Saint Joan

Birds symbolize the concepts of freedom and rebirth in Saint Joan, which Joan herself embodies through her affiliation with birds. In the opening scene of the play, Baudricourt is upset by the lack of eggs, which symbolize the situation of France. Eggs are suggestive of fertility and new life. When the hens stop laying, Baudricourt’s castle becomes metaphorically infertile, unable to generate new life, a condition that points toward Baudricourt’s unwillingness to help Joan in her fight against the French invaders. However, when Baudricourt agrees to give Joan her armor and send her to the Dauphin’s court, the steward rushes in and announces, “[T]he hens are laying like mad, sir. Five dozen eggs!” (85). This sudden fertility denotes that, by trusting in Joan, Baudricourt has helped to ensure the birth of a new France.

Later in the play, Joan herself is conflated with a beautiful bird, foreshadowing how her greatness will lead people to try to trap her. As Dunois and his page wait for Joan’s arrival at Orléans, the page suddenly shouts “There she goes!” (105). Dunois assumes that the boy means that Joan has arrived with reinforcements for the army, but the page clarifies that the “she” refers to a blue kingfisher he has spotted on the banks.