Online study guides are beneficial tools for those wanting general background knowledge about a literary work, but they fail to provide nuanced analysis. While using online study guides can provide superficial knowledge and analysis, one must have a “buyer beware” mentality. Online study guides often set the reader up for monolithic plot and character analysis. To inform readers unaware of the pitfalls of relying on and utilizing online study guides, we will demonstrate our character analysis using both information from online study guides and information provided by scholars, using the character Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc) in Henry VI, Part 1, written by Thomas Nashe, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Anonymous (see Oxford edition).

Return to Joan la Pucelle: Why Online Study Guides Don’t Work

Introduction