Written by Karen Woods, November 2000
Last Revision: 2000 December 6
Copyright © MM Dr. Pavlac's Women's History Site
Joan of Arc
by: Mary Gordon
Joan of Arc is one the most distinguished women in history, not only for
her miracles but also for her mysterious ways.
Joan is looked at in many different ways, including a peasant girl who
could not read or write; a heroine who led the French Army and at times was
successful; and lastly, as a saint for the miracles that she performed.
Mary Gordon brings all these aspects of Joan's life into one work titled Joan
of Arc. In this book, Gordon
examines Joan's life by looking at the time in which she lived first, then
continuing to her life in the French army, and her triumphs and defeats, Joan's
trial and death, and lastly her sainthood.
Gordon is a professor of English at Barnard College and is the
best-selling author of five novels, three collections of short stories, and a
memoir.
Mary Gordon sets the stage for her book by describing the state of life
during the time of Joan of Arc’s life. She
briefly writes about the condition that the state was in due to the Hundred
Years War, and also the circumstance of the Church.
Gordon then speaks about Joan herself.
Joan of Arc was a peasant girl who was brought up at a very harsh time in
European history, the Hundred Years War. Joan
led a very normal life for a young girl of her stature.
When Joan was seventeen years old she began to hear voices instructing
her to preserve her virginity and also to go to Rheims to crown the dauphin
king, Charles.
As
Joan receives her army, Gordon begins to get very descriptive.
Gordon stresses the importance of the Battle of Orleans and the success
in which Joan secured for the French. As
Joan moves on to Rheims, her devotion to the voices she hears is obvious.
Charles resists her attempt to get him crowned however, Joan tells the
duke, "It is time to go to the gentle king Charles to put him on his road to
his coronation" (Gordon 2000). After
the coronation, her armies began to fail and Joan was captured by the English
and abandoned by her followers. After
eight months in prison Joan was put to trial as a heretic.
Despite the consequences Joan would face, she refused to reject the
voices that had led her to the successful coronation of Charles.
Joan was executed by the secular arm of the English government, although
her trial was ecclesiastical (Gordon 2000).
Joan was burned to death in the town square of Rouen.
In 1869, nearly three hundred and fifty years after her death, the
canonization of Joan began, and she was declared a saint in 1920.
Gordon
writes about Joan in a very detailed manner in that every aspect of her career
was examined and understood. Gordon
portrays Joan of Arc as a human being instead of a historical figure.
She shares with the audience a descriptive account of Joan’s most
significant accomplishments as well as Joan’s hardships she faced by being a
women in power. She questions some
of Joan’s choices she makes, which shows that she is not biased into believing
that Joan was perfect. For example,
Gordon (2000) writes that "her mission to crown the king having been
completed, it was time for her to go home to Domremy.
Had she followed this impulse, she would have experienced only success
and might have died in bed, a logical legend."
She also gives a realistic point of view to the relationships that Joan
had. For example, Joan and Charles
had different goals and this often caused tension between them. Gordon also brings in other popular sources into her work
including Vita Sackville-West, Edward Lucie-Smith, and Marina Warner.
Gordon also devotes a section of her book to discuss movies made about
Joan, such as Otto Preminger’s Joan of Arc, and Victor Fleming’s 1948
version of Joan of Arc.
There
are many reviews of this book, all of which are positive.
"Gordon conjures up the mind-set of the period in a way that makes this
legendary tale credible to us today" (Cunneen 2000).
In this sense, Gordon uses the first chapter of her book to review the
situation in Europe during the time of Joan’s life.
This sets the stage for what is to come instead of throwing the audience
into the middle of the Hundred Year War.
Gordon
also portrays Joan her whole life, first as a peasant girl to a teenage girl who
was determined to follow the voices from God and perform miracles.
Michele Roberts (2000) writes that she has produced a sympathetic and
personally inflected account that emphasizes her heroine’s youth, her shining
sincerity, her cockiness and her capacity for making mistakes.
Gordon does not hesitate to criticize Joan for the mistakes that she made
nor does she oversimplify the triumphs in which Joan earned.
Gordon is very fair in the way she writes about Joan.
She does not stress only the good aspects of Joan’s career and not only
the Joan’s faults. She integrates
both ends of Joan’s life into one work.
Cunneen
(2000) also writes that Gordon brings us into the tale by asking and answering
the questions we all might raise. Gordon
writes in a very mature manner, assuming that most have a common knowledge about
Joan. She avoids the irrelevant
details of Joan’s life, such as her childhood, in order to make room for the
important aspects of her life, such as her adolescent years.
Gordon does not bore the audience with repetitive facts, but instead
intrigues the audience with a unique point of view on the life of this heroine.
This
book is very useful in investigating the life a girl who was burned at the stake
for following the voices she heard because of her strong faith in God.
She was very successful at times and also failed at times.
In this work, Gordon portrays both of these aspects of Joan’s life.
She gives much detail to the important parts of Joan’s life and steers
clear of repetitive facts about her. She
is very clear in the writing and focus on all aspects of Joan’s career, not
just her achievements. This book is
very informative about the life of a peasant girl who rose above many hardships
and died in honor of her faith. This
book is recommended to anyone looking to expand his or her knowledge of Joan of
Arc.
Annotated Bibliography
Cunneen, Sally. Joan of Arc. Christian Century. 24 May 2000. Vol 117 Issue 17. p 61
This book review is very positive towards Gordon’s work. This review mainly contains a summary of the book with very few comments on the substance or make up of the book. When Cunneen does refer to Gordon, she quotes the book. This article is a good source if looking for a mild review and a large summary.
Roberts,
Michele. Joan of Arc. New Statesman. 8 may 2000. Vol 129 issue 4485. p 50
This
book review contains a very short summary of the book being reviewed.
It concentrates solely on Gordon’s portrayal of Joan of Arc, and the
sources she used. It also explores
the time period at which the book was written about.
This review also contain comments about other books on Joan.
This source is useful in comparing Gordon’s book with other books on
Joan.
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URL: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/reviewgordon1.html Written by Karen Woods, November 2000 Last Revision: 2000 December 6 Copyright © MM Dr. Pavlac's Women's History Site
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