Summary
The next scene opens on April 29, 1429, just outside of the city of Orleans. Dunois (also nicknamed the Bastard) is the leader of the French forces, and he paces back and forth on the banks of the River Loire, accompanied by his page. Dunois is frustrated because the wind is blowing east, but he needs a west wind in order to be able to sail upriver of the English forces and get into a strategic position. Joan arrives, dressed in armor. She is angry because she has been taken to the riverbank opposite to Orleans. Dunois explains why: the bridge that would allow them to cross the river and mount an attack is closely guarded by English soldiers. Dunois is impressed with Joan, although he's also curious about her status as a woman engaging in warfare. Joan brusquely explains that she is not like other women and is not interested in the same things they are. She turns the conversation back to military strategy, advocating for an aggressive assault on English forces. Dunois, however, explains that the only possible tactic involves sailing upriver and then attacking from behind.
Joan states that she will ask God to send a west wind, and, within moments, the wind starts to blow. Dunois is awe-struck and kneels before her, proclaiming her the commander of French forces. The troops begin to move upriver, eager to mount an attack.
The scene then shifts to a tent in the English camp. An English nobleman (later introduced as Richard de Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick) is reading, accompanied by his chaplain (John Boyer Spencer de Stogumber). Warwick calmly discusses the pleasures of books and reading, but de Stogumber interrupts to complain about the recent defeats suffered by English forces. With Joan leading the French, there have been massive defeats at Orleans and other places. Warwick points out that, amidst these military tensions, men are becoming more and more likely to take on a national identity (as French or English). He is distrustful of this change because he thinks it will make it harder for the Church and the nobility to maintain their hold on power. De Stogumber is not interested in this speculation and just wants assurance that Joan will be burnt. Warwick reassures him, explaining that a bounty has been placed on Joan's head and that he is working with the Bishop of Beauvais, Monseigneur Cauchon.
Cauchon arrives in the tent, and Warwick explains that Charles is about to be crowned at Rheims. De Stogumber angrily explains that Joan's witchcraft must be responsible for the sudden rise in French victories. Cauchon disagrees, acknowledging that Dunois is an excellent commander and that the French troops may be winning honestly. Warwick takes a moderate position: he thinks de Stogumber is being irrational, but he also thinks Joan must be doing something supernatural. He also questions whether Cauchon might be siding with Joan, but Cauchon points out that he would not be meeting with the English if he were. Cauchon also explains that he thinks Joan has become a tool of the Devil, and that, as a clergyman, he feels an obligation to try to save her soul. However, he is insistent that she is a heretic and not a witch.
Warwick doesn't seem to care about this distinction—he just wants to know that Joan is going to be burnt. Cauchon continues to insist on fine details: the Church never burns anyone, but if someone refuses to repent, they are handed over to secular authorities who may burn them. Cauchon is not interested in what he sees as the political schemes of the nobility: he wants to do everything in his power to save Joan's soul. De Stogumber accuses Cauchon of being a traitor, and Cauchon accuses de Stogumber of putting his loyalty to his country ahead of his loyalty to God. Warwick soothes both of them, and the conversation turns to strategy. De Stogumber is concerned about accusing Joan of heresy when she is deeply pious and constantly praying. Cauchon reveals part of why he is angry with Joan: by claiming she can speak directly with God, she reduces the power and authority of the Church, which is supposed to exist as an intermediary between God and the people. He compares Joan to the Prophet Muhammad and the threat of the Islamic faith spreading across Europe. He fears that the Church is losing power and control.
Warwick chimes in with a secular perspective. He doesn't think there's anything wrong with Islam, but he is concerned with how much authority Joan gives to King. If people begin to give too much authority to the King, feudal lords will start to lose power and influence. Warwick and Cauchon concede that the two values they fear Joan stands for are "nationalism" and "Protestantism." De Stogumber complains that he doesn't know what these words mean; he wants to see Joan dead because she stands against England and wears men's clothes. Despite de Stogumber's violent anger towards Joan, Cauchon insists that he will try to save her, and Warwick agrees to spare her life if he can.
Analysis
Once she has secured support from the Dauphin, Joan seems unstoppable. She is also bold and aggressive in her approach: because she feels confident that God is on her side, Joan wants to take the most direct tactics. To an experienced soldier like Dunois, this approach verges on suicide. Joan is willing to work with his strategic concerns, but she still looks for a speedy resolution. It seems like she has a direct line to God at this point, and after all the losses the French have suffered, Dunois is overwhelmed by this change of fortune. Whether Joan is operating from luck, divine action, or shrewd strategy seems almost beside the point. She symbolizes the possibility that the fortunes of the French might be changing.
As the next scene indicates, Joan and her forces gain momentum after their success at Orleans. The next scene reveals the English perspective on these events. Shaw is interested in exploring how Joan posed a significant threat to existing power structures, and in medieval Europe, power tended to rest with the Church and the nobility. De Stogumber and Cauchon represent the Church perspective: they are concerned with maintaining political influence and their hold over people's minds and hearts. The great fear is that Joan will encourage new ideas about people's rights to do what they want. The difference between their views seems to reflect their different positions and temperaments. De Stogumber has a less politically influential position and seems to mostly hate Joan on a personal level. His pride is hurt by the idea of a foreign woman gaining power and control. His goal is to see Joan killed, ideally in a painful way.
Cauchon also objects to the threat Joan poses to religious authority, but on a larger scale. He doesn't seem to have any personal vendetta against Joan—in fact, he is insistent that he does not want her blood on his hands. Cauchon, as an influential leader in the Church, is concerned with disruptions to Christian ideology. He links Joan's views to the Islamic faith, which originated with the Prophet Muhammad 's revelations, believed by the faithful to have come directly from God and have been conveyed to him by the angel Gabriel. Joan's claims of receiving messages from God, conveyed by saints, are somewhat similar. She does not seem to have any intentions of disrupting Christian doctrine and is indeed deeply religious herself. Cauchon, however, fears that Joan's views could give rise to a new sect, or even an entirely different religion. His fears connect religious and political concerns since, by the 15th century, parts of Europe were facing invasion and conquest by the Muslim forces of the Ottoman Empire. In 1453, less than 25 years after the events depicted in Shaw's play, Constantinople would fall to Ottoman forces, marking the end of the final remnants of the Roman Empire.
Warwick represents the perspective of secular power as he responds to the threat Joan poses. For him, the major danger is that Joan offers the opportunity to strengthen national identities. The modern concept of a national identity has not always been present, and in fact, many historians date its origin far later than the 15th-century events depicted in Shaw's play. During Joan's lifetime, many individuals would have identified much more strongly with their region and local landlord (most likely a Duke or other nobleman) than with a generalized, pan-regional affiliation to a language and ruling monarch. For this reason, Joan's model of unification and fierce loyalty to the throne would likely be very appealing to rulers (such as the Dauphin), and much less appealing to aristocrats. Shaw's interest in examining these different objections highlights what Susan Stone argues is "Shaw's attention...shifting from the heroic figure to the forces of humanity which constitute the hero's opposition" (pg. 13).
It's worth noting that Shaw plays with historical accuracy in this scene, introducing content from a time period different than the one in which the scene is supposed to take place (this technique is known as anachronism). Nationalism as a concept is more often dated to the 18th century, centuries later than Joan's lifetime. Protestantism originated in 1517, with Martin Luther's break from the Catholic Church. By introducing these concepts, Shaw may have hoped to make the connection between Joan's lifetime and the 20th century more explicit for his audience. Especially for an Irish audience in 1923, "nationalism" and "Protestantism" would have been loaded words. In 1921, after violent conflict, Ireland had finally become independent from the United Kingdom, largely due to the activism of Irish nationalists who argued that Ireland had a distinctive language, history, and culture. However, disagreements between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants led to ongoing conflict.
