Saint Joan is a chronicle play in six scenes and an epilogue, and it is usually classified as a serious historical drama and modern tragedy.

What type of play is Saint Joan?

  • George Bernard Shaw himself subtitled it “A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue,” meaning it follows Joan of Arc’s life in roughly historical sequence.
  • In genre terms, critics and study guides describe it as:
    • Drama / historical drama (it dramatizes real historical events in 15th‑century France).
* Tragedy (Joan’s own choices and unyielding integrity contribute to her condemnation and death).

* Biographical or “chronicle” drama (it closely tracks the major episodes of Joan of Arc’s life and trial).

So if you need a compact answer for class or an exam, you can write:

Saint Joan is a modern historical tragic chronicle play by George Bernard Shaw.

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