Saint Joan (Penguin Classics)

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Joan of Arc, born in 1412, was burned at the stake in 1431, canonized by the Catholic Church in 1920, and, like most saints, whitewashed by history. Canonization tends to strip a saint of supposedly un-Christian attributes such as rebelliousness, pride, and intolerance. And Joan, despite having been a stubborn, haughty, naive, even foolish girl, has for much of history been remembered only as a pious martyr. However, George Bernard Shaw's play, Saint Joan, completed in 1925, began the modern rehabilitation of the icon as a fully human, fallible character--not to mention a poster girl for teenage rebellion and feminism. Shaw's Joan, like the real Maid of Orleans, leads the fight to drive the English out of her native France, insists on direct communication with her God instead of submitting to the mediation of Catholic priests, and refuses to dress, speak, or act according to traditional notions of how women were expected to behave. Until the closing scene of Shaw's play, however, neither Joan nor her foes are cast in neatly heroic terms. Both are earnestly pursuing their partial visions of the truth. In the play's famous epilogue, Shaw suggests that even 400 years later, most of us are so limited by our own perspectives that we are unable to tell the difference between a saint and a heretic. "O God that madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to receive Thy saints?" Joan asks, preparing for her death. "How long, O Lord, how long?" --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

With Saint Joan, Shaw reached the height of his fame as a dramatist. Fascinated by the story of Joan of Arc (canonized in 1920), but unhappy with "the whitewash which disfigures her beyond recognition," he presents a realistic Joan: proud, intolerant, naïve, foolhardy, always brave-a rebel who challenged the conventions and values of her day.

Customer Reviews:

Saint Joan on audio tape.......2007-02-09

Audio recordings of plays are usually done with different actors reading the roles as in a radio play. This is the first time I have listened to a play being read by only one reader. It is not at all the same experience, but better than one might expect. The reader uses a neutral American accent for the French characters, but a slightly British one to differentiate the English characters. There was a recording on Caedmon of the play with Siobhan McKenna repeating her famous performance, but it is not available. (Some libraries still have it on vinyl, but that doesn't help me pass the time while commuting.)

Shaw's play is intriguing, coming as it did so soon after Joan's canonization and Ireland's war for independence ("France for the French"), but there is no denying that is rather untheatrical, save for the climactic scene. Joan confesses to her supposed sins to save her life, but then withdraws the confession, choosing execution and martydom. I had never realized how much Arthur Miller owed to Shaw; I was reminded of the scene in The Crucible when John Proctor confesses to a lie and then recants, preferring an honorable death. These scenes are both based on historical events, of course, but the resemblance in the way they are dramatized is striking nonetheless. Here's a potential trivia topic: How many plays and movies can you think of that use the device of a false confession followed by an even more dramatic retraction?

Shaw never misses a chance to make a good point........2006-02-23

I have seen this performed, I have read it and I have heard it on a tape from Books on Tape for the Blind and Disabled. I loved it every time. I agree fully with Shaw that the Catholic Church has gotten a bad rap over Joan. When you listen to her words she was espousing overt Protestant beliefs -- God can, should and will speak to one person, individually and doesn't require a mediator like the Pope or Mary or any of the saints.

I actually got the most out of this play by hearing it on a tape from Books on Tape for the Blind and Disabled. I was able to speed the tape up and suddenly the wimpy, silly voices of the court officials came out perfectly. The farce inside the tragedy revealed itself clearly.

Shaw is brilliant and astute -- but no one needs me to tell them that!

Drama Instead of History.......2005-12-11

This is George Bernard Shaw's most important work. A successful drama that has enjoyed continuous popularity for nearly eighty years is worth a read. Most audiences find it very satisfying. Shaw has a gift for lucid dialogue that brings a centuries old story to life. This is one of the most approachable of the great English language plays.

Why then does "Saint Joan" fall short of five stars?

Fictional accounts of Joan of Arc's life are numerous and seldom accurate. Shakespeare makes her a witch. Voltaire makes her an idiot. Schiller makes her admirable - and gives her a magical helmet that protects her from harm until she falls in love.

In a rare exception to his usual satirical style, Mark Twain spent months in France researching her life and published a fictional biography. Readers who enjoy accurate historical fiction would do well with Twain's "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc." Twain considered this - not "Huckleberry Finn" - to be his finest work.

Shaw pays far more attention to accuracy than most fictionalizations. Several lines in the play are Shaw's own translations from her trial transcript. Shaw's long introductory essay aspires to be history as well as drama. Most scholars agree with his assessment of Joan of Arc's socioeconomic background. Shaw acknowledges a few dramatic economies: he combines the historical Jean d'Orleans and Duke Jean d'Alencon into a single character. What causes problems are Shaw's unacknowledged deviations from the factual record.

Shaw argues that Joan of Arc was a forerunner of Protestantism who got a fair trial. Among serious scholars this argument gains no credibility. A surviving letter from the English government that financed the trial guaranteed her execution even if the court found her not guilty. Joan of Arc never rejected the Roman Catholic Church: she rejected the authority of politically biased judges bent on discrediting her and, by inference, on discrediting the king she had crowned. Twenty-four years after her death the Pope reopened the case. The appeals court not only found her innocent but discovered such extensive violations of proper court procedure that it accused the late Bishop Cauchon of heresy.

Shaw's choice works as drama rather than as history yet he advocates it on historical grounds. He might be sincere but he is certainly not honest. To an academic scholar who has explained the facts to umpteen Shaw enthusiasts the difference can be infuriating. This is why "Saint Joan" collects a handful of scathing reviews.

A reader who understands this little shell game with history should have a lively time with the drama. If this is your first reading of "Saint Joan" then I envy you. Nothing quite equals the first encounter.

Wisdom.......2003-12-08

What has most stuck in my mind, many years after having read Shaw's book, is the fact that it's more logical to think of Joan as a protestant saint, instead of Catholic, when one considers how she rejected the Catholic Church's authority and was, naturally, rejected in turn.

He makes a very good point when he says that, right as that Church was to ban her on those grounds, nothing could give it the moral right (or any other right, for that matter) to condemn a woman who disagreed with it on matters of faith. In all fairness, they should have simply excommunicated her and said: "If you think you have a better idea, then you go ahead and create your own Church".

It may be a thoroughly idealistic point of view of course, too democratic for that age (perhaps any age), but nonetheless it strikes me as completely fair.
If you like a club but object to some of its rules, and that club isn't willing to change for your sake, they may have the right to throw you out, just as you may have the right to start a new one on your own - but they shouldn't be given the right to take away your life for having dared to challenge their concepts.

This lesson has stayed with me and I recommend this book for the wisdom it contains.

Shaw's "Saint Joan".......2002-07-02

In one surviving account, Joan of Arc was quoted as saying that her judges were merely putting her on trial because they were members of the pro-English faction and therefore her "capital enemies"; unfortunately, this play tries to claim otherwise. One of Shaw's primary themes is the notion that Pierre Cauchon and Joan's other judges were acting as "sincere" defenders of the Church in their prosecution of her, a view which is contradicted by document after document as well as the above quote from Joan herself. Cauchon and his cronies are well known to historians as having been long-term supporters of the English and Burgundian factions, and the eyewitnesses said repeatedly that they prosecuted Joan out of revenge for the defeats that their side had suffered at the hands of her army, rather than out of any genuine belief that she was guilty of heresy. Cauchon even allowed her to take final communion (which was never done in the case of heretics), indicating that even he didn't truly believe the charges against her. As Shaw was aware, these charges were soundly debunked when the case was appealed after the English were finally driven from Rouen in 1449; and the arguments put forward in this ruling have been confirmed as accurate by experts in medieval theology and canon law, whereas Cauchon's arguments can easily be refuted by consulting medieval theological works - his arguments are, at best, merely distortions of what the medieval Church actually taught. Here are some specific examples which factored prominently in Shaw's play:
- Shaw, like Cauchon, claimed that Joan was guilty of heresy for wearing male clothing allegedly as a personal preference, despite the fact that both of these men were aware of her own statements to the contrary. She was quoted as saying that she wore soldiers' clothing (of a type which had "laces and points" by which the pants and tunic could be securely tied together) primarily to protect herself, as her guards had tried to rape her on several occasions; this reason is also given in some of the 15th century chronicles, along with similar quotes from Joan herself on the need to protect her chastity while surrounded by the men in her army. The medieval Church allowed an exemption in such cases of necessity (read St. Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica", or St. Hildegard's "Scivias", for example): the practice of so-called "cross-dressing" was only condemned if it was done as a preference. Shaw rejects all of the above based on the specious argument that the "other women" who accompanied armies in that era didn't wear such clothing, ignoring the fact that these "other women" were: 1) prostitutes, who wore provocative dresses because they were trying to encourage sexual encounters rather than the opposite; and 2) aristocratic women sometimes were given command of their family's armies in the absence of their husband or son, but these women did not bed down at night among the troops in the field, as Joan often did. Shaw chooses to ignore these circumstances.
- On a somewhat related subject, Shaw tries to portray her as a rebel against "gender norms", again ignoring her own statements and the circumstances of the era. She was quoted by one eyewitness as saying that, quote, "I would rather stay home with my poor mother and spin wool [rather than lead an army]", which hardly sounds like someone who is trying to reject traditional gender roles. When another woman, Catherine de la Rochelle, wanted to get involved, Joan told her to "go home to your husband and tend your household". At no point do we find her making any 'feminist' statements. She was given titular command of an army for the same reason other religious visionaries sometimes were given such a role in that era, not as part of a "feminist crusade".
- Shaw admits that Joan was a devout Catholic and yet claims her as "the first Protestant martyr" - in the same sentence. This seems to be a rather willful contradiction, and the claim of "Protestant tendencies" is merely based, once again, on the old business of accepting Cauchon's claims about her at face value while ignoring the circumstances. If you read the documents you will find that Joan never opposed the Church as a whole: she merely stated her objection to being tried by a panel of pro-English clergy, and repeatedly asked to be given a non-partisan group instead or to be brought before the Pope. It was a violation of Inquisitorial procedure to stack the panel of assessors with people who were pursuing a secular vendetta against the accused: what Cauchon and his cohorts were doing, as Inquisitor Brehal later pointed out during the appeal, was itself an act of heresy. The notion that the medieval Church viewed all Inquisitorial panels as "infallible" and therefore not open to question is just a stereotype, bluntly contradicted by actual medieval theological writings: St. Hildegard, in her 12th century book "Scivias", warns the clergy against judging someone in error or out of anger, as it would be the offending clergy who would be punished for it by God. Joan was perfectly within her rights, even under the rules of the medieval Church, to question her biased judges, and was declared a martyr for Catholicism by Inquisitor Brehal when her execution was declared invalid in 1456. Shaw ignores this. The claim that his play is somehow vindicated by the fact that it was "vetted" by one Catholic (out of the hundreds of millions of Catholics worldwide) is a pointless argument: there are "Catholics" who claim that Joan was having adulterous sex, and all sorts of defamatory allegations. The bottom line is: this play does little more than repeat the slander leveled at Joan by the men who cruelly put her to death, despite the work of generations of scholars to bring a more accurate picture of the issue to light.

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Awesome!
Stubbs & the Horse
A BEAUTIFUL VOLUME FOR EQUINE ENTHUSIASTS

Stubbs & the Horse
Malcolm Warner , and Robin Blake
Manufacturer: Kimbell Art Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300104723

Book Description

A versatile genius whose oeuvre includes paintings, engravings, and detailed anatomical studies, George Stubbs (1724–1806) was fascinated by horses. This handsome book presents for the first time the wide range of his equine imagery, from refined portraits of racehorses to violent scenes of horses attacked by lions in the wild.
Taking full account of the associations and status of the “noble horse” in eighteenth-century Britain and the colorful world of its devotees—both high and low—the authors examine Stubbs’s work from different points of view and offer many fresh interpretations. Malcolm Warner discusses how horses were regarded in Britain in Stubbs’s time, the unexpected connection between his horse-and-lion compositions and the creation of the English thoroughbred, and his classicism. Robin Blake examines the young Whig noblemen who were Stubbs’s first patrons, the grooms, jockeys, trainers, and other attendants who appear in his horse portraits, and his curious dealings with the Prince of Wales. The book also includes an essay by conservators Lance Mayer and Gay Myers on Stubbs’s experiments with wax and enamel.
For admirers of Stubbs’s art, eighteenth-century English painting, and horses, this book is an essential addition to their bookshelves.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2007-01-25

This book is outstanding. The plates are all in color and large enough to see easily. Stubbs anatomical drawings are very detailed. I had been having trouble understanding how horses moved before I saw those drawings. Seeing the skeleton and muscles helped considerably. When I took it to class and showed my professor, she got online and bought one for herself. She draws/paints horses beautifully and owns horses herself.

Reading the background information about George Stubbs and the symbolism used in his paintings was very interesting and educational.

Stubbs & the Horse.......2006-11-11

Excellent purchase. I saw this book in the National Gallery, London having just viewed Whistle Jacket. I wanted it because my own passion lies in painting Horses. The book is full of fascinating information on Stubbs himself, his love of horses and has his excellent illustrations / studies of equine anatomy. A useful and beautiful book filled with his striking paintings.

A BEAUTIFUL VOLUME FOR EQUINE ENTHUSIASTS.......2004-12-01

Although arguably the greatest painter of horses to date, British artist George Stubbs (1724 - 1806) would never imagine the prices his canvases would some day command. Some 40 years ago the late Paul Mellon added to his collection of Stubbs's work with a check for tens of thousands of dollars, today anyone lucky enough to come across an available Stubbs had better have a million to spare. London's National Gallery paid 11 million pounds for a life-sized painting of the thoroughbred "Whistlejacket," a monumental work breathtaking in majesty and beauty.

Those fortunate enough to visit the Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Museum though early February of this year will be able to see not only this incredible piece but the finest works of Stubbs in the first major collection to fully capture his genius as a painter of horses.

Almost as good as being at the Kimbell is leafing through "Stubbs & The Horse," an exquisite 256 page volume holding 200 illustrations. Authors Malcolm Warner and Robin Blake present a comprehensive portrait of Stubbs, as Warner discusses the low regard in which the British held horses in Stubbs's time, the surprising connection the artist's horse-and-lion compositions, and the evolution of the English thoroughbred. Offering a different perspective Blake tells us of the Whig nobles who were Stubbs's initial patrons and offers insights into the inclusion of the grooms, jockeys, trainers and other figures in the artist's paintings.

As Warner notes in his Preface, "The horse was at once the mainstay of Stubbs's success and a problem for his reputation. In his lifetime he attracted much praise for his abilities as a painter of horses.......But this won him little prestige in his profession." In fact. During Stubbs's time British artistic tastes ran to paintings of historical events, myths, the Bible, and allegory. A painter of horses was rather low in popular opinion.

Nonetheless, Stubbs persisted in his study of equine anatomy eventually rendering remarkable ink drawings which presaged his later paintings. He would later take these anatomical drawings to London where they were well received, and resulted in several commissions. Eventually he acquired an enviable reputation as an equestrian painter and earned a comfortable living from equine enthusiasts.

Stubbs lived to the age of 81, and died in 1806. Throughout his life many considered his incredibly beautiful lifelike work to be second class. History has deemed it quite differently.

- Gail Cooke

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Not what I thought
One of the great horse artists
A Must Have for the Equine Student

The Anatomy of the Horse
George Stubbs
Manufacturer: Pallas Athene
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1843680033

Book Description

George Stubbs was one of Britain’s most innovative artists. Such is the present reputation of his paintings, with their astonishingly convincing renderings of both animals and people, that it is easy to forget how much of his success was based on rigorous scientific observation. In 1756, Stubbs rented a remote farmhouse, where he erected a scaffolding to hold the cadavers of horses as he dissected and drew them. After 18 months of single-minded dedication, Stubbs produced the drawings for The Anatomy of the Horse, which he later etched himself. The result was a sensation. Letters of congratulation poured in from scientists all over Europe, amazed not only at the perfection of the finished work, but that it had been produced without patronage. It remained a textbook for artists and scientists for well over a century, and to this day, the strange, spare beauty of these prints continue to fascinate.

Customer Reviews:

Not what I thought.......2007-02-04

This is an interesting book and the drawings are lovely. However, you don't know what you are looking at since the explanation plates are way way too tiny to read. You'd have to take the pages and blow them up to read what is drawn. Instead of 4 plates to a page how about each plate to a page. Don't buy if you are trying learn about the horse because you can't read the tiny tiny print.

One of the great horse artists.......2007-01-24

George Stubbs is considered one of the all time great sports artists. Although he focused predominantly on horses, study of his work reveals that his talents were diverse and impressive. It was fairly unique in his time to do detailed anatomical studies, and George Stubbs was somewhat of a pioneer in that field. He even rigged up a special apparatus to hold the horse carcass in life-like poses as he dissected and sketched. I have an older edition of this book, and it's so used and loved that the pages are falling out!

I've been a student and follower of George Stubbs since childhood ... partly because I've always been a "horse-crazy kid", and partly because I'm actually a descendant of the artist. I had the honor of viewing a marvelous display of his original works at Yale University's art museum many years ago. Seeing the artwork in person made me appreciate his talents even more.

By purchasing and studying this book, you are not only reviewing a very accurate rendering of the anatomy of the horse, you are holding a significant piece of both art and biological history in your hands.

Don't hesitate if you're considering a purchase. You won't regret it.

A Must Have for the Equine Student.......2000-06-26

I found that the book was very well written and was jamed packed with need to know information. It provided me with the information that I need in my Equine Science class. It had alot of stuff that the text book did not have. I would recommend this book to student that is taking an Equine related class.

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George Stubbs
Martin Myrone
Manufacturer: Tate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1854374338

Book Description

Though the English artist George Stubbs (1724-1806) was once dismissed as "merely" an animal painter, his familiar subjects--racehorses, lions, and scenes of gentlemanly hunting and shooting--are highly popular today. This detailed study of Stubbs's work reaffirms his importance and reveals him to be a progressive artist whose concerns with both scientific discovery and art history set him at odds with the artistic establishment of his day.

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Stubbs, portraits in detail
George Stubbs
Manufacturer: Tate Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0946590176

The Rhinoceros from Durer to Stubbs, 1515-1799: An Aspect of the Exotic

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The Rhinoceros from Durer to Stubbs, 1515-1799: An Aspect of the Exotic
T. H. Clarke
Manufacturer: Sotheby's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0856673269

George Stubbs: The Complete Engraved Works

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George Stubbs: The Complete Engraved Works
Christopher Lennox-Boyd , Rob Dixon , and Tim Clayton
Manufacturer: Philip Wilson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0856673757

Book Description

In a period when access to fine paintings was restricted, Stubbs's reputation was spread chiefly through his engravings. This catalogue raisonneacute; is the only single volume to contain all Stubbs's known engravings and provides a complete record of prints made by others after his works. Introductory essays consider Stubbs's relationships with other artists, particularly his engravers, and examine how the prints were originally marketed.Part 1 covers the more important prints issued during Stubbs's lifetime, some of which are published here for the first time. Each of the 218 entries is fully illustrated and accompanied by comparative material.Part 2 comprises 440 supplementary entries and indicates the nature and extent of Stubbs's posthumous reputation.This book also is the first substantial review of the work of a major 18th century British painter by reference to the important, but neglected, medium of reproductive prints.

George Stubbs and the Wide Creation: Animals, people and places in the life of George Stubbs, 1724-1806

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George Stubbs and the Wide Creation: Animals, people and places in the life of George Stubbs, 1724-1806
Robin Blake
Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 070117305X
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Book Description

Illuminating and highly enjoyable biography of Stubbs, which places him in the context of eighteenth-century England. George Stubbs tirelessly studied and explored the natural world, and looked for new ways of representing it.

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George Stubbs 1724-1806
Judy Egerton
Manufacturer: Tate Gallery Pubn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Out to Brunch: At Mildred Pierce Restaurant

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Out to Brunch: At Mildred Pierce Restaurant
Donna Dooher , Claire Stubbs , and Lianne George
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0973165103

Book Description

Huevos Monty, Roasted Cherry Tomato Tart, Crunchy Coconut Macadamia Granola With Honey and...Green Eggs and Ham: no wonder Toronto's Mildred Pierce Restaurant opened to rave reviews and the chefs' cookbook turned into a local bestseller. Experience the delights of their cuisine right at home with this collection of amazingly delicious, beloved brunch recipes. Such mouthwatering treats as warm biscuits and scones, fluffy pancakes, and velvety egg dishes turn the meal into a great celebration. Begin with one of the eye-openers: drinks such as Mildred's Passion, a bubbly champagne cocktail with passion fruit liqueur. The "teasers" include a variety of unusual breads and muffins, from Bacon and Asiago Crumpets to Cinnamon Sugar Beignets. Choose from one of a dozen egg-based dishes-perhaps Veda's Choice, a dolled-up, sinfully extravagant version of eggs benedict. From Chester Salmon Salad to Double-Crossed Biscotti, every recipe is simply scrumptious. And movie lovers will have extra fun recognizing the sly references to the classic Joan Crawford movie that gives the restaurant its name.

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