Womanhood, Liminality, and Christian Iconography: Augusta Webster’s “Jeanne D’Arc”
Womanhood, Liminality, and Christian Iconography: Augusta Webster’s “Jeanne D’Arc”

Summary/Abstract: Joan of Arc has been a figure of contradictions: initially a lowly maid, she remains one of the most significant individuals in French history. In the context of nineteenth-century literature, Joan of Arc attracted much attention from English poets by becoming a character who transcended the boundaries of time, place, and gender. The present article explores how in her dramatic monologue “Jeanne D’Arc” (1866) Augusta Webster (1837–1894) reinterprets the image of Joan of Arc to illustrate a complex interplay between women’s submission and emancipation. A close reading of the text, supported by the anthropological notions of liminal space as well as Christian iconography, shows how Webster perceptively addresses women’s experiences of isolation, self-assertion, and selfsacrifice. On the whole, her nineteenth-century reinterpretation of Joan of Arc exemplifies the creative use of Christian and, specifically, Catholic motifs to discuss issues relevant to the Victorian audience.

• Details
• Contents