Political Importance of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc was a transvestite myst
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Joan of Arc was a mystic who crossed gender and class lines to help achieve the military-political goals that, as she claimed, the voices of angels and saints had urged her to undertake. Despite her subsequent condemnation and execution, Joan remains one of the most fascinating figures in history because she accomplished so much, while defying most of the rules defining women's roles. The effects of her intervention were immediate and permanent. The siege of Orleans was raised, Charles VII was crowned king of France, the legitimacy of his line was accepted, and the notion of the French kings as rulers by divine right was firmly established. Then, within a few years of Joan's death, the English were finally driven out of France. These things were achieved by a peasant girl who was directed by visions to act as if she were a male aristocrat. To achieve so much while behaving in such an anomalous fashion seems contradictory. But, rather than being obstacles for her to overcome, Joan's behaviors were the specific means by which she was fitted for her historic role. Taken as a whole, the combination of visionary claims, transvestism, resolute virginity, intense piety, and Joan's own character gave her mission greater credibility than would have been the case if any of these elements were lacking. Her self-presentation attested, for some, to her disinterest and, for others, to the divine, and miraculous, nature of her mission. An analysis of the functions o
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uming women's clothes again. They had not worried themselves very much about trying to prove that Joan's voices had been delusions or hallucinations (Gies 24). Their own belief in such mystical visions was strong. Instead, they attempted to prove that the source of her voices was demonic rather than divine. She was, they claimed, a witch and a heretic. It was believed that copulation with the devil was "a prerequisite for a witch," and, therefore, it was necessary to disprove her claim of chastity (Lynn 152).
But Joan had not made the choice of chastity in order to escape charges of witchcraft. Her decision had both social and religious aspects. Socially, avowed virginity took a woman out of the traditional order. Such withdrawals were usually practiced by entering a convent. But, in refusing to participate in the chain of "woman = reproducer = object = chattel," any virgin "placed herself out of reach of society's laws governing women" (Lynn 152). In this sense, virginity was a practical necessity. Joan could never have followed the directions of her voices had she been subject to a husband, as Medieval women were believed to be. Nor could the mother of young children easily take herself away from them to lead an ar
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Approximate Word count = 4528
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)
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