# Mark Twain — Saint Joan character guide

> Mark Twain in Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** Mark

**First appearance:** 0017-the-maid-in-literature

## Who they are

Author who wrote about Joan of Arc.

## In the story

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

Noted as the author of a biography of Joan, converted to worship of her by Quicherat's documents, though his portrayal is criticized as an attempt to combine Bayard with Esther Summerson into an 'unimpeachable American school teacher in armor.'

### [Protestant Misunderstandings of the Middle Ages](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/protestant-misunderstandings-of-the-middle-ages)

Author criticized for misunderstanding medieval history and portraying Joan's story through a modern, irreverent lens.

### [Joan Not Tried as a Political Offender](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/joan-not-tried-as-a-political-offender)

Mark Twain is compared to Joan in terms of innocence and lack of understanding of the trial, and his account is deemed absurd.

### [A Void in the Elizabethan Drama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/a-void-in-the-elizabethan-drama)

Cited alongside Shakespeare as someone who would misunderstand Cauchon.

### [Tragedy Not Melodrama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/saint_joan_se/chapters/tragedy-not-melodrama)

Mentioned as one of the authors who reduced Joan's story to melodrama by depicting Cauchon and the Inquisitor as villains.

## Links

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