Discourses Of The Self: Joan Of Arc

Likewise, Christine’s same-sex double with Joan is also found in the similar manner with which they grew up and overcome different types of adversity. de Pisan’s education is not extensive; however, she has the ability, through her literature, to break through the public/private limitations and implement what she does know, to address her interest in matters discussing the status of women, morality, politics, and society (Nowacka 93). In comparison, Joan successfully manages to turn her life of poverty, struggles within her socioeconomic class, and problems with her gender (“Joan of Arc” 31). The difficult challenges Joan faces in her early life lay a foundation to develop her strength and determination. Likewise, to combat her limitations,

In the chapter by Brownlee et al., titled, “Discourses of the Self: Christine de Pizan and the Romance of the Rose,” they write, “Her identity as a woman inevitably problematized her status as an ‘official’ speaking subject in all of these generic contexts” (234). Although her gender is detrimental to being taken seriously in a literary world, it does not prohibit her from speaking out against her beliefs. Nowacka refers to a statement made by E. Benkor, “…that if Christine had been a man ‘he’ would have been considered the single most important literary figure of the early fifteenth century” (81). This piggy-backs on the societal beliefs that Joan of Arc should not fight in a man’s war due to the fact that she is a female. Likewise, Barstow notes that Joan on, “…the other side of her story is the example she gave of a woman using inner experience to establish her authority in the world of men” (42). Joan of Arc and Christine de Pisan both break societal gender expectations by expressing themselves in a way that is deemed inappropriate. Therefore, the two women have a same-sex double bond that allows them to live separate but parallel