Critical Analysis of Saint Joan : George Bernard Shaw
[alert-success] Saint Joan : George Bernard Shaw
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Bernard Shaw wrote the play Saint Joan, which opened in 1923. Shaw's career was going downhill at the beginning of the 1920s. Between 1918 and 1920, he wrote Back to Methuselah, a set of five plays that all connect to each other. When these plays first came out in 1922, they did not do well. Shaw was sad and tired, and at age 67, he thought about stopping writing plays for good. But current events got in the way. Shaw had been interested in Joan of Arc for a long time. In 1913, he thought about writing a play about her. In 1920, the Catholic Church made Joan a saint, and her story got a lot of attention. Shaw was so moved by Joan's story that he decided to write a play about it.
In December 1923, Saint Joan was performed for the first time at New York's Garrick Theatre. The lead role was played by Winifred Lenihan. In March 1924, the play opened at the New Theatre in London with Sybil Thorndike in the lead role. The response from critics was mostly positive. Shaw used many different pieces of history to write the play, including the transcripts of Joan's trial. Shaw's reputation grew so much because of the play that he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926. Shaw took the prize, but he didn't want the money that came with it.
Even before Saint Joan was put on stage for the first time, it was talked about. At least one critic was worried about how Joan would be treated by a writer as irreverent as Shaw, but when he saw the play, he was happy with how Shaw handled the subject. The first runs of the play in New York in 1923 and London in 1924 were both successful, with 214 and 244 performances, respectively. Even though Shaw wasn't well-known in France at the time, an early production of his work in Paris was also a big hit. But Shaw was not happy with the French version because it made Joan a weaker and more helpless character than Shaw had imagined. Early productions also went well in Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, and Tokyo.
Overall, Shaw's reputation as a great playwright was strengthened by Saint Joan, even though it wasn't as funny as most of his other plays.
On the other hand, not all of the early reviews of the new play were positive. Shaw's use of history was criticised a lot. Many mistakes in history were pointed out, and it was said that he used terms like Protestantism and nationalism in a way that didn't make sense at the time. Even though Shaw said in his Preface that he had recreated the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, the well-known mediaeval historian Johan Huizinga said that he had not. Many critics didn't like the Epilogue because, they said, it was too funny for the tragic events that came before it. One critic, though, said that the tragedy didn't fit. He saw the play as mostly a comedy, so he thought the Epilogue was fine, but Joan's death didn't belong.
Some people didn't like how the play mixed comedy and tragedy, and they also didn't like the parts that were too funny. Even though most French critics liked the play, they didn't like how Charles and his court were shown in a funny way. Shaw himself called the first funny scenes "flapdoodle" in a letter quoted by Nicholas Grene in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. In another letter, quoted by Stanley Weintraub in Saint Joan Fifty Years After, Shaw called Saint Joan "a magnificent play" and a "act of respect" for Joan, as cited by James Graham in Saint Joan Fifty Years After.
Even more critics have found a lot to like about the play. Desmond MacCarthy wrote in Saint Joan Fifty Years After that he was amazed by how the play made people feel "waves of emotion to be dashed on thought." He said it was interesting to think about and moved him emotionally. Luigi Pirandello, an Italian playwright, liked the way it made him feel poetically, but he thought Joan's character was too simple and liked Stogumber's character better. Not many people agree with him, because Stogumber is too crazy to be believable.
Later writers have also said good things about the play, calling it Shaw's best or, at the very least, his most important work because of how well it deals with important ideas. Some people have put it on the same level as Shakespeare's tragedies. It is also seen as part of a new trend in Shaw's work: a move toward a more melancholy and less optimistic outlook, as well as a friendlier attitude toward authority. This is partly because of how he felt about World War I.
The censors didn't have any problems with the play itself, unlike Shaw's earlier play Mrs. Warren's Profession, which did.
Shaw wrote a screenplay for Saint Joan in the 1930s, but it was never made because the Catholic Church told Hollywood censors not to let it be made.
A lot of people have talked about whether the play is a tragedy or a comedy. Some people see it as a traditional tragedy, where Joan's downfall is her own fault because she was too proud, as the Archbishop says. Some people say Shaw disagrees with the Archbishop and that Joan's pride is a good thing in the play. One critic isn't sure if Joan's pride is a tragic flaw, but says the play is a Greek tragedy because the disaster is caused by Fate in the form of the social forces that work against Joan. Another critic points out that the sad ending of the last scene is followed by a fairly happy ending in the Epilogue. This makes them think that Shaw has written a tragicomedy.
Critics have also had different ideas about who Shaw is on in the play: Joan's side or her opponents' side. Eric Bentley says in his writing that Shaw is on both sides. Arnold Silver says that Joan is like the younger, more rebellious Shaw, while Cauchon is like the older, stricter Shaw. Most critics, though, think Shaw is on Joan's side.
Overall, Shaw's reputation as a great playwright was strengthened by Saint Joan, even though it wasn't as funny as most of his other plays.
On the other hand, not all of the early reviews of the new play were positive. Shaw's use of history was criticised a lot. Many mistakes in history were pointed out, and it was said that he used terms like Protestantism and nationalism in a way that didn't make sense at the time. Even though Shaw said in his Preface that he had recreated the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, the well-known mediaeval historian Johan Huizinga said that he had not. Many critics didn't like the Epilogue because, they said, it was too funny for the tragic events that came before it. One critic, though, said that the tragedy didn't fit. He saw the play as mostly a comedy, so he thought the Epilogue was fine, but Joan's death didn't belong.
Some people didn't like how the play mixed comedy and tragedy, and they also didn't like the parts that were too funny. Even though most French critics liked the play, they didn't like how Charles and his court were shown in a funny way. Shaw himself called the first funny scenes "flapdoodle" in a letter quoted by Nicholas Grene in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. In another letter, quoted by Stanley Weintraub in Saint Joan Fifty Years After, Shaw called Saint Joan "a magnificent play" and a "act of respect" for Joan, as cited by James Graham in Saint Joan Fifty Years After.
Even more critics have found a lot to like about the play. Desmond MacCarthy wrote in Saint Joan Fifty Years After that he was amazed by how the play made people feel "waves of emotion to be dashed on thought." He said it was interesting to think about and moved him emotionally. Luigi Pirandello, an Italian playwright, liked the way it made him feel poetically, but he thought Joan's character was too simple and liked Stogumber's character better. Not many people agree with him, because Stogumber is too crazy to be believable.
Later writers have also said good things about the play, calling it Shaw's best or, at the very least, his most important work because of how well it deals with important ideas. Some people have put it on the same level as Shakespeare's tragedies. It is also seen as part of a new trend in Shaw's work: a move toward a more melancholy and less optimistic outlook, as well as a friendlier attitude toward authority. This is partly because of how he felt about World War I.
The censors didn't have any problems with the play itself, unlike Shaw's earlier play Mrs. Warren's Profession, which did.
Shaw wrote a screenplay for Saint Joan in the 1930s, but it was never made because the Catholic Church told Hollywood censors not to let it be made.
A lot of people have talked about whether the play is a tragedy or a comedy. Some people see it as a traditional tragedy, where Joan's downfall is her own fault because she was too proud, as the Archbishop says. Some people say Shaw disagrees with the Archbishop and that Joan's pride is a good thing in the play. One critic isn't sure if Joan's pride is a tragic flaw, but says the play is a Greek tragedy because the disaster is caused by Fate in the form of the social forces that work against Joan. Another critic points out that the sad ending of the last scene is followed by a fairly happy ending in the Epilogue. This makes them think that Shaw has written a tragicomedy.
Critics have also had different ideas about who Shaw is on in the play: Joan's side or her opponents' side. Eric Bentley says in his writing that Shaw is on both sides. Arnold Silver says that Joan is like the younger, more rebellious Shaw, while Cauchon is like the older, stricter Shaw. Most critics, though, think Shaw is on Joan's side.
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