ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Saint Joan, chronicle play in six scenes and an epilogue by George Bernard Shaw, performed in 1923 and published in 1924. It was inspired by the canonization of Joan of Arc in 1920, nearly five centuries after her death in 1431.

Detailed explanation-2: -Regarding Joan of Arc, William Wordsworth wrote to William Matthews, 21 March 1796, claiming: “You were right about Southey, he is certainly a coxcomb, and has proved it completely by the preface to his Joan of Arc, an epic poem which he has just published.

Detailed explanation-3: -He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Detailed explanation-4: -Saint Joan is a 1923 play by George Bernard Shaw. It depicts the story of Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from France who rose to prominence as a military commander by heeding the voices of the saints in her head. Despite leading French forces to victory in many battles, she was burned at the stake for being a heretic.

Detailed explanation-5: -George Bernard Shaw is famous for his role in revolutionizing comedic drama. He was also a literary critic and a prominent British socialist. Shaw’s most financially successful work, Pygmalion, was adapted into the popular Broadway musical My Fair Lady. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.