The Puzzles of Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc

This chapter approaches Twain’s puzzling claim that Personal Recollections is his best novel by addressing the critical reception of the book. It then explores Twain’s long-standing interest in the historical Joan of Arc and the role she played in his literary career concerned as it is with the tension between moral agency and psychological and material determinism. But to understand the role played by Twain’s Joan in this debate requires appreciating Twain’s engagement with the classic texts of Western political philosophy. My treatment of Twain’s experience with the classic texts of political philosophy gives way to a brief outline of my interpretation of the political wisdom of Personal Recollections. The last two sections justify my reading of the novel as a work of political philosophy in order to show how the challenges posed by Twain’s literary art might help shape our reading of his “best” novel.