The Shavian Web

Seminar paper from the year 1995 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature grade: 13 Technical University of Berlin (Institu für Englische und Amerikanische Literaturwisenschaft) course: George Bernard Shaw language: English abstract: This paper concentrates on Shaw's understanding of history as it is manifest in his chronicle playSaint Joan. The attempted examination will be carried out along three aspects which are quiteclearly discernible yet closely intertwined. Broadly speaking these aspects could be called:1. The historical; finding out how close is Shaw to the historical facts of which he was in fullknowledge.2. The dramatic; leaving aside the obvious Stage Limits of Historical Representation (Shaw'sown wording in the Preface to the play) it shall be shown how Shaw exploits optimally thedramatic potential of Joan's story.3. The didactic; this term being used for the sake of argument to cover Shaw's social politicaland moral concerns.In the following chapters these three aspects will be shown in their mutual relation wherebyattention will be paid to the question of their eventual hierarchy. What was Shaw's main goalwhen writing Saint Joan? Did he intend to tell what happened in France in the first half of the15th century? Did he want to write a parable conveying pungent social criticism without havingto be too explicit? Or did he just feel like writing a good play which Saint Joan undoubtedly is?In other words I will try to work out the intentions underlying the interplay of the aspectsmentioned above and show how these are determined by Shaw's weltanschauung which is to sayby his philosophical/religious conception of the creative evolution.