Joan of Arc – a young French martyr – was one of the most controversial figures of her time. She remains equally controversial today. Hated by the English, who saw her as a heretic and a military rival, she became a hero to the French, whom she led from a state of perpetual defeat into military victory during the 100 Year War. Though many today, focus on her masculine dress and claims of divine inspiration, the most remarkable aspect of her life and career is that, although she had no military training, she was more successful in battle than France’s genuine military leaders had been for years.
Joan of Arc was hated and despised by the English. James A. Freeman notes that Shakespeare described her in a derogatory way saying, “Pucelle or puzzel, dolphin or dogfish, Your hearts I’ll stamp out with my horse’s heels.” “Pucelle”, says Freeman was Joan of Arc’s chosen title. It meant “maiden”. “Puzzel”, meanwhile, he says, was the “Elizabethan low term for a whore.”
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Joan of Arc Analysis".
Today, it is not Joan of Arc’s maidenhood that causes controversy. Now, her mental stability and sexual inclinations receive more attention. Joan of Arc’s claims to have been guided by the voices of the angel Michael and other saints seem peculiar to many today. Some have suggested that her visions were signs of schizophrenia, psychopathy or tuberculosis. In her day, however, her claims seemed less controversial. Religious inspiration guided many. According to Susan Teifenbrun, “The official records of her infamous trial in 1431 reveal peculiar traits of the medieval legal system and of the women who lived in an era when religion was a major preoccupation of the people and a significant influence in the courts.” The idea that saints might guide a woman’s path, then, was not as unorthodox during Joan of Arc’s time as it might seem today.
What is remarkable about Joan of Arc is her rise from farm girl to military leader. According to R H Ratnasuriya, Joan of Arc was born in 1412 to parents who were “simple farm labourers”. Ratnasuriya says that her early teaching was thought to have been “rough” as “harsh” and that she received “no formal teaching”. She did learn basic household skills from her mother and also helped her family tend to their cattle.
According to Ratnasuriya, “Joan of Arc’s behavior in her teens was quite exceptional for a female living during this period. She raised a siege, won a battle and tried to help the Dauphin of France regain lost territory from the English and the Burgundians.” Freeman, similarly, observes that Joan “experienced military, spiritual, and social triumphs that energized France to resist the English invaders.” He notes that her strength empowered her to persuade the Dauphin to grant her control of troops and to “end the siege of Orle´ans, free other cities, survive wounds, and finally witness the coronation of Charles VII at Rheims on 17 July 1429.”
Joan of Arc is a beloved figure in France, not only because she led the nation to limited victory, but also because political leaders of different parties used her as a symbol. According to Minerva Pinto of Haverford College, Joan of Arc was celebrated both by Philippe Petain’s “staunchly Catholic, authoritarian, collaborationist” agenda and by Charles de Gaulle’s “Republican, anti-clerical, nationalist platform.” Her career and life, while surprisingly successful and action-packed, were cut short when she was captured by English allies from Burgundy. They turned her over to the English, who sentenced her to death at the stake. According to Robert Wirth, “The stated legal justification for Joan of Arc’s conviction and execution on 30 May 1431 was her resumption of male clothing on the 28th.” According to Wirth, the reasoning of Joan’s judges was that she had behaved sinfully by wearing men’s clothing. Some of today’s scholars, says Wirth, have suggested that perhaps Joan was “motivated by transgender feelings or other such identity issues.”
Wirth dismisses this idea, however. He writes that witnesses at Joan’s trial testified that she wore men’s clothing for protection, and that, towards the end of her life, she had worn it because it was the only way she could prevent herself from being raped by her English guards. When her dress is looked at as a means – perhaps her only means – of protection, her adoption of male attire seems unremarkable and even reasonable.
More remarkable is her military legacy and political triumph. While some military leaders are quickly forgotten after they die, Joan’s death did not quench France’s love for her. Indeed, she would become a celebrated figure throughout the world. Freeman writes that “Throughout the nineteenth century in North America alone, school graduation speeches, sermons and declamations at literary societies from Boston through St. Louis to Portland, Oregon, inspired audiences with her story.” Freeman also observes that Joan became a hero to female fighters. Freeman observes that she inspired women such as Gabriela Silang of the Philippines and Josephine Rizal, who led rebellions against Spain after their husbands died.
Joan of Arc was a courageous young woman, who managed to restore French confidence in the 100 Years War. Although her background was modest, she became a hero to France by piously following what she believed were divine commands and leading France to victory over the British in at least one battle. Today, she remains a hero and an inspiration – not only to France but to men and especially women across the globe.
