Saint JoanJoin now to read essay Saint JoanSaint Joan, by Bernard Shaw represents a women’s right to pursue a career and any lifestyle that she chooses. Within the play, Saint Joan does not confine herself to the boundaries of a traditional woman’s role, in a time when it is uncommon for women to be unconventional. She does not think of herself as someone challenging conservative boundaries, she only wishes to follow her voices’ instructions in a practical way. Saint Joan does not hesitate to speak in a public arena or to act independently, in doing so she asserts women’s rights. She pursues her individual path so that she may follow the word of God, not to change how people view women.
[…]
Saint Joan, by David H. Anderson, is a classic feminist playwright. Born in Berlin in 1858, she is an English Catholic who became a practicing Catholic in 1920. During the 19th century she wrote a number of feminist plays and worked to change attitudes toward women. Her first public contribution was a statement by a woman in an English women’s magazine on her life in 1937 calling for “change of the ways in which we live our lives” and calling for women to engage with “their own stories and their own desires, their own desires and needs” rather than those of others.
[…]
Saint Joan is a beautiful example of modern feminist literature. It was produced by women in Berlin with great success, and was a groundbreaking work in the context of the social and political climate of 1945-1975. The great work of a woman in this genre is the work which has become known as a “fascinated and beloved novel”; a novel that gives us a better description of a woman’s life than does a novel about a man, that gives us a better perspective on both men and women and gives us a clearer understanding of our own experience, character and way of being, all of which help explain to us the power of men throughout history and that means that we should be careful to focus our attention upon what we do not know: what others do, not what they do, and how we define what we do not know.
Saint Joan, by Isabelle Smith, is a feminist novel. It is published by The Village Voice, a non-profit, nonprofit, non-profit independent cultural publication, in support of the film (directed by Jane Jacobs), “Husband and Wife,” and is adapted from the first season of the television program She’s A Fool and is published on November 4, 2017.
[…]
For more information, please select from the following categories;
*Fascist Women
*Unitarian Gender
*Feminist Women
•Pagan Women
•Unitarian Women
*Male Sexuality
© 1991-2018 Feminist Studies Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
All Rights Reserved.
© 2011-2015 Feminist Studies Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Feminist Studies Group was created on January 15, 2012. We specialize in writing fiction that reflects the values of feminism and to bring you news, news stories and opinions that we believe to be feminist.
If you found the article of interest here useful, we invite you to comment in this article.
[…]
Saint Joan, by David H. Anderson, is a classic feminist playwright. Born in Berlin in 1858, she is an English Catholic who became a practicing Catholic in 1920. During the 19th century she wrote a number of feminist plays and worked to change attitudes toward women. Her first public contribution was a statement by a woman in an English women’s magazine on her life in 1937 calling for “change of the ways in which we live our lives” and calling for women to engage with “their own stories and their own desires, their own desires and needs” rather than those of others.
[…]
Saint Joan is a beautiful example of modern feminist literature. It was produced by women in Berlin with great success, and was a groundbreaking work in the context of the social and political climate of 1945-1975. The great work of a woman in this genre is the work which has become known as a “fascinated and beloved novel”; a novel that gives us a better description of a woman’s life than does a novel about a man, that gives us a better perspective on both men and women and gives us a clearer understanding of our own experience, character and way of being, all of which help explain to us the power of men throughout history and that means that we should be careful to focus our attention upon what we do not know: what others do, not what they do, and how we define what we do not know.
Saint Joan, by Isabelle Smith, is a feminist novel. It is published by The Village Voice, a non-profit, nonprofit, non-profit independent cultural publication, in support of the film (directed by Jane Jacobs), “Husband and Wife,” and is adapted from the first season of the television program She’s A Fool and is published on November 4, 2017.
[…]
For more information, please select from the following categories;
*Fascist Women
*Unitarian Gender
*Feminist Women
•Pagan Women
•Unitarian Women
*Male Sexuality
© 1991-2018 Feminist Studies Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
All Rights Reserved.
© 2011-2015 Feminist Studies Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Feminist Studies Group was created on January 15, 2012. We specialize in writing fiction that reflects the values of feminism and to bring you news, news stories and opinions that we believe to be feminist.
If you found the article of interest here useful, we invite you to comment in this article.
There is evidence that Joan is not a typical woman of the time: the Duchess and the ladies of the court laughing at Joan’s hair and her clothes in the Dauphin’s court illustrate this point (Shaw 81). Joan wears men’s clothing only out of practicality, rather than as a statement of women’s right to dress as they please. The other women’s ridicule does not upset Joan, she responds by explaining frankly, “I wear it like this because I am a solider….” (Shaw 81) It does not embarrass Joan to dress in men’s clothing; she finds it practical in the life that she has chosen.
During the trial, the Inquisitor demands that Joan “… put off that impudent attire and dress as becomes [her] sex?” (Shaw 137). Joan responds with very sensible reasons for why she dresses in men’s clothing: “I was a soldier living among soldiers. I am a prisoner guarded by soldiers. If I were to dress as a woman, they would think of me as a woman: and then what would become of me? If I dress as a soldier they think of me as a soldier, and I can live with them as I do at home with my brothers“ (Shaw 138). Saint Joan could not go to the battlefield in petticoats, it would not only be very cumbersome, but it would also put her at a great disadvantage with her enemies as well as her comrades. She would not be able to command with gender being an issue, in particular upon the battlefield. Furthermore, when Joan dresses in male clothing, it allows her to gain entrance into the male society that she is trying to access. In addition, it aids her in gaining acceptance by those she comes to help and thus for them to take her seriously. Therefore, Joan is perceived as a woman and not as a solider.
As mentioned previously, this becomes a disadvantage when she is on trial and it is one of the main charges brought against her. Consequently, it is also one of the reasons the church targets Joan. They accuse her of rebelling against nature (Shaw 108) because Joan does not adhere to the strict gender guidelines of dress; during the trial D’Estivet calls her “indecent, unnatural and abominable” (Shaw 137). The men and women’s reaction to Joan’s attire demonstrates that she lives in a time where it is uncommon to push the limits of the strict gender guidelines of dress as well as the strict gender guidelines of how one should live their life.
Throughout the play, Joan does not deny that she is a woman. Her intention is to be an individual and not to have the role of a typical woman constrict her individuality. She wishes to follow her own career choice as a solider, not to have her life determined by gender. Joan illustrates this in a conversation with Dunois saying that “I will never take a husband […] I am a soldier: I do not want to be thought of as a woman. I will not dress as a woman. I do not care for the things women care for. They dream of lovers, and of money. I dream of leading a charge, and of placing the big guns” (Shaw 92). This further illustrates that Joan cares about being a solider and a leader and shall not to be confined by her gender. Joan displays various womanly traits throughout the play as well. For example, she forbids swearing, drunkenness and womanizing among her comrades (Shaw 65 112). In addition, during the trial Joan boasts of her skills in spinning and weaving (Shaw 134). The Chaplain then asks Joan why she does not do women’s work if she is so good at it. Joan replies that “there are plenty of other women to do it; but there is nobody to do my work” (Shaw 134). Given these facts, it is obvious Joan is not denying her womanhood; she is living her life as an individual.
Joan follows her own unique path in living her life. She does not allow the gender guidelines of her time to interfere with her mission. Furthermore, she is not concerned with how the church and the feudal nobility view her. Joan is only concerned with what God wishes her to do. Joan believes that God instructs her through the voices of the saints. She does not believe that the church holds more authority than the direct instructions she receives from God. Thus, Joan threatens the authority of the church because she