Saint Joan

“As her actual condition was pure upstart, there were only two opinions about her. One was that she was miraculous: the other that she was unbearable.”

George Bernard Shaw establishes that people like Joan of Arc are divisive, creating a comedic contrast between the descriptions “miraculous” and “unbearable.” Through the use of grammatical parallelism, Shaw indicates that extraordinarily positive qualities can make the reverse impression upon some people, thus explaining why Joan was called a saint by some and a heretic by others.

“Joan was persecuted essentially as she would be persecuted today.”

Shaw compares the medieval past to his contemporary present, using repetition and a short, direct sentence to emphasize his point. The Preface therefore indicates that the play will satirize and critique contemporary culture as well as offer an interpretation of history.

“It is what men do at their best, with good intentions, and what normal men and women find they must and will do in spite of their intentions, that really concern us.”

Using epanalepsis, a rhetorical device where a clause repeats within a sentence, Shaw draws attention to the concept of intentions. He argues that the antagonists of the play persecuted Joan with good intentions, and also felt compelled to act regardless of those intentions because of outside factors. This contributes to Shaw’s argument that the antagonists of the play are not criminals.