 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 III, Scene III Summary The French noblemen appeal to Joan to devise a way to turn the tables on their English foe. She says that this can be done if they can convince Burgundy to leave the English and join their side. She eloquently appeals to the patriotism of the French born Burgundy and convinces him to support the French. Notes The loss of Rouen has hit the French hand and the scene starts with the pragmatic Joan advising the French noblemen that Talbot’s victory is temporary. Totally dispirited by their defeat and at a loss about what to do they turn en masse to Joan. They use blatant flattery to try and coax her to come up with a winning scheme. Her scheme of winning Burgundy over to their side does not seem realistic to the three Frenchmen. But Joan is not daunted and uses her eloquence to appeal to Burgundy’s patriotism. She convinces him that the English would never do him justice if they gain total control of France. Burgundy is like clay in her hands and joins hands with the French. Although Joan is shown in a grotesquely unfavorable light in most of the play, occasionally there are moments of greater depth. This is clear in the eloquent tone of the lament, which she utters over her country’s ruin. Her eloquence is strongly flavored by idealism, her mind is never dimmed by mere emotions, not matter how elevated. This is revealed in her words, said in an aside, "Done like a Frenchman: turn and turn again." Unlike the other Frenchmen she is not swept away by emotion when Burgundy agrees to support them. Her mind is crystal clear, and she is slightly contemptuous of her fellow Frenchmen is desertion of the English. Even though she is committed to the cause of France’s victory she is not blind to the flaws of her fellow countrymen. She is a realist; she does what she has to do to win but doesn’t glorify herself, France or the French. Table of Contents | |
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