Saint Joan

We all know the story of Saint Joan. Joan a young French country girl finds herself caught up in a France versus England political struggle. She has nothing to recommend her for the task, but Shaw portrays her there among her comrades as fearless, confident, inspired. And she is And like so many visionaries down the centuries she pays the supreme price.What I love more than the text, and I love the text - brisk, upbeat, re-captuing the various personalities so accurately - what I love more is Shaw's Preface. Yes, it is long, many paragraphs, and I suppose out of proportion to the length of the text of the play but it contains so much wisdom. I'll take one example. He speaks of the VISIONARY and sees the visionary as one who sees further, probes deeper and who DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Oh yes, we all dream dreams, I can come up with solutions to several of the world's problems, but I am not prepared to put my life on the line. This is only one example but so relevant in today's world of self-glorification.The PLAY presents a delightful Jaon, the Preface invites us to ponder her story.

Really well edited. I think very well produced paperback version of the script. He is little read or performed now, more's the pity, the nearest the great tradition of UK and Irish drama comes to Brecht. He was enormously influential on contemporary English Language dramatists.

Saint Joan is one of my favourite plays, as it combines an interesting historical background (love history) as well as an unordinary Joan d'Arc who is neither good nor bad, but a mixture of the admirable, courageous, exasperating, pitiful, proud. Shaw does not present a romantic, one-sided saintly heroine; instead he shows Joan as the fallible human being she was. And yes, she does become a saint, but she is by no means holy - here's a Joan who's perky, proud, stubborn, yet you can't help being on her side. In addition, Shaw is capable of laughing at both Catholic and Protestant, French and English. In Saint Joan he is at his best, producing a work brimming with irony and social satire, revealing the corruption within the church, the state and the individual. It's not necessary to delve into history books before reading Saint Joan, the well-written introduction will provide you with a wealth of information about the feudal system, the role and status of the church, and Joan of Arc herself. One star less not for the play itself, but for this edition - there are no annotations whatsoever; it would have been very helpful if notes for the play had been provided, because I think there are a lot of allusions to themes in Shaw's other plays, but you're left to figure them out yourself.

I very much enjoyed this play. Exquisite writing and a brilliant tale to tell. Joan is magnificent.

A powerful play which is easy to read. Shaw includes detailed stage descriptions and directions which make the play as interesting to read as it is to watch being performed.

All I needed was this play, but this book also came with nearly 50 pages of extra notes from previous actors and the publisher etc about Joan, her life, Bernard Shaw's representation of her. What I needed it was everything and more, that's why I've put 5 stars. You can tell it's been used, but I don't mind, especially for only 1p plus £2.80 packaging, not bad at all. Thanks!

You need an interest in St Joan but GBS is always interesting to read if at times a little extreme. He makes an interesting comparison with Anouilh

Good - for my wife!

the book itself is amazing..a recommend reading for anyone interested in GBS..the quality of the book in terms of print n font size is super cool and easy to read. after having so much issues with book orders from other sellers lately, i must say Indus international is trustworthy.

Everything about this book was good. It should be noted that George Bernard Shaw was not a very good person. Look him up. It should also be noted that about 31 percent of the book is Shaw writing about Joan or Arc herself and is not actually part of the play. Otherwise, this is an incredible book and I highly reccomend it to anyonee that loves plays and classic books.

J'ai été déçu de trouver le texte de cette pièce sans la préface. Or c'est celle-ci que j'attendais : tout est dedans avec une vision extraordinairement percutante, tellement percutante qu'elle est inséparable de la pièce. Or les traductions en français dont je dispose sont assez médiocres, d'où ma déception de ne pas l'avoir en anglais.

book cover quality was good

G.B.Shaw at his comic best for his final masterpiece. Joan was burned at the stake, by the Church as a Heretic, and 400 years later declared a Saint by the same Church. Not only an entertaining History lesson, but a brilliant account of the teenage Saint. Shaw's Ironic Irish take on the Trial is priceless. He takes on Christianity with a clear and playful eye. If you liked Pygmalian (My Fair Lady) you will love this play. Very readable.