Character guide

Joan of Arc

major

Also known as Joan, Saint Joan, The Maid, Joan the Maid, Joan of Arc, the real Joan, Joan Ah, Joan Rising, Joan Bitterly, Joan Flattered, Joan Crossly, Joan Distressed, Joan Heresy, Joan Continuing, Joan Seventeen, Joan Poor old John, Joan Jack, Joan Agnes, Joan Man, Joan Miles

Joan arrives from the Vosges with voices, nerve, and a plan that nobody in authority asked for, then makes the plan work. Her unbounded certainty is her genius and her danger: she patronizes kings, lectures prelates, and cannot fathom why being right so enrages the men she corrects. In the play's early and middle acts she forces France and its enemies to reckon with a power that fits no category they possess.

King Charles VII

major

Also known as Charles, King Charles the Seventh, Charles Turning, Charles Intimidated, Charles Triumphant, Charlie, Charles Tempted, Charles Rising, Charles Reassured, Charles the Wise, Charles the Coward, Charles Kneeling, Charles Archbishop, Charles Poor old Joan, Charles Anxiously, Charles the Victorious, Charles Scrambling, the Dauphin, The Dauphin, Dauphin

Charles lives under a cloud of illegitimacy rumors and English victories, more comfortable hedging than ruling. Joan offers him Rheims and a crown, but every step toward coronation also makes her more indispensable and him more exposed. His wavering between gratitude, suspicion, and self-interest gives the play its political spine.

Peter Cauchon

major

Also known as Cauchon, the real Cauchon, Archbishop, The Archbishop, The Archbishop Peter Cauchon, Pious Peter, Cauchon Sternly, Cauchon Hopefully, Cauchon Impossible, Cauchon Rising, Cauchon Brother Martin, Cauchon Messire John de Stogumber, Cauchon Fiercely, Cauchon Glass-dell, Cauchon Wretch, Cauchon Flaming, Cauchon Woman, Cauchon Amen, Cauchon Relaxing, Cauchon These English

Cauchon is no cartoon villain: he believes the Church's authority over souls must be defended, and Joan's claim to direct divine instruction strikes at its foundation. He presides over her trial as a man doing what he thinks is right, which makes him more frightening than any scoundrel. His collision with Joan forces the play to ask whether institutional order and individual inspiration can ever coexist.

Dunois

supporting

Also known as Jack, Jack Dunois, the brave Dunois, the handsome Dunois, Seigneur, the Seigneur Dunois, Dunois Smiling, Dunois The English

Dunois knows war and knows the court's cowardice, so he recognizes Joan's military instinct faster than the politicians do. He fights beside her at Orleans and Rheims, loyal without being blind, and his easy competence throws the Dauphin's paralysis into relief. He matters because he shows what Joan could accomplish when a capable man simply says yes.

Warwick

supporting

Also known as Warwick Glasdale, Warwick Reassured, Warwick Really, Warwick Rising, Warwick Ah, Warwick Gently, Warwick Hallo, Warwick Quick, Warwick Hush, Warwick Kneeling, The Earl of Warwick

Warwick is a feudal magnate who understands that Joan's nationalism threatens the whole aristocratic order of ransom, chivalry, and negotiated war. He pursues her destruction with the calm of a man doing necessary political work, not the zeal of a fanatic. His alliance with the Church against her shows how secular and religious power converge when a peasant girl starts winning.

Robert de Baudricourt

supporting

Also known as Robert, Robert Miracles, Robert Sarcastic, Robert Thoughtful, Robert Grimly, Robert The Maid, Robert Rising, Robert To Poulengey, Robert Turning, Robert de Baudricourt, Captain Robert de Baudricourt, Robert No eggs, Baudricourt, Robert Polly, Robert Outraged, Robert Precisely, Robert Tcha, Robert Shaking Poulengey, De Baudricourt

Baudricourt is a practical soldier managing a minor garrison, and Joan's demand for horses and an escort strikes him as pure absurdity. His slow conversion from sarcasm to reluctant cooperation is the play's first demonstration of her uncanny power to move ordinary men. He matters because he is the gate she must pass through, and his surrender to her sets the whole story in motion.

Bertrand de Poulengey

supporting

Also known as squire Bertrand de Poulengey Polly, Bertrand de Poulengey, Poulengey, Polly, Poulengey Rising, Poulengey Gravely, Mary, de Poulengey

Poulengey serves in the provost-marshal's department under the blustering Robert de Baudricourt, who calls him Polly and treats him like a son. Where Robert is loud and will-less, Poulengey is lymphatic, absentminded, and obstinate once he decides — and he has already decided to follow Joan before anyone asks him. His willingness to back a village girl's divine errand gives her the escort she needs and quietly shames the men who should have led.

La Trémouille

supporting

Also known as La Trémouille Young Bluebeard, Bluebeard, La Trémouille Brutally, La Trémouille Scratching, Bluebeard Ha, Bluebeard Offended

As the king's most powerful advisor, La Trémouille controls patronage, war policy, and the purse strings Joan's mission depends on. He has spent years managing a timid king and a losing war by diplomacy and delay, and Joan's claim to speak for God strikes at the root of his authority. His resistance turns court politics into the story's real battlefield, where sainthood must survive committee.

Agnes Sorel

supporting

Also known as Agnes, Charles Agnes Sorel

Agnes Sorel occupies the delicate position of royal favorite in a court full of men who resent her influence and Joan's. She recognizes in the Maid a kindred refusal to accept the lot assigned to women, and her support gives Joan access and legitimacy the clergy and nobles would deny. Her wit and worldliness make her a useful counterweight to the pious men who want Joan burned or used.

John de Stogumber

supporting

Also known as Cauchon Messire John de Stogumber, Messire John, Messire, Messire John de Stogumber, Messire de Stogumber, Master John de Stogumber, Master de Stogumber, Master John, de Stogumber, De Stogumber, De Stogumber Kneeling

Stogumber represents the English faction at Joan's trial, and he wears his nationalism as loudly as his cassock. He is certain that Joan is a witch and a rebel, and his certainty grows crueler the more she refuses to be frightened. His rage matters because it shows how ordinary, sincere hatred — not just political calculation — fuels the machinery that destroys her.

The Inquisitor

supporting

Also known as The Inquisitor Master de Courcelles, The Inquisitor The blessed St. Athanasius, The Inquisitor One

The Inquisitor arrives at Rouen as the Church's professional conscience, methodical where Stogumber is rabid and Cauchon is political. He genuinely believes Joan's private revelations threaten the authority of the Church, and he pursues her with the patience of a man doing necessary work. His reasoned cruelty is the play's most chilling argument: that institutions destroy saints not by accident but by principle.

St. Catherine

minor

Also known as Catherine, Saint Catherine, Madame Saint Catherine, the blessed saints Catherine and Margaret

One of the saints who speaks to Joan in her visions.

St. Margaret

minor

Also known as Margaret, St. Margaret, the blessed saints Catherine and Margaret

One of the saints who speaks to Joan in her visions.

La Hire

minor

Also known as La Hire De Baudricourt, Captain La Hire

A rough soldier who fights alongside Joan.

Steward

minor

Also known as Steward Sir, Steward Rising, Steward Desperate

The steward of Robert de Baudricourt's castle.

Socrates

minor

Ancient philosopher compared to Joan in the preface.

Napoleon

minor

French emperor contrasted with Joan in the preface.

Shakespeare

minor

Playwright discussed in relation to Joan's story.

Mark Twain

minor

Also known as Mark

Author who wrote about Joan of Arc.

Voltaire

minor

Philosopher who wrote a satirical poem about Joan.

Andrew Lang

minor

Also known as Andrew, Lang

Author of a biography of Joan of Arc.

Schiller

minor

German playwright who wrote a play about Joan.

Luther

minor

Reformer mentioned in the preface for comparison.

Galileo

minor

Scientist mentioned in the preface for comparison.

Muhammad

minor

Prophet mentioned in the preface for comparison.

Christ

minor

Central figure of Christianity mentioned in the preface.

George Washington

minor

Also known as Washington

American general mentioned in the preface.

Newton

minor

Scientist mentioned in the preface for comparison.

Wellington

minor

Also known as Nelson, Nelson nor Wellington

British general mentioned in the preface.

The English

minor

Also known as the English, The English, the Burgundians, Burgundians

The collective English forces opposing Joan.

Brother John Lemaître

minor

Also known as Lemaître, Brother John

A deputy inquisitor at Joan's trial.

Brother Martin

minor

Also known as Martin, Cauchon Brother Martin

A Dominican friar present at Joan's trial.

Master de Courcelles

minor

Also known as The Inquisitor Master de Courcelles, Courcelles, Courcelles Rising

A canon lawyer at Joan's trial.

Canon John D'Estivet

minor

Also known as Canon D'Estivet, Canon, D'Estivet

A prosecutor at Joan's trial.

Ladvenu

minor

Also known as Ladvenu Joan, Ladvenu Rising

A young friar who brings Joan the last rites.

Gilles de Rais

minor

Also known as Gilles

A nobleman and companion of Joan, later notorious.

Sir John Talbot

minor

Also known as John Talbot, Cauchon Sir John Talbot, Talbot

The English commander defeated by Joan at Orleans.

Wycliffe

minor

Reformer mentioned in the preface for comparison.

Adam

minor

Biblical first man mentioned in the preface.

St. Peter

minor

Apostle and first pope mentioned in the preface.

Pythagoras

minor

Ancient philosopher mentioned in the preface.

Francis Galton

minor

Also known as Francis

Scientist whose theories are applied to Joan.

Edith Cavell

minor

Also known as Edith

Nurse executed in WWI, compared to Joan.

Abernethy

minor

Surgeon mentioned in the preface.

Foul Mouthed Frank

minor

Also known as Frank

A soldier in the English camp.