Following the animated action of the last scene, George Bernard Shaw produces a marked change in dramatic effect. We now see Joan in conversation with Dunois, and their sense of fellowship is soon apparent. The brevity of the scene suggests a moment of relative clam between Joan’s struggle to win approval and the battle that lies ahead.
The sympathy between the two is readily comprehensible. Dunois is a man of action and a professional soldier, exemplifying the courage and resourcefulness that Joan admires. He also has evident sensitivity, which fortifies the bond between them. As George Bernard Shaw makes clear in the Preface, historical evidence supports his own determination not to allow his tale. Yet there does seem to be mutual attraction between the Maid and the military man in this scene. That impression is enhanced by the image of a pair of brilliant kingfishers, flying ‘Like blue lightning’ (pg 80). Still, references to love of war and love of religion suggest that the potentially amorous energy underlying the meeting is being directed on to another, impersonal plane. Joan does embrace Dunois, but as a comrade-in-arms. She also says, in matter-of-fact fashion, ‘I will never take a husband’, adding the historical detail: ‘A man in Toul took an action against me for breach of promise; but I never promised him’ (pg 83).
Is the change of the wind’s direction following Joan’s arrival a miracle, or a mere coincidence? It is a question that tests modern audiences just as it tested Dunois. As the archbishop remarked in the previous scene, a miracle is whatever generates faith, and George Bernard Shaw required his audiences to have faith in the positive effects wrought by Joan’s energies. She must also remain credible as a woman.
*bend sinister: in heraldry, a band on a family shield indicating illegitmacy
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
SAINT JOAN Scene 3
It is the evening of 29 April 1429, near the city of Orleans, which is besieged by the English. Dunois paces restlessly on the bank of the river Loire. He curses the west wind which hampers his efforts to lift the siege. His page draws attention to kingfishers flying across the river.
Dunois has eagerly awaited the arrival of the Maid, and when Joan appears, dressed in fine armour, he is too agitated to notice that the wind has dropped. Joan is annoyed that her troops have led her to the wrong side of the river for the intended challenge to the English. Dunois reveals that they were following his orders. He tries to give her a lesson in soldering, but in response Joan simply asserts that she has come to do God’s bidding. He remarks that she is in love with war, and she recalls the archbishop’s insight that she is in love with religion.
Joan declares that she has no interest in romantic love or in money, supposedly the preoccupations of women. Instead, she is committed to soldering. She advocates use of artillery, but Dunois still regards her as a religious figure, not as a soldier. Reaffirming her divinely ordained mission, she declares that the time for action has come. She agrees to go to church to pray for a change in the wind’s direction, which will allow the river to be crossed on rafts. But the wind changes at once. Dunois takes this as a sign that Joan now commands the army. She embraces him, and they set off, ready for combat.
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
Dunois has eagerly awaited the arrival of the Maid, and when Joan appears, dressed in fine armour, he is too agitated to notice that the wind has dropped. Joan is annoyed that her troops have led her to the wrong side of the river for the intended challenge to the English. Dunois reveals that they were following his orders. He tries to give her a lesson in soldering, but in response Joan simply asserts that she has come to do God’s bidding. He remarks that she is in love with war, and she recalls the archbishop’s insight that she is in love with religion.
Joan declares that she has no interest in romantic love or in money, supposedly the preoccupations of women. Instead, she is committed to soldering. She advocates use of artillery, but Dunois still regards her as a religious figure, not as a soldier. Reaffirming her divinely ordained mission, she declares that the time for action has come. She agrees to go to church to pray for a change in the wind’s direction, which will allow the river to be crossed on rafts. But the wind changes at once. Dunois takes this as a sign that Joan now commands the army. She embraces him, and they set off, ready for combat.
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
Key points in Scene 2
The Dauphin calls La Tremouille’s threatening behaviour ‘high treason’ (pg 66). The terminology, which has more relevance to modern nations than to feudal Europe, would have been particularly meaningful to audiences at the end of the First World War, when treason was an emotive issue. For George Bernard Shaw, it had additional significance following recent trials in Ireland. Joan is found guilty not of treason but, tried by an ecclesiastical court, of heresy.
Joan’s accent and colloquial idiom contrast boldly with the speech of the Court. She cannot match the nobility in sophistication, but the intensity of her energy makes them appear dull. The test of her insight staged by de Rais is particularly unimaginative, and discloses an inclination to triviality and inconsequentiality. It is an important part of George Bernard Shaw’s characterization that Joan should not really be aware of the disruption she causes. Her actions have historical implications far beyond the limted scope of her comprehension.
The archbishop speaks of the dawning of a new age, which with the benefit of hindsight we can identify as the Renaissance. He accurately predicts that during this epoch the wisdom of pre-Christian thinkers, such as Aristotle and Pythagoras, will assume far greater importance than faith in saints and miracles. He comments that miracles are often, if not always, ‘contrivances by which the priest fortifies the faint of his flock’ (pg 71). Such a remark indicates that he is himself a transitional figure, his faith balanced by attachment to rationality in a manner that became the characteristic Renaissance orientation.
Joan may appear in her Christian zeal to be a figure belonging squarely to the earlier epoch, but her foreshadowing of Protestantism and nationalism arguably makes her more closely attuned to practical changes soon to occur in human social organization than the archbishop is, despite his learning and his skepticism. But she is more single-minded in her religious faith than he is, and it is her ability to believe without a trace of skepticism that transforms her into a positive force.
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
Joan’s accent and colloquial idiom contrast boldly with the speech of the Court. She cannot match the nobility in sophistication, but the intensity of her energy makes them appear dull. The test of her insight staged by de Rais is particularly unimaginative, and discloses an inclination to triviality and inconsequentiality. It is an important part of George Bernard Shaw’s characterization that Joan should not really be aware of the disruption she causes. Her actions have historical implications far beyond the limted scope of her comprehension.
The archbishop speaks of the dawning of a new age, which with the benefit of hindsight we can identify as the Renaissance. He accurately predicts that during this epoch the wisdom of pre-Christian thinkers, such as Aristotle and Pythagoras, will assume far greater importance than faith in saints and miracles. He comments that miracles are often, if not always, ‘contrivances by which the priest fortifies the faint of his flock’ (pg 71). Such a remark indicates that he is himself a transitional figure, his faith balanced by attachment to rationality in a manner that became the characteristic Renaissance orientation.
Joan may appear in her Christian zeal to be a figure belonging squarely to the earlier epoch, but her foreshadowing of Protestantism and nationalism arguably makes her more closely attuned to practical changes soon to occur in human social organization than the archbishop is, despite his learning and his skepticism. But she is more single-minded in her religious faith than he is, and it is her ability to believe without a trace of skepticism that transforms her into a positive force.
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
SAINT JOAN Scene 2
It is 8 March 1429, late in the afternoon. In a curtained-off section of the throne room in the castle of Chinon, in Lorraine, the Archbishop of Rheims and Monseigneur de la Tremouille, the Lord Chamberlain, await the arrival of the Dauphin. The archbishop’s composure contrasts with the brooding impatience of Tremouille. They have divergent attitudes, but both men are owed money by the Dauphin, and are mystified that he has spent so much with so little to show for it.
A page announces the arrival of Gille de Rais, known as Bluebeard on account of his small beard, curled and dyed. Bluebeard brings news of Foul Mouthed Frank, an inveterate swearer, who was warned by a soldier to desist from cursing as his death was imminent. Soon afterwards he fell into a well and drowned. Captain La Hire, a hardened fighter, enters. He also is renowned for swearing, and, as Bluebeard has intimated, he is now fraught with anxiety. La Hire asserts that the soldier who delivered the warning was actually an angel in disguise.
The Dauphin, the uncrowned King Charles VII, enters. He is physically a pitiful figure, but he reveals some strength of character, including a sense of humour. He is evidently at odds with both the archbishop and the chamberlain, who show him no respect. He bears the note of introduction written for Joan by de Baudricourt. The archbishop is intensely skeptical, and declares that Charles should not see the ‘cracked country lass’. But the Dauphin is insistent that she is ‘a saint: an angel’ (pg 67). He is especially eager to receive her as visitations from saints have been a family tradition. La Hire interjects that the Maid, dressed as a soldier, is the angel that brought death to Foul Mouthed Frank. The archbishop assumes the voice of common sense, attributing the drowning to accident and the fulfillment of the prophecy to coincidence.
Discussion shifts to Joan’s promise to lift the siege of Orleans, a feat that Jack Dunois has not yet managed to accomplish, despite his military reputation. It is eventually agreed that Joan should be admitted to the Court, and a simple test is planned; de Rais will pretend to be the Dauphin, and they will see whether Joan is fooled. The archbishop points out that common knowledge will enable her to make the distinction. Still, the test is staged in the main throne room. Bluebeard clerly relishes his role. Joan enters, dressed as a soldier, with bobbed hair. She sees through the pretence straight away, and in high spirits she draws the Dauphin from the assembled crowd, and announces her mission to see him crowned at Rheims.
Accordingly, her wish to speak in private with the Dauphin should be respected. There ensues a dialogue between Joan and Charles, in which she tells him he must learn to behave like a king, and must fight the English. Riddled with self-doubt, he nonetheless pledges to fight and to become king. The court is summoned to return, and Charles announces that Joan now commands the army. La Tremouille reacts with hostility, but, supported by Joan, and through a great effort of will, the Dauphin dismisses him with a snap of his fingers. The knights of the Court rally to her and Joan falls to her knees to offer thanks to God. The others also kneel, as the archbishop gives a blessing, La Tremouille collapses, cursing.
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
A page announces the arrival of Gille de Rais, known as Bluebeard on account of his small beard, curled and dyed. Bluebeard brings news of Foul Mouthed Frank, an inveterate swearer, who was warned by a soldier to desist from cursing as his death was imminent. Soon afterwards he fell into a well and drowned. Captain La Hire, a hardened fighter, enters. He also is renowned for swearing, and, as Bluebeard has intimated, he is now fraught with anxiety. La Hire asserts that the soldier who delivered the warning was actually an angel in disguise.
The Dauphin, the uncrowned King Charles VII, enters. He is physically a pitiful figure, but he reveals some strength of character, including a sense of humour. He is evidently at odds with both the archbishop and the chamberlain, who show him no respect. He bears the note of introduction written for Joan by de Baudricourt. The archbishop is intensely skeptical, and declares that Charles should not see the ‘cracked country lass’. But the Dauphin is insistent that she is ‘a saint: an angel’ (pg 67). He is especially eager to receive her as visitations from saints have been a family tradition. La Hire interjects that the Maid, dressed as a soldier, is the angel that brought death to Foul Mouthed Frank. The archbishop assumes the voice of common sense, attributing the drowning to accident and the fulfillment of the prophecy to coincidence.
Discussion shifts to Joan’s promise to lift the siege of Orleans, a feat that Jack Dunois has not yet managed to accomplish, despite his military reputation. It is eventually agreed that Joan should be admitted to the Court, and a simple test is planned; de Rais will pretend to be the Dauphin, and they will see whether Joan is fooled. The archbishop points out that common knowledge will enable her to make the distinction. Still, the test is staged in the main throne room. Bluebeard clerly relishes his role. Joan enters, dressed as a soldier, with bobbed hair. She sees through the pretence straight away, and in high spirits she draws the Dauphin from the assembled crowd, and announces her mission to see him crowned at Rheims.
Accordingly, her wish to speak in private with the Dauphin should be respected. There ensues a dialogue between Joan and Charles, in which she tells him he must learn to behave like a king, and must fight the English. Riddled with self-doubt, he nonetheless pledges to fight and to become king. The court is summoned to return, and Charles announces that Joan now commands the army. La Tremouille reacts with hostility, but, supported by Joan, and through a great effort of will, the Dauphin dismisses him with a snap of his fingers. The knights of the Court rally to her and Joan falls to her knees to offer thanks to God. The others also kneel, as the archbishop gives a blessing, La Tremouille collapses, cursing.
Taken from York Notes on "Saint Joan" by George Bernard Shaw.
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