Essay — Authority in Saint Joan (B+)

Write a critical commentary on the following extract, relating it to Shaw’s presentation of authority here and elsewhere in the play. In this extract, military, monarchical and religious authority quarrel over whether Joan should be admitted to Charles’ court. Staged in the privacy of an antechamber, this moment illuminates the true nature of France’s leaders without the polished veneers they assume in public. Shaw presents Charles and La Tremouille as incompetent, puerile and undeserving of their positions of authority, before revealing Charles’ self -serving nature through his appropriation of Joan’s iconography to obtain much -needed leg itimacy. Ultimately, the Archbishop is depicted as the most mature, level-headed figure of authority, yet it is precisely the Church’s commitment to preserve order and tradition that renders it narrow -minded: it cannot accept Joan’s authority if she cannot conform to the Church’s. Firstly, Charles and La Tremouille are shown to be inept and juvenile, unable to command the respect and authority that their posts confer. Charles’ unbecoming lack of self -restraint is immediately evinced by a scathing insult fr om the Archbishop (“If you cannot rule your kingdom, at least try to rule yourself”), with the repetition of “rule” highlighting his dual inability to govern at both the grand scale of his country and the modest scale of his own behaviour. Charles’ retort of “Another lecture! Thank you.” ironically reinforces the Archbishop’s point: while it was humorous at first, the fact that Charles is using this same riposte for the third time in the same scene highlights his recalcitrance and petulance. The childishness and ineptitude of authority is on full display when Charles and La Tremouille exchange a series of taunts: the military commander is not only shockingly illiterate (“I can’t distinguish the letters”) but also prone to emotional volatility, overcome with overwhelming anger as conveyed by the hyperbolic “blood boiling”. Charles is no better: he takes immature jabs at La Tremouille (“I can read, you know”) — seemingly proud of meeting the most basic expectation of literacy — and timidly hides behind him to “peer round [his] left shoulder”. This posture is reminiscent of a similarly ineffectual Robert in Scene 1: not only does he seek his Steward as a human shield to “back [him] up” against Joan, his attempt at “standing to inflate himself” also immediately gives way to a seated, “deflated” posture after Joan says one sentence. Just as Robert seeks to assert his authority in vain, Charles’ efforts are similarly feeble: he only declares his intention to assert his authority without actually asserting it (“I tell you I will”, “I am going to put my foot down”). These attempts — resembling a child’s tantrum — elicit blatant mockery from Bluebeard, who not only laughs and interrupts him, but also tauntingly calls him “Naughty!” as if addressing a toddler. In the context of f