 Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Table of Contents Act I, Scene II Summary Charles, the Dauphin of France, is positioned along with his noblemen near Orleans. They are discussing their recent victories against the English and decide to seize Orleans. The English, under the command the Earl of Salisbury beat them back. The Bastard of Orleans brings Joan La Pucelle to meet the Dauphin. She succeeds in convincing him that she is divinely inspired to drive the English out of France. Charles consents, under her guidance and with her help, to fight the English and recover Orleans for the French. Notes In this scene, the French noblemen, the Dauphin and Charles make their first appearance. They are reveling in the glow of their recent victories against the English. The Dauphin attributes this change of events to the planet Mars. He remarks that it has transferred its influence from the English army to the French. Mars is the planet that governs war and warriors, the reference to it once again brings up the superstitious theme that is found in the first scene. Encouraged by their good fortune and the capture of Talbot, they attack Orleans, feeling assured of success. They are defeated and discouraged and the scene loses the fervor with which it began. It comes to life again with the entry of Joan La Pucelle. She is one of the play’s key characters and the embodiment of French hope and courage. This scene performs the task of introducing her to the audience: she is a shepherd’s daughter, blessed with divine inspiration ordained to "be the English scourge." The shift in the Mood of the Frenchmen is clear; they are once again resolved to defeat the English. So, the entry of Joan in the play marks a shift in the direction of positive action taken by the French. There is a strain of crude comedy running through this scene: the rhetorical apparatus is used to expose the comic underside of Joan’s character, namely, her base origins. It is formulated explicitly when Joan tells Charles that if he tries her in "combat" he will find she exceeds her sex. It is given a touch of sublimity in Charles, Bright star of Venus fallen down on the earth." The sense of physical energy elevated to moral purity is totally reversed by this bawdy punning. This scene comes directly after the gathering of English noblemen at Henry V’s funeral. Already, in that scene the hostility and selfish ambition among the English noblemen is clear. Therefore, this scene highlighting the trench resolve to win provides a sharp contrast required emphasizing the theme of England’s lack of unity. Moreover, Joan provides a new hope that gives unity to the French counter action against the English and the scene ends on an upbeat note with the French ready to do battle again. Table of Contents | |
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