| Contents > Perceiving Reality in Historical Fiction by Kim Wilson |
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Presenting the reader with material additional to the historical record is not the only way to take liberties with the reader’s faith in the gravitas of the genre of historical fiction. Like any other form of literature the ideological positioning of the author bears some influence on the nature of the text produced. In Boutet de Monvel’s Joan of Arc, Charles VII is referred to, on a number of occasions, as occupying the ‘shameful indolence of his royal existence’ (p.32). There is certainly some evidence that gives credence to this interpretation of Charles. After the deliverance of Orléans, Charles was reluctant to make his way to Rheims to be crowned King of France. His unwillingness to make the journey could well be interpreted as indolence but it could also be understood as wisdom, after all the royal retinue had to pass through a good deal of enemy territory in order to reach Rheims. Furthermore, after Charles’ coronation he
- …turned his efforts toward the reconquest of the kingdom… Above all, with the Ordinance of Orléans in 1439, he established the foundation of a permanent army and created the Free Archers, who would become the gendarmes of modern France. (Pernoud & Clin, p.167)
The variety of interpretation reiterates the contention that History’s purpose is not simply mimesis of past events – it is an analysis with the intention of understanding (Zagorin, pp.21-22). For the French Boutet de Monvel writing in the republican fervour of the 1890s, the idleness and incompetence of royalty was authentic. France had endured one hundred years of instability as the political structures oscillated between monarchy and republic. By the 1880s the Third Republic was gaining popularity and one of the many reforms introduced was free public education for children aged between six and thirteen years. It is interesting to note that ‘in [school] textbooks “patriotic” figures such as … Joan of Arc …enjoyed prominence’ (Jones, p.224). The cultural community of Boutet de Monvel makes his analysis of the evidence, his truth, possible. The influence of historical context is also evident in Boutet de Monvel’s attire for Joan. Her male apparel is often covered by a dress type cloak. Whilst it was no longer illegal for Joan to dress above her class in Boutet de Monvel’s era 3 , in an indubitably Catholic society cross gender dressing was still perceived as unnatural. As a work of historical fiction in the present age, the changing nature of truth makes Boutet de Monvel’s Joan of Arc a problematic way of retelling the past.
In the extant documentation of the life of Joan of Arc, very little reference is made to the relationship between Joan and her family. We know that her family joined her at various times during her year of fame; we also know that they benefited from Charles’ good favour – the family was ennobled and given the name ‘du Lys’. The process of reading both historical documentation and historical fiction is a process of gap filling. Filling gaps that are non-essential makes very little difference to the content but, constructing gaps self-consciously results in a redefinition of our understanding. Joan’s story will of course be interpreted differently – mystic or crazed depending on your theological positioning. The fictional author will naturally fill gaps to create a marketable story. Michael Morpurgo for example, writes of a tender loving relationship between father and daughter. When Joan is reunited with her father: ‘the two of them clung to each other, neither wanting ever to let go’ (Morpurgo, p.86). However, Marina Warner, using the same absent material, argues the opposite in her biography of Joan of Arc. Warner believes that the lack of extant family feeling is noteworthy when one compares it to Joan’s ‘generous and spontaneous’ use of the word “love” when referring to ‘her standard, her saints, [and] the king’ (p.187). Warner deduces that Joan’s reticence speaks volumes. It is a convincing argument yet impossible to irrefutably validate. The filling of gaps in history and historical fiction makes for engaging reading but does leave the perception of reality a muddied task.
In light of the analysis to this point Nancy Garden’s Dove and Sword uses a very different approach in her novelistic recount of Joan of Arc. The entire story is narrated by Gabrielle, a (fictional) friend. By only allowing the reader to know the heroine through a secondary reference, Garden skilfully replicates the unknowability and mysteriousness of Joan. Moreover, by providing Joan with an utterly loyal friend who perceives both the person and her visions as unadulterated truth, Garden confirms the reality of that which we might otherwise be sceptical. When the first visitation is narrated Gabrielle tells the reader that Joan ‘was talking, though there was no one with her’ and that ‘it was the look on her plain, honest face that made us stare. An inner light shone from her…’ (p.8). With the emphasis on the ethereal nature of the voices together with the intangible feeling engendered by their visit, Garden’s recount is the closest to Joan’s explanation. Much later in the tale, when relating Joan’s attempted escape from the tower of Beaurevoir castle Garden leaves the nature of her escape vulnerable to interrogation. The judges at Joan’s Trial made much of her jump from the parapet. It was a predicament for Joan, she could not deny the leap was taken but nor could she declare the desire to end her life, suicide was an act of heresy. In Garden’s novel then, Gabrielle is told that, ‘“She fell”… “or jumped, or someone pushed her from the tower” (p.303). The nature of the act is left just as uncertain as Joan’s own account. The ambiguity in this instance creates a tale that bears greater resemblance to the official historical record.
3. Sumptuary laws regulating dress codes for different social classes were abolished 100 years earlier as a result of the French Revolution. |
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| Contents > Perceiving Reality in Historical Fiction by Kim Wilson |