CONFLICT BETWEEN THE PERSONAL AND THE POLITICAL IN BERNARD SHAW’S 'SAINTJOAN' (Pages 01-10) by Dr. Papiya Lahiri in THE ENGLISH INDIA / ISSN: 2321-1172 (Online); 2347-2634 (Print)

The paper seeks to discuss the existential conflict between Joan of Arc and the Christian Church and by extension between Private judgement and Constituted authority. It shows the detrimental impact of Religion, State and Patriarchal politics on the personal life of Joan, and at the same time how her inner voice of conscience – which she called “inner whispers”— is falsely construed and she was labelled a witch and a dangerous sorcerer by the Church, fearing the destabilization of its own single and unquestionable authority over Christianity, later came to be known as Reformation. The power of the State vested with the feudal lords, who virtually became redundant medium between the common people and the King, was also under considerable threat by Joan’s unquestioning devotion towards what she truly believed to be God’s Will. No doubt Joan’s uninhibited trust in the voice of God as manifested in her serious effort at saving her own nation against the onslaught of the English army, led to the independence of France, and thus she became the pioneer of what came to be known as Protestantism. The paper also discusses Shaw’s art of characterisation through dialogic build-up, and a schematic development of the unity of plot in the play. It sketches the terrible circumstances faced by the protagonist against a whole battalion of domineering self-serving men from the armed forces. The paper deals with this essential conflict that leads to the final catastrophe and attempts to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ the event took place.became the pioneer of what came to be known as Protestantism. The paper also discusses Shaw’s art of characterisation through dialogic build-up, and a schematic development of the unity of plot in the play. It sketches the terrible circumstances faced by the protagonist against a whole battalion of domineering self-serving men from the armed forces. The paper deals with this essential conflict that leads to the final catastrophe and attempts to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ the event took place.Key-words: existential conflict, Joan of Arc and the Christian Church, inner whispers, dangerous sorcerer, Reformation, Protestantism etc.