Witch, strumpet, maid and saint Joan of Arc’s characterisation through the use of epithets in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 1

Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 1 depicts Joan of Arc in contradictory terms. This paper discusses the narrative and literary techniques that are used to develop Joan of Arc’s characterisation, particularly the alternation of location between the Anglo-Burgundian and the French-Armagnac camp, the antagonistic staging of Joan of Arc compared to Lord Talbot and Margaret of Anjou, and the contrastive use of epithets, including the shifting positive, neutral or negative dictionary meanings and context-dependent meanings, as per Ray Jackendoff’s theory of Conceptual Semantics. This results in questioning the apparent meaning of words and concepts and thereby also the apparent judgment on the characters themselves, thus ambiguating, questioning, and ridiculing apparent certainties.