Reading the Play: Notes from Brittany

Considering Religion:
 - the voices, as they begin to fade, representative of the old religion fading as well?
 - questioning the influence of the old and new religions on Jehanne (who, how)
    - ie: mother's resistance to allowing Jehanne to speak the "Our Father"
- a question of sex? patriarchy vs. matriarchy...

*could be 3 or more religions at play here... why significant to consider more than old vs. new?

*Jehanne's sin has always been pride


*Power Relations:... the church deciding whats holy and what is not (the conversation Jehanne has with the Priest during confession regarding how you know whether you're a saint...)

Jehanne's Agency:
 - Very obedient girl at first... always answering "yes" even when it seems inappropriate to do so
 - eventually she is no longer so "obedient", beginning to say no, becoming more powerful and even rude

*HOWEVER, is this agency? Or mere obedience to the voices, esp. Catherine as she takes over her body?

*She is constructed as a puppet - her agency is not really hers at all (according to Gilles)
 - And is Catherine REALLY inside Jehanne? Very difficult question since this all comes from Gilles.

**this leads to questions surrounding consumption - Jehanne CONSUMING these saints.... question of what she ACTUALLY eats - refers back to a popular practice by Catherine of Sienna who fasted to be closer to God, eating only a spoonful of herbs a day and if she ate anything she'd purge, sticking twigs down her throat. Many pios women died from this but very popular, emptying yourself up to be a cavity for the holy spirit to enter you (sexual connotation in my opinion... interesting stuff)

Gender Relations:
 - relating back to religion as well.. much less from Michael in Act II, more about what the female saints can deal with than the male saint.... but then at the end of the play Jehanne reveals that all of the voices were women so this is also complicated

*Francois - can really channel Jehanne - a method actor
 - is he the angel spoken of by Gilles and the first priest in the text?
 - how does Gilles feel about him? Is he the best Jehanne?


The first full cast scene is 1.8, the last is 2.8 (interesting to me)