “Real” to us.  
“Children need others to emulate, and they will follow the example of role models if they are available on a consistent basis. Role models need to be "real" people. Athletes and movie stars are heroes, parents and adults are role models.” -Anonymous, Arthur Agee Role Model Foundation


The Importance Of Female Role Models

There exist today so few military heroes and role models of any kind, and even fewer of these are women, it is not surprising that society turns to history for inspiration.  For women, this holds true for not only militaristic icons, but also female role models in general.  Many of the women held in esteem today are spokes people and women’s advocates, poets, writers, and actresses, but most young women – those in need of role models – have no one of a young enough age with whom they can identify.  Baroness Jay, England’s Minister for women, asserts very firmly “Role models are important in the development of teenage girls.”  Her organization has developed a program to ‘create’ role models for young women, using women under the age of thirty five, a marking point, she feels, in which teenage girls no longer identify with the figure.   She also notes that, "Girls out-perform boys all the way to their mid-teens, but they then fall behind and too many fail to reach their potential.”  Her reasoning?  It is during the teenage years that girls look outside their homes, away from their mothers for role models.  If our society is lacking these, then where do those girls look?

Jehanne La Pucelle is one of the few, female figures in history that children are even taught of in school.  Among Jacqueline Kennedy, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman and perhaps a lesson about Queen Elizabeth, most girls by High School graduation can name no more than five key female figures in history, and maybe less ranking among today’s social/political figures (www.Women.com).  It is also noted that few of the historical women that ARE they are taught about attained their status through their own hard work.  Many are the wife of someone, or were born to privilege.  Jehanne, however, (like Rosa Parks) is a woman born of little or no means, with no family status who rose to recognition because of her own passion, determination and drive.  
Conclusions and Reflections

It is not often that one nation’s hero is revered by the very enemy that the hero defeated.  France today holds Jehanne in as high esteem, if not higher, than Saint Catherine, (another French Heroine) and many of their own kings.  She is celebrated around the world on May 30th.  These include celebrations in England by the countrymen that the warrior girl helped to drive off of French soil (Darlow R. Safley).   There are two figures in history portrayed artistically more often than any other historical person.  The first and foremost is Jesus Christ of Galilee.  The second is Jehanne La Pucelle of Domremy, the French warrior girl (Pipolo 18).  It is fascinating to think that the woman, who many people know so little about, is also one of the most artistically celebrated people of human history.  Tony Pipolo writes for Cineaste magazine: “All the more surprising, then, that not one or two, but at least a dozen feature films (and a number of one and two reelers during the silent era) have been made about Joan of Arc.  To be sure, the Appeal that her story has had and continues to have – crossing, national, cultural and gender boundaries predates the movies.”  Three of these films alone were released in 1999, Luc Besson’s The Messenger, CBS’ mini-series Joan of Arc, and Carl Dreyer’s reconstructed silent film from 1920, The Passion of Joan.  There are at least three more films to be released within the next few years, one by the History Channel, one by Oxygen, the women’s network and one independent feature.  LP  Daily, a member of The International Joan of Arc Society has even disclosed that the History Channel is celebrating "Women's History Month" with specials on important women.  "Joan of Arc: Soul on Fire" airs on March 14, 2001.  The network touts their biography by inciting the mystery behind the girl’s life.  "A teenage girl so dangerous, she was burnt at the stake? Why did her executioners believe she was a witch? How did an illiterate peasant girl take command of an army and seat a king on the throne of France? We'll explore the remarkable story of the woman warrior who became a saint."

“In 1899 Georges Melies produced the very first film on Joan of Arc.  There is more truth in any single frame of that silent, awkward beginning than in The Messenger’s entire inflated state of mega-mess.”  If Ronald F. Maxwell, who is producing and directing the History Channel’s upcoming feature length presentation on Joan (which he also wrote) can be so critical of a film that has been revered as having at the very least, for all its historical inaccuracy, captured the chaotic personality of Jehanne, then it is not surprising that she will continue to be the subject of art.  Jehanne is the reigning queen of musicals, (an original one was recently released in Pittsburgh, PA to superb reviews), books (check Barnes and noble, they almost always have a new one in stock), and films.  Each person that writes of her seems to feel they know her better than the last and so she will ever be a part of popular culture.  

I offer my own theories to her popularity, her intelligence, articulation, drive, determination, passion, strength of character, chastity, devotion and piety; all reasons why I too, like many revere and admire the French peasant girl.   Jehanne never faltered in her declaration that she was chosen to serve a purpose for God.  And religious or not, mankind feels a need to have purpose.  It is the need that drives middle-aged men to insanity when they experience a “mid-life crisis” and the thing that fuel’s women’s need to bear children in their mid to late twenties.  Human kind has a psychological need for importance.  It is explained in Freud’s Id and Ego, and is evident in our self-satisfaction at accomplishment.  Jehanne is the epitome of that fulfillment.  That peasant girl from a small farming village singularly bared the purpose of uniting a people torn apart by war and dissention.  Through still argued means, she made predictions and fulfilled the prophecies of others to do that, uniting France and predicting the end of The Hundred years War, which would not have been possible without her victory at Orleans.  

Jehanne held firm to her faith, her convictions of character (never willingly breaking her vows of chastity feeling that the distractions of a man and sex would only pull her away from the God that she so devoutly served) and even after coerced into a confession of crimes she had not committed, revoked her confession knowing that it would bring her a long painful death in the flames.  Although she had character flaws, as any person does, she epitomizes the qualities that parents have striven for decades to infuse in their children and because of this she became and remains an inspiration to people worldwide.   Jehanne La Pucelle remains an inspiration to this peasant girl from a small farming town in Pennsylvania.

“Inexplicable as it is, the [Jehanne La Pucelle De Lorraine] story encourages contemplation of ourselves as a species.” - J. Hoberman
While the formatting is probably off, I am posting this essay for two reasons. The first is because this essay actually won me recognition for 'Best of Quarter' at my college...and I'm pretty damn proud of that. I wrote it in December of 2001...so your probably asking why the hell I'm bragging about that now. Well, that's reason number two. On a total fluke while purusing the internet...I can across someone else's essay about Jehanne La Pucelle (Joan of Arc) [link] , and remarkably they had used MY essay, THIS essay as a reference in their bibliography (at the bottom where it says "An Original Essay by Carissa Starr McGill"). The link is broken because I took that site down years ago. So...I'm feeling pretty damn good about it at the moment and....well, damnit...I rarely if ever feel good about anything I create so I feel entitled to show it off for a bit. I'll probably take it down in a week after someone has criticized it and pointed out what an idiot I am...but for now...I'm proud. :P

So, enjoy my essay. The full title is:

With Sword And Conviction She Rides: An Analysis Of Jehanne La Pucelle As A Continuing Figurehead Of Feminism In Popular Culture
________________________________________ _______
And if you know nothing about Joan of Arc, here's a quick bio:

~Saint Jehanne was born on January 6, 1412, in the village of Domremy to Jacques D'Arc and Isabelle Romee. Jehanne was the youngest of their five children. While growing up among the fields and pastures of her village, Jehanne was taught shepherding and weaving. She never learned to read or write with the exception of her name.
~At the age of 13, Jehanne confessed to hearing the voices of Saint Catherine, Saint Michael and St. Margaret.
~At the age of 16, Jehanne adopted the name Jehanne La Pucelle, (or Jehanne the Maiden) and with the support of local people who believed her to be “The Maiden of Lorraine,” a girl prophesied to come and unite France, traveled to Chignon to meet the future King of France Charles the IV. There, Charles backed her, had her sanctioned by the church as a pure maid, (virgin) and found to be pious and devout.
~With armies supplied by Charles, as well as those risen from her own followers, Jehanne accomplished her goal of crowning Charles as King. At the age of 18 she was captured by the English. Jehanne was put on Trial by the Catholic Church and at the age of 19 was burned at the stake for Heresy. Joan's trial of condemnation lasted from February 21st until May 23rd. She was finally burnt at the stake in Rouen's market square on May 30th, 1431.
~Twenty-five years later the findings of Joan's first trial were overturned and declared 'null and void' by another Church court, who this time was favorable to King Charles. It was not until 1920 that the Church of Rome officially declared Joan to be a saint. Her feast day is celebrated on May 30th.


AND IF ANY STUDENTS ARE CONTEMPLATING STEALING THIS FOR AN ASSIGNMENT....DON'T. THIS IS COPYRIGHTED....and I didn't include a source page, so good luck figuring that out f*ckers.
© 2007 - 2024 kahl
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jumpingbean's avatar
I really enjoyed this essay. I saw CBS’ mini-series Joan of Arc and was fascinated with her story. :heart: