Bernard Shaw’s well-known play Saint Joan recalls the legend of a young girl who leads her nation to an improbable victory against the English. Joan of Arc has given that turn out to be a part model for girls and women everywhere as a lady who conquered seemingly indomitable odds in a planet of males. But 1 will have to wonder: Would the legend of Saint Joan have the magnificence that it does had Joan not been burned when she was? Is the grandeur of the story of Joan of Arc identified in her life or in her death?
The very first step to finding out the answer is by understanding the French and English opinions of Joan. When Joan defeats the English at Orleans, she earns the respect of her French peers as a competent general and an extraordinary person. She is not viewed as a person special or revered she is simply a great, brave soldier. Then their opinions of her commence to transform – she is no longer noticed as the unstoppable, driving force of the French military. The second time about, they count on her to meet defeat at the hands of the English, with or with no God’s assistance. The French even start to query her religious motivation: “When you first came you respected [the authority of The Church], and would not have dared to speak as you are now speaking. You came clothed with the virtue of humility and since God blessed your enterprises accordingly, you have stained your self with the sin of pride” (105-six) exclaims the Archbishop. The Church is the authoritative voice throughout France, as properly as throughout England, and Joan’s dissension causes the French nobility to shed faith in her and in her skills. “The voice of God on earth is the voice of the Church Militant and all the voices that come to you are the echoes of your own wilfulness ” (110). Even soon after her victories against the English and her crowning of the Charles as King of France, Charles distrusts the authenticity of Joan’s voices. “Why dont the voices come to me?” he asks. “I am king, not you” (106). The faith he had in Joan when he gave her total handle of his military and sources is depleted the way that he speaks to her now is bitter and consists of a hint of annoyance with her. Even Dunois, her pal and fellow general, feels that her help from heaven…