George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. Annotated

1986

2020

My paper attempts to peruse Joan's religious fanaticism, reaching us through the perspective of 600 years and then filtered through Shaw's imagination, becoming the protest of a plain-spoken individual conscience. "What other judgment can I judge by but my own?" The events presented constitute the birth of the great changes that would hit the middle-aged Europe in the forthcoming decades. Indeed, if one adopts a post-colonial stance, it is quite possible to see Joan as a champion not only of Nationalism, but also of anti-colonialism. We are shown Joan's posthumous rehabilitation as an example of a modern show trial, and her original court hearing as one of history's terrible state trials. In Shaw's view Joan was, like Jesus, an agent for change, a change within the established church.When Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais, cries out: "Must then a Christ perish in torment in every age to save those who have no imagination?" this connection is mad...

2009

Shaw 7, 1987

Shaw 14, 1994

2011

SHAW SHADOWS: REREADING THE TEXTS OF BERNARD SHAW (University Press of Florida), 2004

Gahan's path-breaking book rereads Shaw's writing, dramatic and non-dramatic, against the background of critical theory in order to reassess its radical influence in both its own time and ours. Though sometimes dismissed as merely witty, Shaw should be considered one of the progenitors of contemporary literary studies, Gahan says, in that his work actually allows for ideas of theorists such as Derrida and Lacan. Gahan first considers Shaw's poststructuralist pioneering thinking in a general, philosophical way. Taking a fresh and thoughtful look at a wealth of readings, he examines Shaw's criticism and autobiographical writing, in which questions of authorship and subjectivity were crucial. Gahan looks at essays on music, science, and politics and at Shaw's critique of Darwinian theory, in which he calls for a new metaphysics within the discourse of science. In concentrating on his less familiar plays, Gahan shows how Shaw incorporated themes like writing, language, meaning, and authorship into his playwriting, while acknowledging an awareness of the subjectivity of human experience in general and of the writer's experience in particular. For the first time, the play cycle Back to Methuselah--the work Shaw considered his magnum opus--is examined as central to the oeuvre. This book heralds a major shift in the future of Shaw studies, restoring Shaw to his rightful place as a major intellectual figure and writer, as one of the most important authors and dramatists of the early 20th century. And it positions the Shaw text as pivotal in the historical break in Western culture between Victorian and modern worlds.

Rivista Italiana di Filosofia Politica

This paper aims to investigate some important elements of the thought of George Bernard Shaw, more commonly known as one of the most famous playwrights of the twentieth century. Shaw’s philosophy dwells on the relationship between man and nature and especially the concept of freedom. Among all his works, it was decided here to analyse Saint Joan. In re-imagining the historical Joan as a heroine in a play of ideas, Shaw made use of the known facts about Joan of Arc and Joan’s statements at her trial. Nonetheless, he made changes to emphasize her personal dignity and independence by contrast with the tyranny of institutions. Although he departed from the historical background, whitewashed her adversaries, and condensed episodes in Joan’s biography, he sought to be true to her confidence, courage, integrity, and common sense. His theatrical presentation is, in some respects, at odds with the Preface that accompanies the published play.