Saint Joan (Annotated)

This edition includes the following editor's analysis: "Saint Joan," a unique vision of Joan of Arc

First published in 1924, “Saint Joan” is a play written by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Joan of Arc, one of the most controversial historical figures to ever exist, has been written about numerous times, and Shaw's “Saint Joan” is one of the most famous versions of her story.

George Bernard Shaw is a well-known for Irish writer from the 19th and 20th centuries who is known for writing short stories, plays, novels, and even screenplays that explore gender, identity, and politics. “Saint Joan” was published four years after Joan of Arc was canonized as a Saint by the Catholic Church.

“Saint Joan” follows the rise of Joan of Arc and those who engineered her downfall, and it has only six scenes and an epilogue.

Shaw begins by explaining that, although Joan practised Catholicism, she was truly a Protestant martyr, an early feminist, and a champion of nationalism. The main reason the Church despised Joan, Shaw suggests, is because she challenged patriarchal society and the idea that God spoke through men…