Joan of Arc?

Question

Alright, so I'm writing a paper, and you Yahoo! people are so smart... I wanted to bounce some ideas off of you.
So if you would be so kind, please argue with, or agree with and elaborate on the following claim:

The traits that caused Joan of Arc to become so powerful, overconfidence, femininity, and an overpowering belief in her God, were the same characteristics that led her to be captured and eventually killed.

You would be so helpful... thanks!!

Answer 1

Depends on if you think she did it all by herself or not.

I think she got her fame because she was in the right place at the right time with the right people. Support of an ambitious king, and an oppressed country with a righteous call was powerful moral boost.

But the turn of events -- politics -- was beyond her lack of plan, nor control and her support quickly ran out on her. So there she was in the pit, tided to a pole and getting toasted.

One has to remember that the English men were not going to stand by and let France slip out of their control and they found the weakness in her -- being a women in a male dominant society. Also it was a church that was not going to let her have her way neither. Those were tough odds to beat considering how powerful both the English and the church were at that time.

It was a close parallel to the William Wallace story for the Scottish revolt in that Wallace was a better politician than Joan of Arc.

Answer 2

Look at the female species of Lions, Tigers, and such animals that become enraged when challenged.
The story tells of a woman who discovered that being a female does not include any weakness for just being a female. The rest of the things was what any courageous person would do though a male even, and the consequences , like getting captured and killed are part of the game, and can happen either way, based on situation and support.

Answer 3

I will give you that her faith lead her to be known and to be killed but as for overconfidence, that is like saying faith again, and feminity had little to do with her achieving power, in fact it counted against her.

The things that counted most for her were her youth, making her actions seem excusible, her faith, making her actions seem divine, and the monarchy, that chose to use her as a lightning rod to gather the troops behind thinking this was a holy quest.

Of those things only the monarchy failed to support her in her hour of need, allowing her to be tried and burned at the stake like some kind of a witch.

There is not much of a paper here to be had.

Maybe you should compare her to Martin Luther King and see if that gives you a better paper. The question should be did the devotion to their faith actual keep them from being killed sooner than they might have been otherwise and allow them to say things that they might not have been otherwise allowed to say.

Answer 4

Born: 1412
Birthplace: Domrémy, France
Died: 30 May 1431 (burned at the stake)
Best Known As: The French heroine who was burned at the stake

Also known as The Maid of Orléans; in French, Jeanne D'Arc

A hero of the Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc remains a French national hero six centuries later. As a teenager she heard voices from on high urging her to save France from English domination. Despite being a young woman, she was placed at the head of an army; she attacked the English and forced them to retreat from Orléans. Later she was captured by the English, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake. In 1920 she was canonized by the Catholic Church.

Answer 5

the relationship of Joan of Arc and Goddess worshipping become a Murrayism. i'm dissatisfied the background channel could use it. She become a Christian. Very Christian. maximum Pagans on the instant could in all probability have chanced on her greater like Falwell and Robertson than any Pagan discern...

Answer 6

Please erase "so powerful, overconfidence, feminity, and an overpowering belief in God" from your statement....and instead use "determination, faith, belief in herself, and desire to faught for cause" and surely you will have you paper before you. Her eventually getting killed only proves that fact that the world is man-oriented.

Answer 7

Well, I would have argued with your claim if somebody much more clever than me had not beat me to it. I earnestly recommend you to read George Bernard Shaw's preface to his play "Saint Joan". It is a bit long, but it is entertaining and deep, one of the best essays I've ever read. It is divided into chapters with titles, so you can easily find what interests you.

Answer 8

I agree with you but I guess we could add delusion also. She was willing to die because 1. she believed strongly in her god and her righteousness or 2. she was delusional.

In any case she was strong, she was powerful she accomplished a lot merely on acting on what she believed, never second guessing herself. She died for what she believed. A valuable lesson for us today.

Answer 9

I am scared of papers. They are too elaborate and boring.

Answer 10

Classic example of our strengths being our weaknesses and ultimately our downfalls.