American Civilization: Film Comparison
(Historic Characters Joan of Arc vs. Anne Hutchinson)
Joan of Arc being burned at the stake, in the Old Market Square of Rouen, France, for allegedly committing heresy and witchcraft, age 19 in the year 1431. She simply wanted the Dauphin to be sacredly anointed as King of France by way of the Church--and she fought in battle for such a feat. She was punished dearly for it.
Anne Hutchinson facing a charge of sedition, before being banished from the Puritan “City upon a Hill” in the New World, in the spring of 1638. She and five of her children later died in Long Island, due to an attack by Native Americans.
“I recognized him by the counsel and revelation of my Voice,” promised teenager Joan of Arc of France regarding her holy encounter. Just over two centuries later, Anne Hutchinson, an English colonist, stated in awe, “Now if you do condemn me for speaking what in my conscience I know to be truth, I must commit myself unto the Lord.”
Joan of Arc speaks during constant national trials and tribulations, in which she seeks Charles the Dauphin in order to unite and liberate France after a long period of war with the English. She performed this deed without the consent of the Catholic Church, which, as the film notes, would cause her much hardship later on.
Likewise, Anne Hutchinson ensured wide-eyed members of the colony that one could secure his/her salvation without any intermediary between oneself and God. This was during a time in which the doctrine of Predestination (knowing before the time of death whether one would be “Elect(ed)” to ascend to the Pearly Gates) was upheld within a small community of Calvinist colonists in Massachusetts. Joan of Arc achieves the same purpose, in that she seems to be the Virgin Savior who would succeed in glorifying France in the midst of civil war and dissolution. Her divine interpretation of words spoken by an angel and Catholic saints allows for a diminutive retinue of identifying persons to assist Joan in her transformation into the representation of a man prepared for battle. Yes, she was chosen by Charles to lead the men onto the battlefield against the English, upon divine prophecy.
So many years later, Anne Hutchinson challenges Governor John Winthrop, a strict follower of his beloved Catholicism-negating doctrine, with commanding (and even arguably “masculine”) authority, swearing that she knew a Truth of which he was deprived. She contested that God told her that “[she was] among the saved.” Actually, she was speaking the language of Puritanism, itself, in that the belief system advocated that one not need an intermediary between oneself and the Lord, unlike that which the Catholic Church (or Church of England) stipulated. Indeed, maybe Joan believed the same of the French Inquisition as this entity indicted her with sorcery and overall dissent from her own devout faith.
These women are quite diverse, in spite of these similarities, however. Joan is a daring French combatant, who outwardly and provocatively refutes previously accepted ways of construing Biblical teachings. Anne, an English colonist in America, and a more modest figure, does not masquerade as a man for the purposes of her personal goals (unlike Joan), but, rather, more quietly counteracts the religious notions of her spiritually restricted people. She does this by congregating members of the community, convincing them (and even ministers like John Eliot, in some small measure) of her righteousness. As does Joan, in that she gathers together French soldiers and sympathizers for the purpose of making Charles the Dauphin the rightful and anointed King of the freedom-fighting country, penetrating English forces, on the path to the cathedral where Charles VII would ascend to rule. Anne, instead, did not possess the intention of bringing her people to confrontation—she simply wished to inform them of the possibility that their beloved “City upon a Hill” could further reach a sacrosanct level of knowledge of their own future in Heaven. In essence, both brave women sought to incur realization of a nation or a community’s true potential for Enlightenment, whether through self-sacrifice or through good deeds.
Indeed, both women were punished for their outspokenness and courage against opposing forces. The Frenchwoman was burned at the stake, and later canonized by the Catholic Church in humble apology for its wrongdoing against her in its former sheer torture and murder. While Anne Hutchinson, the Englishwoman, did not receive such gracious treatment in posthumous date, there may be remorse by current Puritans for her banishment and later death by Indian attack. Doubtlessly, both women raised their Voice to high pitches, in the pursuit of spiritual and collective emancipation from worldly perspectives of a higher state of Being.
The question is, how do these films illustrate the facts and details essential in understanding this unified theme and these diverse periods of history? Ecumenically, they both demonstrate the vim and vigor with which these revolutionaries exercised their respective missions, and provide intricate dates, setting, and artistic portrayals (and even real quotes!) regarding the background of each vital character. Expert historians elucidate as to the absolute significance of each woman’s role in her society, culture, and religion (also Catholic vs. Protestant, ironically). Finally, filmic techniques, such as fading, cuts, and overlaying commentary, all combine to produce two remarkable works. Sincerely, what would American Civilization class be without simulacra, for goodness’s sake! I do not know. Assuredly, an image is worth a 1,000 words, but a film is worth a million more.
By Ellen Marie Drummonds
