---
title: "Saint Joan in British Literature II"
description: "Saint Joan is Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc, using her story to test faith, nationalism, and moral authority in British Literature II."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms/saint-joan"
type: "key-term"
subject: "British Literature II"
unit: "Unit 13"
---

# Saint Joan in British Literature II

## Definition

Saint Joan is George Bernard Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc, reworked as a debate over faith, power, nationalism, and who gets to define truth in British Literature II.

## What It Is

In British Literature II, Saint Joan usually means George Bernard Shaw’s 1923 play, not just the historical Joan of Arc. Shaw turns Joan’s life into a modern drama about conviction, authority, and the way society reacts when one person seems more certain than everyone around her.

The play is built around Joan as a young peasant who claims divine guidance and acts on it with total confidence. That matters because Shaw is not only telling a historical story, he is staging a clash between private belief and public institutions. Church officials, nobles, soldiers, and judges all try to classify Joan, control her, or explain her away, while she keeps speaking in plain, direct language that makes the adults around her look timid, hypocritical, or slow.

This is where the title becomes meaningful in literary study. Calling her “Saint Joan” frames her as holy, but Shaw also lets the audience see how messy sainthood can look before history has cleaned it up. Joan is judged as a heretic in her own time, then later remembered as a martyr and canonized by the Catholic Church. That shift is part of the point: the play asks whether society recognizes truth only after it has already destroyed the person who spoke it.

Shaw’s version fits the course’s interest in Modernist and philosophical drama because it is not driven mainly by action. Instead, it uses argument, irony, and conflicting perspectives. You are meant to watch how each character explains Joan differently. To the English, she is a threat; to the church court, she is a problem; to Shaw, she is a force that exposes the weaknesses of everyone who claims to be wise.

The historical Joan of Arc matters too. She was a peasant girl from Domrémy, said she heard saints’ voices, helped lift the Siege of Orléans in 1429, and was executed in 1431. Shaw keeps that broad outline, but he uses it to push bigger questions about nationalism, religious language, gender, and the costs of being ahead of your time.

## Why It Matters

Saint Joan matters in British Literature II because it shows how a play can turn history into an argument. Shaw is not just retelling Joan of Arc’s life, he is using her to test ideas about belief, authority, patriotism, and social resistance.

If you can read Saint Joan well, you can recognize one of Shaw’s favorite methods: a character becomes the center of a debate, and the debate reveals more than the plot does. That makes the play a strong example of the course’s “play of ideas,” where dialogue carries the intellectual weight. Joan’s words matter not because they are fancy, but because they are fearless.

The play also gives you a clean way to discuss nationalism and martyrdom in literature. Joan becomes a national heroine of France, but Shaw does not treat nationalism as simple flag-waving. He shows how a nation can celebrate a figure only after punishing her for being disruptive. That tension shows up in essays about historical drama, religious conflict, and the gap between public memory and lived experience.

Just as useful, Saint Joan helps you talk about gender in modern drama. Joan refuses the expectations placed on a young woman in a male court and military world. When you analyze the play, you are often looking at who gets to speak with authority, who gets dismissed, and why her certainty feels threatening to the men around her.

## Connections

### Nationalism

Saint Joan ties Joan’s personal mission to the larger idea of France as a nation. Shaw shows how nationalism can turn a local girl into a symbol, but only after her actions reshape history. When you connect the play to nationalism, focus on the difference between political loyalty, religious calling, and the later myth of national heroism.

### Martyr

Joan becomes a martyr because she is killed for her beliefs and later remembered as a figure of moral courage. In Shaw’s play, that label is not just religious, it is political and historical. The word helps you track how the play moves from execution to reputation, and from courtroom condemnation to posthumous honor.

### Heresy

Heresy is the accusation that gives the trial its force. The church court treats Joan’s visions and obedience to divine voices as dangerous because they challenge institutional control. When you read the play, heresy is less about one wrong belief and more about who gets to decide what counts as legitimate truth.

### [philosophical drama](/british-literature-ii/key-terms/philosophical-drama)

Saint Joan fits philosophical drama because it stages ideas as conflict. Instead of relying only on suspense, Shaw makes characters debate religion, politics, and morality in public. That means the play’s meaning comes from argument, tone, and contradiction, not just from what happens in the plot.

## On the AP Exam

A quiz or essay question on Saint Joan usually asks you to identify how Shaw uses Joan’s story to argue about faith, power, or nationalism. You might be asked to explain why she is both a historical figure and a literary symbol, or to analyze a speech where she refuses to back down.

In passage analysis, look for contrast between Joan’s direct language and the official language of judges or church leaders. That contrast shows Shaw’s criticism of institutions that cannot handle people who think differently. If the prompt asks about Modernist drama, point out that the play is driven by debate and irony more than by action scenes.

A strong response will connect Joan’s trial, her later canonization, and Shaw’s interest in how society labels disruptive people. You are not just naming plot events, you are showing how the play turns biography into an argument about authority.

## Key Takeaways

- Saint Joan in British Literature II usually means Shaw’s play, not just the historical Joan of Arc.
- The play turns Joan’s life into a debate about faith, authority, nationalism, and who gets to define truth.
- Shaw presents Joan as a figure who challenges church and state, which makes her both threatening and heroic.
- The work fits philosophical drama because ideas and arguments matter as much as plot.
- Joan’s later sainthood and earlier execution show the gap between how a society judges a person and how history remembers them.

## FAQs

### What is Saint Joan in British Literature II?

Saint Joan is George Bernard Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc. In British Literature II, it is usually studied as a modern historical drama that explores faith, nationalism, gender, and institutional authority. Shaw uses Joan’s trial and legacy to ask why societies often punish people who later become heroes.

### Is Saint Joan about Joan of Arc or something different?

It is about Joan of Arc, but Shaw does not write it like a simple biography. He reshapes her story into a drama of ideas, so the play is as much about argument and interpretation as it is about historical events. That is why the text matters in literature classes, not just history lessons.

### How is Saint Joan an example of philosophical drama?

The play is philosophical drama because the action grows out of debates over belief, power, and morality. Characters explain, challenge, and judge Joan instead of just reacting to events. Shaw uses those arguments to expose different ways of thinking about truth and authority.

### Why is Joan called a martyr in literary analysis?

Joan is called a martyr because she is killed for her convictions and later remembered as someone who stood by her beliefs. In Shaw’s play, that label matters because it shows how public judgment can change over time. She is condemned by one generation and honored by another.

## Related Study Guides

- [13.2 The concept of the "play of ideas"](/british-literature-ii/unit-13/concept-play-ideas/study-guide/sItkOONpzh6QBLiW)

## About This Document

Canonical Fiveable pages are available as Markdown at the same path plus `.md`.

- [llms.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms.txt): index of Fiveable's sections and URL patterns
- [llms-full.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms-full.txt): complete subject and unit listing
- [MCP server](https://fiveable.me/mcp): call Fiveable as tools instead of fetching pages (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp`)
- [MCP server for AP teachers](https://fiveable.me/mcp/teachers): a teacher's classes, assignments and AP-rubric grading (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp/teacher`)

## Structured Data

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms/saint-joan#resource","name":"Saint Joan in British Literature II","url":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms/saint-joan","learningResourceType":"Concept explainer","educationalLevel":"AP® / High School","about":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms/saint-joan#term"},"audience":{"@type":"EducationalAudience","educationalRole":"student"},"dateModified":"2026-07-03T02:20:52.338Z","isPartOf":{"@type":"Collection","name":"British Literature II Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms"},"author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://fiveable.me/editorial#content-team","name":"Fiveable Content Team","url":"https://fiveable.me/editorial","parentOrganization":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/#organization"},"member":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda DoAmaral","sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/adoamaral"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Becky Bahr","sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-bahr-b52743132"]}]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fiveable","url":"https://fiveable.me"}},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms/saint-joan#term","name":"Saint Joan","description":"Saint Joan is George Bernard Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc, reworked as a debate over faith, power, nationalism, and who gets to define truth in British Literature II.","url":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms/saint-joan","inDefinedTermSet":{"@type":"DefinedTermSet","name":"British Literature II Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is Saint Joan in British Literature II?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Saint Joan is George Bernard Shaw’s play about Joan of Arc. In British Literature II, it is usually studied as a modern historical drama that explores faith, nationalism, gender, and institutional authority. Shaw uses Joan’s trial and legacy to ask why societies often punish people who later become heroes."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is Saint Joan about Joan of Arc or something different?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is about Joan of Arc, but Shaw does not write it like a simple biography. He reshapes her story into a drama of ideas, so the play is as much about argument and interpretation as it is about historical events. That is why the text matters in literature classes, not just history lessons."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How is Saint Joan an example of philosophical drama?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The play is philosophical drama because the action grows out of debates over belief, power, and morality. Characters explain, challenge, and judge Joan instead of just reacting to events. Shaw uses those arguments to expose different ways of thinking about truth and authority."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why is Joan called a martyr in literary analysis?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Joan is called a martyr because she is killed for her convictions and later remembered as someone who stood by her beliefs. In Shaw’s play, that label matters because it shows how public judgment can change over time. She is condemned by one generation and honored by another."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"British Literature II","item":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Key Terms","item":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/key-terms"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Unit 13","item":"https://fiveable.me/british-literature-ii/unit-13"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Saint Joan"}]}]}
```