Mary Gordon's The Trial Of Joan Anouilh

Joan of Arc is arguably one of the most studied and respected historical figures of the Middle Ages. She was a mystery to the theologians and scholars of her time, and she remains as such to this day. Mary Gordon, author of Joan of Arc, Jean Anouilh’s play The Lark, and the transcripts from “The Trial of Joan of Arc” strive to dissect Joan’s true character. The generalized purposes of all three of these works are essentially the same: to tell the story of Joan of Arc. However, each portrays their own version of who Joan really was during her success and ultimate fall. Joan of Arc lived out many identities during her short lifetime: warrior, saint, daughter, and countless others. However, above all, she was a woman during a time period where women still were thought of as nothing more than property. Each of the previously listed retellings of Joan’s life attempt to portray Joan as a strong willed woman who defied the common notions of what it meant to be a woman, However, The Trial of Joan of Arc does the best in describing who …show more content…
Anouilh writes about Joan in a similar fashion especially in the ways she responds to the Inquisitor and the other men in the trial for example when she states, “But if God didn’t mean me to be proud, why did He send an Archangel to see me” (Anouilh, 5). Anouilh beautifully embodies Joan’s refusal to conform to the common stereotypes expected of women in medieval France towards the end of the play. Before she retracts her admission of guilt Joan states, “And that is Joan, and no other one. Certainly not one sitting placid in her convent, pasty-faced and going to pieces in comfort” (Anouilh, 31). However, Anouilh betrays the courageous and confident nature of Joan by portraying her as a reluctant and timid girl who used her femininity in order to secure what she