Joan Of Arc Motivation

From the moment she first caught the imagination of her people in war-torn France, Joan of Arc has been the subject of many controversies. Was she a visionary or a witch? Did she seek personal fame, or was her concern only for the king and country? Did she really hear voices, or did she just make it all up for attention and fulfillment of her selfish motives? And if she did hear voices, was she delusional? Or could it be that she was truly touched by God?
At our great distance of half a millennium, we may not be competent enough to offer definitive answers for these questions. Each of us who confronts the facts about this extraordinary young woman may choose what to believe about her motivations, her mission, and her sanctity. As we live in the most technologically innovative, scientifically advanced century in mankind's history, it becomes more difficult …show more content…
She was a military leader. But a military leader of what kind? Whether Joan’s leadership role was that of a motivational mascot or a true battle commander or something in between, whether she was driven by her own will and genius or was in fact guided by some force beyond material explanation is yet to be answered. If for a moment one set aside voices from God one cannot then fathom how an illiterate seventeen-year-old peasant girl with no military training lead an army that had known nothing but humiliation and defeat to sudden, repeated, and decisive victories? As Katherine Anne Porter wrote in her foreword to Regine Pernoud’s, ‘The retrial of Joan of Arc’, "She is unique, and a mystery, and as you read about her and think about her life, you are led up to a threshold beyond which she eludes you, you cannot cross it". One thing shall always remain clear- that Joan was exactly what she had to be to bring her people