Essay_on_Poo

Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan recalls the legend of a young girl who leads her nation to improbable victory. Joan was a peasant, who at age thirteen claimed to have heard heavenly voices telling her what to do. She convinces the Dauphin of France that she is a messenger from god and helps lead the almost morally and physically defeated French army to drive the English out of France. Her remarkable clairvoyance to foresee future events and for things to fall magically in place at least at the beginning of her career, compels one to believe in her saintly powers or in her connection with a higher being. These abilities made her a hero to the French people, but not to those French individuals in power whom she over shone. For the English especially, who were losing a war to her, Joan’s so called “saintly powers” provided every excuse for them to try her before a court of law on charges of heresy, and witchcraft. Indeed, they exercised every manipulative tool to bring her to an unjust death for the mere act of heroism and inspiration. Joan of Arc was of great inspiration to the French. They were loosing horribly to the English, and needed something to believe in. Joan came along and gave inspiration and a sense of national identity to the French people. This eventually led to the French forces liberating Orleans from English siege. The English, who were not used to loosing, would not stand for this. Joan was the reason that the tide of battle had been turned, and the French were now winning. So the English come along and trump up charges of witchcraft, and heresy just as an excuse to get their hands on her. Joan was unjustly killed for many reasons, the main being political. She successfully led the French to fight against the English, and was condemned because of it. She was publically accused of being a heretic so the English could destroy her public image. The English believed that if they were to rid the world of Joan in a manner that disgraced her name, then they would be able to resume winning the war against France. Joan was the only thing standing in between the English winning the war with France, and so the English through an act of desperation were seeking to kill her. The Catholic Church put Joan of Arc on trial and found her guilty of heresy and then turned her over to civil authorities for execution. The English were the ones who paid for the trial and selected clergy, and judges loyal to them so ultimately they were the ones responsible for her death. This made the judges unfit to sit in Joan’s trial. They were pro-English, and had no reason to allow Joan to live. Joan’s condemnation was unjust because the French and church had no say in her trial. Joan was supposed to be tried through the church, not England. Instead the English took over the trial, and made sure that she was condemned to death. The English had every reason to kill her, and corrupted the trial in order to do so. Had Joan been let free, chances are she and the French would have won a decisive victory against the English. The English would never let her free, no matter if she was convicted or not. During the grossly corrupted trial, the English broke several laws. Even if Joan had been set free by the Church, the English would still have continued to hold her prisoner. When Joan asked to be taken before the Pope of Rome, the English denied her demand. Joan had a legal right to be brought before the Pope if she so wished. The members of the court were not allowed to give their honest opinions. They were suppressed by the English, and if they continued to be a problem they would be arrested. During her capture, the English guards ordered her to stay naked or put her clothes on. The only clothes she had were men’s clothes, and war attire. By putting the clothes on the English had just forced the charge of cross-dressing against her. The English were so blinded by their hatred for Joan, that they did not even allow her to access her legal rights. Joan’s trial was re-visited about 20 years later. This re-trial was also known as a nullification trial. The aim of the trial was to investigate whether the trial of Joan’s condemnation and its verdict had been justly handled. The Joan as a martyr, and implicated the late Pierre Cauchon with heresy for having convicted an innocent woman in pursuit of a secular vendetta. The church itself realized that Joan’s trial was completely unjust, and biased. The pope authorized the re-trial, and the nullification trial declared her innocent, and labeled her. The fact that the Church realized twenty years later that Joan’s trial might have been unjust gives more insight into the fact that the English just wanted to kill her out of pure hatred. For the English, Joan’s so called “saintly powers” provided every excuse for them to try her before a court of law on charges of heresy, and witchcraft. Bias in the condemnation of Saint Joan By Aldo Katragjini Teacher: Mr. Butts Course code: ENG4U1 Date: December 6th 2010