Treasurer, that captured the public imagination. The parade was led by Elsie
Howey, dressed in armour as a suffragist Joan of Arc flying her purple, white and
green oriflamme and riding on a large white horse.^28 Joan of Arc, the saintly
French warrior, who was imprisoned and burned at the stake, was to become the
patron saint of the WSPU, upheld as the embodiment of both female militancy
and its persecution. A woman who transgressed gender roles by dressing in a
male suit of armour, Joan of Arc held a deep symbolic importance for the
suffragettes; as Marina Warner points out, she defied the limitations of her sex
from a position of unorthodox femininity.^29 This was a theme that Emmeline
understood as she sought to arouse and inspire women to assert their citizenship
rights in the domain of the public sphere of the ‘political’, usually regarded as
the preserve of men. Although her discourse, as we have seen, often emphasised
the ‘womanliness’ of her militants, she also employed a traditionally male, mili-
tary language to describe the WSPU and its membership – the Union was a
‘suffrage army’, and its members ‘soldiers’ who fought in ‘wars’ or ‘battles’.^30
Towards the end of April, Emmeline was in London for another aspect of the
WSPU’s work, namely its international links. We are so bound up with the
struggle here, Votes for Womentold its readers, that we are ‘apt to lose sight of
the world-wide significance of the movement. It is not the women of Great
Britain we are fighting for, it is the womankind of the world.’^31 The fifth
Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) was to open
in London on 26 April and Emmeline was anxious that no opportunity should
be lost to explain militant methods to its delegates. This was considered partic-
ularly necessary since the WSPU had applied in 1906 to become a member of
the IWSA, a move that was vigorously opposed by Millicent Garrett Fawcett,
leader of the NUWSS. Since the IWSA had a policy of allowing only one
national organisation per country to play a direct part in its proceedings,
members of the WSPU could only be admitted as ‘fraternal delegates’.^32 That
April, it was Millicent Fawcett and not Emmeline who represented England at
the Congress.
Emmeline was now an international figure, the deeds of the suffragettes
attracting world-wide press coverage in countries such as the USA, Europe and
Australia, but notoriety was usually attached to her name as the leader of a mili-
tant rabble. Just like British women, observes Rupp, IWSA members were
divided on the appropriateness and wisdom of militant tactics.^33 A decision was
made therefore at Clement’s Inn to try to win the support of IWSA delegates by
inviting them to share in the celebrations for the release of WSPU prisoners
and, in particular, to participate in a meeting to be held at the Albert Hall on
29 April. On the appointed evening some 200 delegates attended the crowded
gathering, including women from Australasia, Finland and Norway who already
had the parliamentary vote. Emmeline and Christabel both gave stirring
speeches, explaining why militancy was necessary. The self-sacrifice of the
suffragettes who had suffered imprisonment for the cause was then acknowl-
edged as, one by one, they were presented with a ‘Holloway’ brooch and an
‘A NEW AND MORE HEROIC PLANE’