# Agnes Sorel — Saint Joan character guide

> Agnes Sorel in Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Agnes, Charles Agnes Sorel

**First appearance:** 0044-scene-ii

## Snapshot

The king's mistress and the sharpest woman at court, she reads Joan faster than the generals do and chooses to back her.

## Who they are

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.

## In the story

### [The Maid in Literature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-maid-in-literature)

Mentioned in the context of Voltaire's La Pucelle, where she is depicted as a woman with a consuming passion for chastity who repeatedly falls into the hands of licentious foes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/agnes_sorel
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters