Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

Author: Mark Twain

Country or Culture: France

Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE

Genre: Legend

Overview

Although better known for authoring the American classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain considered Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc his greatest literary accomplishment. After having already established himself as a writer with a rather wry and witty personality, Twain thought it best to publish the book under a pseudonym, Sieur Louis de Conte, since the story of Joan of Arc is decidedly not humorous. In fact, Sieur Louis de Conte would be the pseudonym for what was already a pen name; Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc was initially published in 1895, serially printed in Harper’s Magazine under the mysterious pseudonym. It took a while for the public to discover that Personal Recollections had actually been authored by Twain (the initials SLC match both Samuel Langhorne Clemens and Sieur Louis de Conte), a discovery that confused an audience familiar with his fictitious and more humorous literary endeavors. Regardless of the authorship, Personal Recollections was largely received with negative reviews and was defended by only a few, including Twain’s daughter, Clara Clemens, and Twain’s biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine.

Twain, who had reportedly become obsessed with the historical figure of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) after discovering an article about her in a textbook, spent a great deal of time researching for this novel, in which he intended to tell a historically based biography of the legendary woman under a fictitious premise. After Jules Quicherat published her trial records in a five-volume series between 1841 and 1849, a great deal of interest was revived in Joan of Arc. The narrator of Twain’s novel is the invented author of the tale, Sieur Louis de Conte, whom Twain imagines to have been good friends with Joan since childhood. Since de Conte would have recorded the recollections in French, Twain invented a fictional translator, Jean François Alden, who is attributed with a translator’s preface in which he notes: “The Sieur Louis de Conte is faithful to her [Joan of Arc’s] official history in his Personal Recollections, and thus far his trustworthiness in unimpeachable; but his mass of added particulars must depend for credit upon his own word alone” (11). The question of how much confidence should be invested in the historical loyalty of the fictitious translator, the fictitious author, or even Twain is up for debate; however, most agree that the account conveys a generally accurate narrative of what is known about Joan of Arc’s life.

Yet there is only a certain level of accuracy that is possible to attain in recounting the life of the exceptional historical figure turned legendary heroine. While a great deal is known about Joan of Arc’s life, especially through the transcripts of her trials, a significant amount of detail is either missing or has likely been obscured or embellished, depending on the source. Known as the peasant girl who, under divine guidance, led the French army to significant victories during the Hundred Years’ War and enabled the coronation of King Charles VII, Joan is hailed as both a French national and religious heroine. After being captured in 1430 and executed the following year, Joan of Arc’s extreme devotion to her Christian faith resulted in her being appreciated as a religious martyr; she was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan’s figure is one of undeniable importance in Western culture, and she has served as an inspiration for many political figures, artists, and devotees. Many artists besides Twain have been inspired by Joan of Arc, including William Shakespeare, Voltaire, Friedrich Schiller, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Bertolt Brecht, George Bernard Shaw, and Leonard Cohen, along with many others.

Summary

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is divided into three major sections (books 1–3) as well as an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction is preceded by a translator’s preface and a note titled “A Peculiarity of Joan of Arc’s History,” written by the fictitious translator. The translator comments on the extraordinary figure of Joan of Arc and, for the most part, assures the veracity of Sieur Louis de Conte’s ensuing account. The account then opens with an introduction written from Domrémy, France, by de Conte in 1492. The eighty-two-year-old narrator tells readers that he is about to relate the story of something that he experienced in his childhood. He explains that as a childhood friend of Joan of Arc and then later as her page and secretary, he was with her for her whole life. Thus, he feels confident enough to tell her story, which he believes should be told since she was the noblest person ever to be born after Christ.

Born two years earlier than Joan, Sieur Louis de Conte begins life in a small town called Neufchâteau in France. His childhood is characterized by the misfortunes brought on by the Hundred Years’ War, which has been fought by the French against the English and Burgundian armies for the past seventy-five years. France has not been faring well at this stage and is losing morale. When de Conte’s family dies at the hands of the Burgundians, the five-year-old boy is sent to Domrémy, where he lives with a priest and is mothered by the priest’s housekeeper.

In Domrémy, de Conte meets the young Joan of Arc who, although leading a relatively simple and quiet life, shows early signs of the greatness that lies ahead of her. He describes a number of episodes that exhibit her sagacity and clear-headed judgment, from which the town benefits. He is so close with Joan that when she reaches fourteen years of age, he notices a peculiar change in her constitution and in her behavior, resulting in her assuming a much more serious air. A year and a half later, de Conte is told that Joan has been visited on a regular basis by messengers of God. On May 15, 1428, she is told by God that she has been chosen to lead France’s armies back to glory and to assist Charles, the dauphin (heir) of France, in claiming his kingship. Initially, Joan is hesitant to act upon this message, but she soon becomes overwhelmed with the compulsion to answer her calling. The first book concludes with Joan facing the challenge of the governor of Vaucouleurs, who refuses to provide her with the necessary escort of men-at-arms that she needs in order to complete her mission.

Committed to her mission, Joan eventually is provided with an escort and journeys to the Castle of Chinon. There, she intends to share her mission with the dauphin. Before she is granted access, however, she is challenged to identify the future king, who has changed into layman’s clothes. Joan easily identifies Charles and even gives him an additional sign, thoroughly convincing him that she truly is on a divine mission. He appoints her the general of the armies of France, and she sets about organizing her campaign. She begins her campaign by sending a letter to the English at Orléans, ordering them to abandon their siege of the city. She then establishes policies with her troops, banning gambling and the frequenting of prostitutes, and orders that they make confession and attend a divine service twice daily. Joan also dresses androgynously, fully clad in armor and wearing her hair cropped short.

Joan and her army march across France and have great success, as Joan is consistently encouraged by her spiritual messengers. They do not always have good news; in one instance, they warn her that she will be shot in the neck with an arrow, a prophecy that comes true the next day. Joan sustains the injury and her army goes on to have many more successes, giving the French army their first major advantage in ninety-one years. The coronation of King Charles occurs on July 5, 1429, but Joan is unsatisfied and insists on continuing on to Paris. She receives permission to march on Paris, but then the king ends the campaign, calling a truce instead. On May 24, 1430, Joan is captured by the Burgundians at Marguy and is held prisoner.

When the third book opens, Joan is still being held prisoner by the Burgundians, who have asked King Charles to pay a ransom for her release. She is held for five months while they wait for the ransom, which the king never provides. Eventually, Joan is sold to the English, who hold her prisoner. Led by Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais, the English decide that in order to try to lessen Joan’s influence over her countrymen, they will charge her with crimes against the faith. De Conte provides a meticulous account and a transcript of the three-month-long trial in which, despite the exhaustive attempts of the English and Burgundians to befuddle her, Joan rises to all of their questions with bold answers and a steadfast commitment to herself and to her faith. However, after being imprisoned and being treated so poorly for so long, the illiterate nineteen-year-old signs a document that confesses herself a witch, a liar, a blasphemer, and a messenger of the devil. The document also binds her to dress like a woman, which she does. She soon breaks this promise, however. According to de Conte, one night while she sleeps, a guard steals her feminine apparel and leaves in its place her masculine attire. De Conte reports that knowing what will happen if she puts on the masculine attire, Joan dresses herself in it on nonetheless, exhausted by the English attempts to see her guilty. Having broken her commitment to the document she signed, Joan is sentenced to death. She is burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.

“As she said those last words a sudden deep glow shone in her eyes, which I was to see there many times in after-days when the bugles sounded the charge and learn to call it the battle-light. Her Breast heaved, and the colour rose in her face. ‘But today I know. God has chosen the meanest of His creatures for this work; and by His command, and in His protection, and by His strength, not mine, I am to lead His armies, and win back France, and set the crown upon the head of His servant that is Dauphin and shall be King.’”

Sieur Louis de Conte concludes the story by returning once again to his present year of 1492, reflecting on the great heroics of his remarkable friend.

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---. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.

---. What Is Man? and Other Essays. New York: Harper, 1917. Print.