Page 152 [152]
DÁNIEL TIBOR HEGYI
that led her to that stake. [...] from her end to the beginning of her calling and
mission. It is said that dying people see every moment of their lives pass in
front of their eyes, and the imminent ending gives all of it meaning." This is
how the unique structure of Joan of Arc at the Stake was conceived. It starts
with the heroine standing in front of the stake and then goes back in time, to
her trial, then the enthronement of the French king, and then right back to
the childhood of the “ Maid of Orléans.” After the depiction of parts of Saint
Joan’s childhood in her hometown, Domrémy, comes the grand finale, that,
essentially, connects to the first scene of the play, the burning of Jeanne, later
ordained as a French national heroine. With this technical method, Claudel
could solve the problem of the text’s huge volume and its labyrinthian nature.
It made the dramatization of the Joan of Arc stories extremely difficult, but
with the help of a series of still images, the main aspects of Saint Joan’s life
could, finally, be presented with ease. So, Claudel “captured one spectacularly
selected moment’s brilliant poetry.” In fact, by omitting elements such as the
linear plot, the active heroine, and the contending parties as well as the dra¬
matical conflict in the traditional sense, what results does not make so much
for a drama, but rather for a staged epic.* Not only does the play contain tropes
of subjective, inner emotions and visionary reminiscence but also dramatic
and epical components, connecting not only different literary genres but also
showing affiliations with other art forms. The harmony of text and music also
participate in the elaboration of this complex piece.
Claudel’s intention, to look back at the most important parts of Joan of Arc’s
life and thereby her function in the forming of the French national collec¬
tive memory through the (fixed) optics of anamorphosis, was consistent with
the artistic intentions of Honegger, who was receptive to musical theater and
dramaturgy all his life. The composer had already looked into the matter of
the connection of the individual and the community, and the individual and
the world, in different ways from his oratorio Judith. But he was able to depict
this binary opposition — in a Paul de Man sense as well — in his Jeanne play
in the most perfect and complete way possible.® “Biblical and mythological
heroes populated [Honegger’s] stages, a modern, yet impersonal hero flounders
in Cris du Monde. Jeanne is his first historical heroine. It is safe to say that he
shared the same worrying emotions as Claudel: a real heroine cannot be put
into a fictional environment. The outlines of the world had to be specified:
instead of imagined biblical and Greek stages, Joan’s environment had to be
built up of musical twists resembling French traditions and historical ages?
Ibid., 255.
Ibid., 257.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., 257-258.
Nn we w
* 150