Sublime Sanctity: Schiller’s New Tragic Joan

This chapter explores the process by which Schiller created his Joan of Arc play, examining dramatic works that led up to it, such as Don Carlos and Maria Stuart, as well as the philosophical works, such as Naive and Sentimental Poetry, On the Sublime, and On the Aesthetic Education of Man, all of which contributed to his notion of “sublime sanctity.” Along with these ideas, Pendergast demonstrates that Schiller incorporates Ancient Greek dramatic principles in creating his characters, such as the eidolon represented by the Black Knight, and the notion of the “sympathetic villain” represented by Talbot. Inspired by Euripides, Schiller introduces romance, paternal betrayal, and a rescue almost worthy of a deus ex machina. In Schiller’s alternate version, the enemy soldier who captured her in history becomes the object of her captivated gaze, and instead of being burned as a witch, she dies on the battlefield in sublime sanctity.