Joan of Arc

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A 10 page research paper that offers an overview of the life of Joan of Arc, a simple sixteen-year-old peasant French peasant girl who could neither read nor write, but who managed to inspire and lead the French army to victory in a long protracted fifteenth century war with the English, continues to fascinate writers and audiences. This is principally due to the fact that Joan’s story contains so many incongruities and questions. Originally, she was condemned as a heretic, but was later canonized as a saint. Her exploits occurred during a time of extreme class and gender prejudice, but Joan was not only a peasant but also a woman. The very act of wearing men’s clothes was sufficient at that time to be used as a rationalization for heresy and this contributed to Joan’s sentence of death, even though she assumed this clothing in order to protect her modesty and chastity. This examination of Joan of Arc looks first at what is known in the historical record pertaining to her life and the influence that Joan’s legend has had various writers. Bibliography lists 4 sources.