Religion and Law

Religion and Law
Saint Joan
By
George Bernard Shaw
Law and Religion
 Religion is the very basis of human life which is not just following a belief but it is also
a the way of living because the followers of a particular religion follows a definite kind
of livelihood and with this moral duty of following certain rules the religion enters the
boundary of law whereby a person is compelled to follow or not to break the rules
decided by a state (i.e. any country).
 Hence it is very evident that the law and religion are dependent on each other because
before the concept of state or democracy, people were bound to follow the religious
duties and can claim religious rights. Thus in this way religion was playing a very vital
role of maintaining law and order in ancient societies at different parts of the world.
Key Facts about Saint Joan
• Full Title: Saint Joan
• When Written: 1923
• Where Written: London
• When Published: 1923
• Literary Period: Victorian
• Genre: Drama, Social Criticism, Historical Drama
• Setting: France
• Climax: Joan refuses to recant and is burned at the stake as a heretic.
• Antagonist: Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais; Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick
• Point of View: Dramatic
Meaning of Saint
 (the title given to) a person who has received an official honour
from the Christian, especially the Roman Catholic, Church for
having lived in a good and holy way.
The names of saints are sometimes used to name places and buildings:
 Saint Peter
 St Andrew's school
 Saint Paul's Cathedral
Brief Biography of George Bernard Shaw
 George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply
as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political activist.
 His influence on Western theatre, culture, and politics extended from the 1880s to his death
and beyond.
 He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902),
Pygmalion (1913), and Saint Joan (1923).
 With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became
the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Literature.
Background
 To understand the summary of Saint Joan, it is inevitable to take a closer look at the political
situation of France at the end of the 14th/beginning of the 15th century.
 The major focus at that time was the conflict between England and France, which were at war
intermittently between 1337 and 1453 based on the fact that Edward III of England and later Henry
V lay claim to the French throne.
 It was in 1428 that the English forces occupied the northern part of France and lay siege to Orleans.
 At this point the young country girl Joan of Arc arrived on the scene and took a major role in lifting
the siege by leading the Dauphin´s troops to Orleans.
Saint Joan Characters
 Joan (“The Maid”): Joan, often referred to by others as “the Maid,” is Saint Joan’s protagonist. She is
based on the historical figure Joan of Arc from Lorraine.
 Robert de Baudricourt: A handsome military squire from Joan’s hometown of Lorraine.
 Bertrand de Poulengey: A 36-year-old French gentleman-at-arms.
 The Archbishop of Rheims: A French churchman. At first he sees Joan as pious and humble, but he turns
on her when he realizes the extent of her self-confidence and obstinance, believing her to be guilty of the sin
of pride. He is particularly critical of Joan’s position that she can know and communicate with God without
the intermediary help of the Church.
Saint Joan Characters
 The Dauphin: The Dauphin is the 26-year-old heir to the French throne. He should be
King Charles VII since his father died, but it’s not until Scene V that Joan crowns him
and he assumes the role of king.
 Jean, Comte de Dunois : A 26-year-old skilled, successful, and popular French
military leader. He recognizes Joan’s own military prowess and supports her throughout
the play.
 Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick: Warwick is a nobleman who is in charge
of English forces. He is Joan’s primary enemy in the secular world. Warwick wants
Joan to be punished because her political philosophies threaten the existing feudal
structure.
Scenes 1
 The play begins on the estate of a French captain where Joan is a maid.
 She is about 17 or 18, but she is not sure when she was born.
 She hears the voices of saints and God telling her that she must acquire armor, soldiers, and horses to fight
against the English at Orleans.
 Joan manages to convince Robert de Baudricourt that she is being instructed by God to fight the English.
 After much opposition Robert de Baudricourt allows Joan to travel to see the Dauphin Charles VII and ask
his permission to go to Orleans and fight the English.
Scene 2
 In Scene 2 Joan has to pass a test that the members of Charles VII's court have devised
for her.
 They disguise the Dauphin and place him in a crowd.
 If Joan can correctly identify him, they will allow her to talk to him.
 She identifies him, and when Charles VII meets her, he is impressed with her
forthrightness and self-possession.
 He appreciates that Joan does not judge him harshly for his weakness.
 He also believes her when he tells him that she will defeat the English at Orleans and
crown him King of France in the cathedral at Rheims.
 The Dauphin agrees to give Joan command of the army and the soldiers of his army
follow her.
Scene 3
 In Scene 3 Joan travels to Orleans and meets Dunois who is the commanding officer of the French army
there.
 Dunois perceives that she has the makings of a good soldier, and he is not prejudiced against her because
of her gender.
 Dunois tells Joan that the wind needs to change direction for the soldiers to take their boats upstream to
Orleans.
 He suggests that they go to the church so that Joan can pray to her saints to bring about a change in the
wind.
 Before arriving at the church, the wind changes direction and Dunois believes Joan has performed a
miracle.
 He kneels to her and gives her his baton.
 He tells her that she will be his leader because God has granted her a change in the wind.
Scene 4
 Scene 4 takes place in an English tent at Orleans after the French armies have defeated them.
 The English chaplain and the English Earl of Warwick decide that the reason they were defeated is that
Joan is a witch and a sorcerer /ˈsɔːs(ə)rə/.
 They plot a way for Joan to be condemned as a witch and burned at the stake.
 When the French Bishop Cauchon arrives at the tent and hears the plan, he does not agree.
 He claims that only a French court of the Church can decide whether Joan is a witch.
 Cauchon believes she is not a witch but is being controlled by the devil. His goal is to bring her to
salvation and not burn her.

Scenes 5
 Joan is true to her word with Charles VII and crowns him King of France after defeating the
English at Orleans.
 She wants Charles VII to allow her to go to Paris and defeat the English there.
 She believes that he should strike while the iron is hot after the defeat of Orleans.
 Charles VII wants no more fighting. He wants to make a treaty with the English.
 The tide is beginning to turn for Joan.
 She has resistance from the king and also from Dunois who is not sure that Joan can always
achieve victory.
 The Archbishop of Rheims also turns against her because Joan claims she communicates directly
with God without the intercession of the Church.
 The Archbishop threatens that the Church will reject her, and she will be alone to defend herself
from the stake.
Scene 6 - Being punished by religion
 A conspiracy in the kingdom told the king against her.
 The king did not contribute properly.
 In the end, the young lady who fought heroically in the battlefield was captured by the British.
 The church that could not tolerate the glory of that woman not only made her a hostage to the British, but the Roman
Catholic Church bought the hero from the English for 10 thousand pounds.
 The Christian religion put her in prison for 9 months and tortured her.
 There is no lawyer on her behalf. She argued herself in court.
 She was 19 years old then. The Catholic Church sentenced her to death.
 It was decided to burn her alive.
 Religion described her as a witch and representative of Satan.
 No matter how hard she tried, she didn't admit that she had special powers.
 She made it clear that no one helped her except God.
 On 13 May 1431 she was burnt alive in the marketplace.
Epilogue/ Identity as an angel
 The epilogue is the scene 25 years after Joan's execution.
 King Charles VII experiences a dream, and in it he sees Joan and the people in her life
come back to talk to her.
 Some are still alive, and some have died, but many come back to tell Joan of their fate after
her execution.
 Bishop Cauchon appears in the dream and tells Joan that he was dishonored,
excommunicated, and his body exhumed from his grave and thrown into a sewer after her
death.
 Dunois appears and tells Joan that he was busy fighting battles during her trial but that he
wrote a strong letter to the court in her favor.
 The Chaplain confesses to Joan that watching her burn at the stake changed him forever.
 He tried to help people for the rest of his life after her death.
 The executioner appears and tells the group that Joan is not dead because her heart would
not burn.
Epilogue/ Identity as an angel
 The dream sequence jumps forward to 1920 when a gentleman arrives to tell the group
that Joan of Arc has been canonized.
 She is now Saint Joan.
 The gentleman explains that every 30th day of May which is the day of her death, the
Catholic Church will celebrate her as Saint Joan.
 The Archbishop and the Inquisitor enter Charles VII's room in his dream.
 They both kneel to Joan because she is now a saint, but they do not want her to return
to earth so they leave her.

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Religion and Law

• Genre: Drama, Social Criticism, Historical Drama

• Climax: Joan refuses to recant and is burned at the stake as a heretic.

• Antagonist: Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais; Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick

 Robert de Baudricourt: A handsome military squire from Joan’s hometown of Lorraine.

 Bertrand de Poulengey: A 36-year-old French gentleman-at-arms.

 He kneels to her and gives her his baton.

Joan is a witch and a sorcerer /ˈsɔːs(ə)rə/.

salvation and not burn her.

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