A Monologue by Joan of Arc from 'Saint Joan' by George Bernard Shaw

Joan:

"Yes, they told me you were fools and that I was not to listen to your fine words nor

trust to your charity. You promised me my life but you lied. You think that life is nothing but

not being stone dead. It is not the bread and water I fear: bread has no sorrow for me, and

water no affliction. But to shut me from the light of the sky, and the sight of the fields and

flowers, to chain my feet so that I can never again ride with the soldiers nor climb the hills;

to make me breathe foul damp darkness, and keep me from everything that brings me back

to the love of God when your wickedness and foolishness tempt me to hate Him. All this is

worse than the furnace in the Bible that was heated seven times. I could do without my

warhorse, I could drag about in a skirt. I could let the banners and the trumpets and the

knights and soldiers pass me and leave me behind as they leave the other women, if only I

could still hear the wind in the trees, the larks in the sunshine, the young lambs crying

through the healthy frost, and the blessed blessed church bells that send my angel voices

floating to me on the wind. But without these things I cannot live; and by your wanting to

take them away from me, or from any human creature, I know that your counsel is of the

devil, and that mine is of God."

This extract is of Joan of Arc giving a speech to her enemies, who have at this point defeated her and now await her death, condeming them for their opinions and actions. Interestingly, despite this being a highly emotional piece, it is punctuated only with fullstops and commas. Perhaps this speech is to be delivered completely deadpan, but more likely the intent was to allow and encourage the reader to place emphasis on whichever sentences in whichever way creates the most dramatic mental image for them as an individual. The absence of any rhetorical questions, or pauses in speech creates the effect that this entire monologue is a fully uninterrupted tirade, that Joan of Arc is the sole focus of her audience, making full use of her opportunity to speak and communicate her point. Furthermore, the language used is incredibly powerful, with phrases like 'foul damp darkness' representing the negativity of the fate decided for her, contrasting extremely with imagery such as 'young lambs crying through the healthy frost' that represents her feelings about her life and faith. Without saying it, the finality of her final sentence in this monologue shows that while she obviously is not happy with her situation, she has resigned herself to it and now simply seeks to retain her moral high ground such that history remembers her prosecutors as villains and Joan herself an example of unwavering faith and devotion. The author further communicates her positive feelings for her religion by making use of tautology, in the phrase 'blessed blessed church bells'. Using the same word twice doubles the importance of the word in the sentence, communicating that Joan found the term important enough to repeat it. By making use of intertextuality, the author even tells us that Joan of Arc is of the Christian faith by using the phrase 'young lambs', which is a reference to the Shepard/Flock metaphors used in Christian texts for God/Humankind. 

As a whole, the entire text is clearly written in Joan of Arc's favor, being spoken by her, and makes excellent use of the contrast between the immorality of her enemies and the pure motives she holds. By starting with using negative language to strike at her opposition, then using very peeaceful and serene imagery to describe her faith, it is as if she is figuratively rising up, as if rising up to heaven or holding the moral 'high ground'.