# Joan of Arc — Saint Joan character guide > Joan of Arc in Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw. **Role:** 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 **First appearance:** 0001-joan-the-original-and-presumptuous ## Snapshot A peasant girl who claims God's orders, out-generals seasoned commanders, crowns a king, and terrifies every institution she saves. ## Who they are 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. ## Relationships ### [King Charles VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/king_charles_vii) _psychological_ Joan inspires and pressures the hesitant Dauphin into claiming his throne, acting as a divine motivator and conscience. ### [Peter Cauchon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/peter_cauchon) _rivalry_ Cauchon, as a church authority, prosecutes Joan for heresy in a trial that pits her faith against institutional power. ### [Robert de Baudricourt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/robert_de_baudricourt) _professional_ Robert, initially skeptical, becomes the local commander who reluctantly helps Joan begin her military mission. ### [Dunois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/dunois) _friendship_ Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, becomes Joan's loyal military ally and one of her few genuine friends. ### [The English](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/the_english) _rivalry_ Joan leads French forces against the English occupiers, embodying the national enemy they fear and hate. ### [The Inquisitor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/the_inquisitor) _rivalry_ The Inquisitor represents the ruthless ecclesiastical machinery that condemns Joan for her unorthodox spirituality. ### [Warwick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/warwick) _rivalry_ Warwick, the English nobleman, sees Joan as a political threat and orchestrates her capture and execution. ### [Dunois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/dunois) _friendship_ Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, becomes Joan's loyal military ally and one of her few genuine friends. ### [Peter Cauchon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/peter_cauchon) _rivalry_ Cauchon, as a church authority, prosecutes Joan for heresy in a trial that pits her faith against institutional power. ## In the story ### [Preface to Saint Joan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/preface-to-saint-joan) Central figure of the preface; Shaw discusses her historical significance, her trial, and her role as a proto-Protestant and nationalist. ### [Joan the Original and Presumptuous](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-the-original-and-presumptuous) The central figure, described as a village girl, warrior saint, and proto-Protestant martyr who defied gender norms and authority. ### [Joan and Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-and-socrates) Described as too young and inexperienced to flatter or manage men, she openly expressed her impatience with folly. ### [Contrast with Napoleon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/contrast-with-napoleon) Compared to Socrates and Napoleon; her innocence and impetuous action led to her martyrdom. ### [Was Joan Innocent or Guilty?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/was-joan-innocent-or-guilty) Discussed as a genius and saint, whose trial was fair by medieval standards, and whose character was vindicated by posterity. ### [Joan's Good Looks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-s-good-looks) Discussed in terms of her physical appearance, described as unattractive sexually to men, neutral in sex conflict, and not sexless despite her virginity; also noted as defendant in a breach of promise suit. ### [Joan's Social Position](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-s-social-position) Discussed as the daughter of a working farmer, not a beggar or princess; illiterate but politically and militarily astute; proud of her household skills and social position. ### [Joan's Voices and Visions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-s-voices-and-visions) Subject of the chapter; her voices and visions are analyzed as products of a vivid imagination, not madness, and her strategic advice is deemed sound. ### [The Evolutionary Appetite](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-evolutionary-appetite) Discussed as a visionary whose voices and visions are reinterpreted as manifestations of the evolutionary appetite, not as delusions or imposture. ### [The Modern Education Which Joan Escaped](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-modern-education-which-joan-escaped) Joan is the central figure of the chapter, discussed as a model of sanity and spiritual health compared to modern scientific materialism. ### [Failures of the Voices](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/failures-of-the-voices) Joan's voices assure her of rescue, but she is ultimately led to the stake; she recants when rescue fails, then relapses and chooses burning. ### [Joan a Galtonic Visualizer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-a-galtonic-visualizer) Described as a visualizer who saw imaginary saints, a natural faculty studied by Galton. ### [Joan's Manliness and Militarism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-s-manliness-and-militarism) Portrayed as a woman with a 'craze for soldiering and the masculine life,' who insisted on wearing male dress, leading troops, and living as a soldier. ### [Was Joan Suicidal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/was-joan-suicidal) Discussed as accused of suicidal tendency; her leap from Beaurevoir Castle and her deliberate risk of death in battle are analyzed as choices for liberty or duty, not mania. ### [Joan Summed Up](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-summed-up) Described as a sane, shrewd country girl of extraordinary strength of mind and hardihood, a realist in war, and a born boss. ### [Joan’s Immaturity and Ignorance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-s-immaturity-and-ignorance) Described as a teenage girl with great natural capacity but lacking knowledge of men's vanities and social forces; her immaturity and academic ignorance led to conflicts with ecclesiastical and feudal institutions. ### [The Maid in Literature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-maid-in-literature) Discussed as the subject of various literary portrayals, from Shakespeare's sympathetic-then-scurrilous depiction to Schiller's romanticized and Voltaire's burlesque versions, and later as a figure of historical interest in works by Mark Twain and Andrew Lang. ### [Protestant Misunderstandings of the Middle Ages](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/protestant-misunderstandings-of-the-middle-ages) Central figure whose history requires understanding her medieval environment. ### [Comparative Fairness of Joan’s Trial](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/comparative-fairness-of-joan-s-trial) The subject of the trial; her persecution is compared to modern cases. ### [Joan Not Tried as a Political Offender](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-not-tried-as-a-political-offender) Joan is portrayed as innocent and defiant, refusing to accept the Church's interpretation of God's will and relying on her private revelations from her saints. ### [The Church Uncompromised by Its Amends](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-church-uncompromised-by-its-amends) Discussed as a saint whose private judgment was privileged, and whose burning was a horror that cannot be excused. ### [Cruelty, Modern and Medieval](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/cruelty-modern-and-medieval) Joan is discussed as a heretic who chose the stake over imprisonment, asserting her own authority over her soul against the Church. ### [Catholic Anti-Clericalism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/catholic-anti-clericalism) Joan is referenced as having virtually taken the step of denying that the souls of the people are no business of the Churchmen. ### [Catholicism Not Yet Catholic Enough](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/catholicism-not-yet-catholic-enough) Presented as a prophetic figure whose burning was a mistake, and whose canonization represents a lesson for the Church. ### [The Law of Change Is the Law of God](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-law-of-change-is-the-law-of-god) Cited as a self-selected saint who maintained her own ways, representing the unaveraged individual against the Church's hierarchical average. ### [Credulity, Modern and Medieval](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/credulity-modern-and-medieval) Her burning is the central historical event used to probe modern and medieval credulity. ### [Toleration, Modern and Medieval](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/toleration-modern-and-medieval) Discussed as a spirit who might have created her own church rather than submit to excommunication, highlighting the tension between individual faith and institutional authority. ### [Variability of Toleration](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/variability-of-toleration) Referenced as the historical figure whose execution Shaw uses to challenge modern self-congratulation about tolerance. ### [The Conflict Between Genius and Discipline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-conflict-between-genius-and-discipline) Analyzed as a village girl who, lacking any social authority, nonetheless commanded everyone from her uncle to the king by claiming divine orders. ### [Joan as Theocrat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-as-theocrat) Portrayed as a theocratic leader who claims divine authority, polarizing her audience and facing both fervent belief and intense skepticism. ### [Unbroken Success Essential in Theocracy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/unbroken-success-essential-in-theocracy) Joan's insistence on a swift attack on Paris after the coronation makes her a nuisance to the king and court; she is captured at Compiègne and finds herself without political allies. ### [Modern Distortions of Joan’s History](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/modern-distortions-of-joan-s-history) Subject of the chapter; her factual career is accurately reported in reference works, but the melodramatic legend distorts the truth. ### [History Always Out of Date](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/history-always-out-of-date) Subject of historical lies and religious distortions discussed in the chapter. ### [The Real Joan Not Marvellous Enough for Us](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-real-joan-not-marvellous-enough-for-us) Referenced as the subject of medieval and modern credulity; her fate serves as a warning against heresy. ### [The Stage Limits of Historical Representation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-stage-limits-of-historical-representation) Referenced as the subject of the play, with historical events condensed for stage presentation. ### [Tragedy Not Melodrama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/tragedy-not-melodrama) The subject of the tragedy, whose death at the hands of normally innocent people gives the story its tragic significance. ### [The Inevitable Flatteries of Tragedy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-inevitable-flatteries-of-tragedy) Shaw contrasts the melodramatic portrayal of Joan as a prima donna with his own aim to present the essential truth of her career. ### [Some Well-Meant Proposals for the Improvement of the Play](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/some-well-meant-proposals-for-the-improvement-of-the-play) Referenced as the subject of the play, whose burning would be staged for spectacle. ### [The Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/the-epilogue) Referenced as both the incinerated martyr and the canonized saint; her history is said to begin with her execution. ### [Saint Joan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/saint-joan) The central figure whose voices and mission drive the narrative. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters/joan_of_arc - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/characters