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Unit 22: G. B. Shaw: Saint Joan— Introduction to the Author and the Text

In the plays of his later period discussion sometimes drowns the drama, in Back to Methuselah (1921), Notes
although in the same period he worked on his masterpiece Saint Joan (1923), in which he rewrites
the well-known story of the French maiden and extends it from the Middle Ages to the present.
Other important plays by Shaw are Caesar and Cleopatra (1901), a historical play filled with allusions
to modern times, and Androcles and the Lion (1912), in which he exercised a kind of retrospective
history and from modern movements drew deductions for the Christian era. In Major Barbara (1905),
one of Shaw’s most successful plays, the audience’s attention is held by the power of the witty
argumentation that man can achieve aesthetic salvation only through political activity, not as an
individual. The Doctor’s Dilemma (1906), facetiously classified as a tragedy by Shaw, is really a comedy
the humour of which is directed at the medical profession. Candida (1898), with social attitudes
toward sex relations as objects of his satire, and Pygmalion (1912), a witty study of phonetics as well
as a clever treatment of middle-class morality and class distinction, proved some of Shaw’s greatest
successes on the stage. It is a combination of the dramatic, the comic, and the social corrective that
gives Shaw’s comedies their special flavour.
Shaw’s complete works appeared in thirty-six volumes between 1930 and 1950, the year of his death.

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
1. Which of the following play earned George Bernard Shaw The Nobel Prize?
(a) Saint Joan (b) The Quintessence of Ibsenism
(c) The Doctor’s Dilemma (d) Candida.
2. Which of the following plays was not written by George Bernard Shaw?
(a) Caesar and Cleopatra (b) The Merchant of Venice
(c) Pygmalion (d) Major Barbara.

Fill in the blanks:
3. In 1906 the Shaws moved into a house, now called ...... .
4. After marriage Shaw settled in ...... .
State whether the following statements are true or false:
5. Influenced by his reading, he became a dedicated Socialist and a charter member of the
Fabian Society.
6. Shaw’s plays were first performed in the 1870s.

22.2 Saint Joan—Introduction to the Text

George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan was first produced in New York City in 1923 and in London in
1924. Shaw published it with a long Preface in 1924. When word came out that Shaw, who was
known as an irreverent jokester, was writing about a Christian saint and martyr, there were fears
that he would not be able to produce something appropriate, but the early reception of the play was
generally favorable, although some commentators criticized him for historical inaccuracy and for
being too talky or comic. Over the years, the play, a rare tragic work in his generally comic oeuvre,
has been seen as one of his greatest and most important.

Saint Joan has been hailed as being intellectually exciting and praised for dealing
with important themes, such as nationalism, war, and the relation of the individual
to society. The play solidified Shaw’s reputation as a major playwright and helped
win him the Nobel Prize in 1925.

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