Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Saint Joan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Institutions and the Corruption of Integrity
Gender
Sanity vs. Madness
The Quest for Personal Knowledge
Summary
Analysis
It’s March 8, 1429. At Chinon, the Archbishop of Rheims, whom Shaw’s stage directions paint as an imposing but not altogether pious-looking figure, and the Lord Chamberlain, Monseigneur de la Trémouille wait for the Dauphin in the anteroom of the throne room in the castle. La Trémouille grows impatient and insults the Dauphin, who owes him money. A court page appears in the doorway and tells them that Monsieur de Rais is on his way, accompanied by Captain La Hire.
Shaw’s description of the Archbishop emphasizes his power and downplays his piousness, suggesting that figures of authority don’t always subscribe to the values their institutions espouse—in other words, the Archbishop is powerful first and pious second. Likewise, the Dauphin might be the assumed heir to the French throne, but his position renders him neither powerful nor respected.
Themes
Gilles de Rais enters. He is a smart and confident young man whose blue-dyed beard earns him the nickname “Bluebeard.” Bluebeard tells the Archbishop and La Trémouille that earlier that day a man called Foul Mouthed Frank had fallen into a well and begun to swear profusely. A soldier addressed Frank, advising him not to swear when he was on the verge of death and, miraculously, Frank died moments later: the soldier had predicted Frank’s drowning. La Hire, a soldier, enters to announce that it wasn’t a soldier who predicted Frank’s fate, but “an angel dressed as a soldier.” La Hire explains that the angel has come from Champagne, accompanied by a pack of loyal followers.
La Hire’s insistence that Joan is “an angel dressed as a soldier” reinforces her role as an individual who outside of the temporal, institutional realms of the Church or state—it imbues her with a unique, otherworldly sort of power. La Hire’s willingness to see Joan’s prediction about Frank’s death as a miracle—despite the fact that it could have been a mere coincidence—shows that people accept miracles only when they are convenient and useful to them. As a soldier, La Hire recognizes France’s dire military situation, so he’s more willing to believe in Joan’s miraculous qualities if they will help France achieve victory in battle.
Themes
Literary Devices
The Dauphin, carrying a letter from Robert de Baudricourt, enters the room excitedly: an “angel” has come to see him. The Archbishop condemns the Dauphin’s excitement to see the “crazy wench,” and La Trémouille shares this sentiment. The Dauphin refuses to let them bring him down: his own grandfather spoke to saints, and so he will, too. The Archbishop scoffs at this. The girl is hardly a saint—she doesn’t even wear women’s clothing.
The Dauphin lauds Joan as an “angel” for selfish reasons: he is smug about the fact that she’s coming to see him. In contrast, the Archbishop, for whom Joan represents a threat to the Church’s power, derides her as a “crazy wench.” La Trémouille agrees with the Archbishop because Joan threatens his own military power. The Archbishop’s harsh reaction to Joan’s refusal to wear women’s clothing speaks to how engrained sexism is in his worldview and the ideals espoused by the Church.
Themes
Literary Devices
The men arrange to put the girl’s sainthood to the test: Bluebeard will disguise himself as the Dauphin. If the girl can differentiate the royal Dauphin from Bluebeard, a commoner, they will accept her holiness. If she cannot, they will know she is only pretending to be God’s messenger. The Archbishop insists that the girl not be admitted, but the Dauphin is still determined to see her, as De Baudricourt says she will stop the siege of Orleans and conquer the English. Seeing as how the highly regarded Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, hasn’t been able to drive out the English, the Dauphin sees the girl as their only hope. The men eventually agree that France needs a miracle to defeat the English, so they send for Joan. The Dauphin and Bluebeard leave to assume their disguises.
Because the Dauphin and Bluebeard are more enthusiastic about Joan’s arrival, they are more willing to believe in her ability to perform miracles and confirm her holiness. For the Dauphin—who hates and shirks his military responsibilities—Joan offers the possibility for French victory without him having to lift a finger. In this way, his readiness to accept Joan’s holiness rests not on Joan, her intelligence, or her capabilities as a soldier, but on what she can do for him and the institution he represents.
Themes
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Alone, the Archbishop and La Trémouille muse over miracles. The Archbishop laments that the test is useless: Joan will easily be able to identify the true Dauphin through context clues, therefore passing the test won’t be proof of a miracle. To the Archbishop, a miracle is only “an event which creates faith.” Miracles merely confirm what people want to believe, thus even fraudulent events—if they result in faith—may be deemed miracles. The Archbishop compares spiritual miracles to La Trémouille’s experience as a soldier: like churchmen, La Trémouille also encourages his citizens to believe in falsehoods and exaggerations in order to maintain their loyalty to the government.
The Archbishop’s view of miracles places less weight on what miracles do and more weight on the larger effect they have on people. Regardless of the legitimacy of a miracle, if it has a positive effect on the people and “creates faith,” he—and the Church—is willing to view the act as miraculous. Miracles confirm what people want to believe and reinforce the values of dominant social institutions. The Dauphin is ready to believe Joan can work miracles because it will relieve him of his military responsibilities and hopefully result in a much-needed French victory. Likewise, La Trémouille can justify disclosing the reality of France’s weak military position to the French because it ensures that they will continue to pay taxes and blindly serve their country.
Themes
Literary Devices
The Archbishop and La Trémouille go to the throne room to join the others. Bluebeard, dressed as the Dauphin, sits on the throne. Joan enters and accurately identifies the Dauphin. She then announces that she has come to Chinon to drive away the English and crown the Dauphin king. The Dauphin is elated but tells Joan she must first gain the Archbishop’s approval. Joan approaches the Archbishop and asks humbly for his blessing. Her humility wins the Archbishop over, and he decides she is pious, after all. Joan requests to talk with the Dauphin alone and everyone else leaves the throne room.
Joan’s correct identification of the Dauphin is more likely based on her assessment of context clues than on divine revelation, but the Dauphin is willing to accept it as a miracle because he’s excited that an angel is visiting him. The Archbishop softens to Joan when she behaves humbly. He views Joan’s humility as a sign of piousness, but his approval could also be in response to Joan behaving submissively before powerful men, which, in society’s eyes, her status as a woman requires her to do.
Themes
Joan addresses the Dauphin—whose name is Charles—colloquially as “Charlie” and comforts him as he admits that he isn’t much of a fighter: he’d rather be comfortable, safe, and not have to kill people. Joan still wants Charles to fight, however, and she says she can inspire him to be courageous. She insists that they pray for victory. Annoyed, Charles tells Joan to mind her own business. Joan counters this, asserting that they are both here to do “God’s business.” Charles ultimately decides to join forces with Joan and gives her command of his army. The others return to the room. “Who is for God and His Maid?” asks Joan, victoriously. “To Orleans!” the knights exclaim. The Archbishop offers his reluctant support, and La Trémouille, who had previously commanded the army, curses.
Joan refers to the Dauphin by a nickname just as she did in Scene I with Poulengey and John of Metz, demonstrating again how she addresses powerful men informally to establish herself as their equal. In this moment of the play, Shaw illustrates how everyone but Joan acts on their own self-interest. The Dauphin accepts her request only after she flatters him; the Archbishop responds with skepticism because Joan’s heightened sense of power renders her less humble, less pious and, therefore, less subservient to the Church; La Trémouille curses because Joan—a simple farm girl—has assumed his former authoritative role. In contrast, Joan acts only on behalf of God, whom she “knows” by virtue of her own judgment.
Themes
