54 pages 1 hour read

George Bernard Shaw

Saint Joan

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1923

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Scene 4

Scene Summaries & Analyses

Scene 4 Summary

Meanwhile in the English camp, Richard de Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick, and the chaplain John de Stogumber converse about the recent English defeat at Orléans. Stogumber claims that they lost because of witchcraft. Warwick is less concerned, claiming that Dunois’s military prowess is the bigger threat. While Stogumber is furious at the French witch, Warwick promises that the French will likely sell The Maid out to the Burgundians eventually, at which point they can pay her ransom and take her prisoner. Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais and an ally of the English claim to France, arrives to discuss Charles VII’s imminent coronation by The Maid. Stogumber repeats his claim that Joan is a witch and should be burnt, espousing nationalist sentiments that make him despise the French. Cauchon denies that Joan is a witch, reminding them that she does not worship the devil, but claims to pray to God. Cauchon, therefore, sees her as a heretic, even more dangerous than a witch. As such, his goal is to get her to repent and renounce her heresy, not to burn her. Stogumber, still eager to see Joan burned, reminds him that Inquisition courts have burned people in the past, although Cauchon replies that only the secular authorities have the right to execute someone—the Church merely excommunicates the sinner.

Related Titles

By George Bernard Shaw

Plot Summary

logo

Arms and the Man

George Bernard Shaw

Arms and the Man

George Bernard Shaw

Study Guide

logo

Caesar and Cleopatra

George Bernard Shaw

Caesar and Cleopatra

George Bernard Shaw

Plot Summary

logo

Heartbreak House

George Bernard Shaw

Heartbreak House

George Bernard Shaw

Plot Summary

logo

John Bull's Other Island

George Bernard Shaw

John Bull's Other Island

George Bernard Shaw

Plot Summary

logo

Major Barbara

George Bernard Shaw

Major Barbara

George Bernard Shaw

Study Guide

logo

Man And Superman

George Bernard Shaw

Man And Superman

George Bernard Shaw

Plot Summary

logo

Mrs. Warren's Profession

George Bernard Shaw

Mrs. Warren's Profession

George Bernard Shaw

Plot Summary

logo

The Doctor's Dilemma

George Bernard Shaw

The Doctor's Dilemma

George Bernard Shaw