Saint Joan: A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue (Shaw Library)

by George Bernard Shaw

Paperback, 1989

Collection

Description

"Joan of Arc, a village girl from the Vosges, was born about 1412--burnt for heresy, witchcraft, and sorcery in 1431--rehabilitated after a fashion in 1456--designated Venerable in 1904--declared Blessed in 1908--and finally canonized in 1920. She is the most notable Warrior-Saint in the Christian calendar, and the queerest fish among the eccentric worthies of the Middle Ages."--George Bernard Shaw With Saint Joan, Shaw reached the height of his fame as a dramatist. Fascinated by the story of Joan of Arc but unhappy with "the whitewash which disfigures her beyond recognition," he presents a realistic Joan at war not just with British invaders but with realpolitik. This is a masterpiece of the theater of ideas, presented in the most eloquent, vital, human, and moving terms. Blackstone commissioned this production from the award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear.… (more)

Rating

½ (250 ratings; 3.7)

Awards

Audie Award (Finalist — 2011)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jrgoetziii

Would be 5 stars but anyone who writes a preface of 50 pages (in very small print) for a play of 100 pages (in normal print) is absurdly arrogant, and especially when they try to claim that this particular story is a melodrama and not a tragedy.

The play itself is, in fact, clearly a tragedy--St

Joan is a noble character (a chaste teenage girl who leads armies in a faltering independence movement and inspires them to victory), brought down by a fatal flaw (burned after insisting, through pride and obstinacy, that she should go take Compeigne even when King Charles, the Archbishop, and her co-captain Dunois say they will offer no protection, then refusing, during her trial, to comply with the demands made of her by the English and the Church), with pity and catharsis cleansing the audience's emotions at the end (where everything about her burns except her heart, she is given two sticks with which to make a cross by an English soldier, she saves a life by not letting a cross burn in a man's hands when he brings it near her, and her ghost appears to a bunch of apologetic characters twenty-some-odd years later).

I would say it's one of the best plays I've read, and I've read many of them, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Milton (Samson Agonistes), Moliere, Addison, Chekhov, Sheridan, Goethe, Synge, O'Neill, Williams, Kushner (ugh!), and so on and so forth...I highly recommend it for 8th-10th grade students, and I know that it was assigned when I was in high school (don't tell anyone I didn't read it then!).

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LibraryThing member amelish

I enjoyed the lengthy preface, which should by all rights be its own work. Shaw's arguments about "toleration" and the relationship between genius society were especially thought-provoking. Why should we take exception to what seemingly contradicts or overturns our preconceptions, if not because we

simply don't understand? Feels like I've heard this argument so many times, but never phrased like Shaw puts it.

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LibraryThing member jwhenderson

"The most inevitable dramatic conception, then, of the nineteenth century is that of a perfectly naive hero upsetting religion, law and order in all directions, and establishing in their palce the unfettered action of Humanity . . ." (GBS writing in The Perfect Wagnerite.)
In Saint Joan Shaw

attempted, and perhaps achieved, a masterpiece based on this conception. The play is a perfect example of the hero as victim transformed into savior. In the first scene the Robert de Baudricourt ridicules Joan, but his servant feels inspired by her words. Eventually de Baudricourt begins to feel the same sense of inspiration, and gives his consent to Joan. The servant enters at the end of the scene to exclaim that the hens, who had been unable to lay eggs, have begun to lay eggs again. De Baudricourt interprets this as a sign from God of Joan's divine inspiration. It is with this simple beginning that the spirited spirituality of the seemingly innocent young Joan begins to take over the play to the point where she is leading the French troops against the British. Her voice exhibits a lively purity that is augmented by an unlimited imagination. Both her voice and her visions are inspirational, but cannot protect her from ultimate betrayal. The result of that betrayal leads to the end that we are all familiar with.
Shaw's play features Joan as an outsider who seems lonely only when she is among those who voiced the common opinions of the day. Her multi-faceted personality is hidden behind her single-minded pursuit of a vision of god's design for her life. Saint Joan is a tragedy without villains. The tragedy exists in a view of human nature where the incredulity of intolerance of both religious and secular forces battle each other. It is made even more interesting by Shaw's epilogue that brings the play into the current time and provides an opportunity for Shaw to discuss the play with the audience. Whether this play is truly great or almost great it is definitely Shaw at his dramatic best.

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LibraryThing member Stbalbach

Saint Joan dates from the mid 1920s and is still performed. It makes good holiday season theater. I listened to the 1966 Caedmon recording starring Irish actress Siobhán McKenna in her signature role. It's pretty good though strange to hear a French peasant girl talking like a wee lassie. Shaw

does a good job showing the power she held over powerful men, something the histories struggle to convey. The charisma and conviction are heady stuff. Elizabeth Holmes and Therenoes comes to mind, an anti-Saint dressed as Steve Jobs. Well this is not a difficult play it is entertaining and very well performed by McKenna and there are dozens of other notable Joans to choose from.

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LibraryThing member pickwick817

I did not know much about Joan of Arc before I read this. The book really made her real for me. Of course Shaw did not "know" Joan, but he portrays her in such a real and believable way that I was continuously comparing the character to people I have met in my life. I realized that whether or not

Shaw was close to the mark or not, Joan had to be an exceptional person. One who I would have liked to have met.

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LibraryThing member Smiley

The play 's the thing. Saint Joan is an excellent example of Shaw's work and, I think, that excellence coupled with the time of Joan's becoming a saint gave Shaw the Swedish Merit Badge.

Shaw's preface is too clever by half and the self important lecture can be skipped with no real harm to

understanding the play. The play itself is notable for a lack of villians. That makes it extraordinary and much of the dialouge is skilled and thoughtful.

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LibraryThing member mosemann

Contains an Extensive Preface - most notable is page 44

LibraryThing member kishields

Certainly not my favorite Shaw. I found this play quite dull and for some reason was very annoyed with the main character, even though she is the heroine. Seems very dated somehow and not terribly relevant.

LibraryThing member AliceAnna

Although GBS puts clever words in St. Joan's mouth, the overall effect of the play is boring. It just didn't quite work for me.

LibraryThing member DanielSTJ

A great play by Mr. Shaw. He managed to capture the essence, and reality, of Joan of Arc's predicament in impeccable prose. His talent, as a playwright, shines here. It is one of the more impressive plays that I have read in regards to the era it was published.

LibraryThing member jonfaith

Images of Falconetti burned into my mind as I read, perhaps music of Messiaen. Fete des belles eaux? This is a very orthodox tale of moral and legal convulsion. Add a dash of divine nationalism and voila.

This Joan was rather quick witted, other representations have as a nascent martyr. Her

oppressors, oppressively oafish--while Bluebeard muses of the Divine Rights and the souls of lumpen children (entertaining something ghastly--only Allah knows.

GB Shaw has impressed me this week, not only for the scale of his vision but the complexity of his characters. There is always tenderness and treachery afoot, often in the same character on a single page.

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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend

Shaw takes up the tale of "Joan of Arc, a village girl from the Vosges,...born about 1412, burnt for heresy, Witchcraft, and sorcery in 1431; rehabilitated after a fashion in 1456; designated venerable in 1904; declared Blessed in 1908; and finally canonized in 1920. She is the most notable Warrior

Saint in the Christian Calendar, and the queerest fish among the eccentric worthies of the Middle Ages." Shaw was a protestant Irish Socialist and, thus his version is greatly freer in concept and interpretation than can be found in either French, or Catholic writers. While not a completely objective portrait, it is engaging, and highlights Joan's anti-clerical and feminist sides. Well worth the reading. I did not read this reprint but it probably has an interesting introduction as well as Shaw's origina; preface to this work.

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LibraryThing member mykl-s

My high school library had a collection of plays from both England and the US. I read many of them for their stories.

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