Saint Joan opens with a preface by the author, George Bernard Shaw, explaining his interpretation of Joan of Arc and the themes he sought to explore in the play. The Preface begins by sketching out the personality and temperament Shaw ascribes to Joan. Shaw portrays her as a forward-thinking genius who lacked the political cunning to avoid persecution by those whose power she disrupted. Comparing her to Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher who was forced to drink poison hemlock after being accused of corrupting the youth, and Napoleon, whose successful military conquests rendered him such a formidable threat to England that he was exiled to a remote island, Shaw suggests that extraordinary people are often both idolized and hated for their competence. Both Joan and Socrates were unable to defend themselves successfully during their trials, which Shaw suggests was because they “combined terrifying ability with a frankness, personal modesty, and benevolence which made the furious dislike to which they fell victim absolutely unreasonable, and therefore inapprehensible by themselves” (9-10). Essentially, Joan was so reasonable and virtuous that she found herself unable to understand the petty and irrational complaints against her.

The Preface then addresses the question of the voices Joan of Arc claimed to hear.