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A review by erickibler4
Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
5.0
It has been said about Shaw's plays that his characters are all different parts of Shaw's mind talking to one another; hashing out paradoxes. Nothing could be more true than saying this about Man and Superman. What he does here, though, is resolve seemingly inconsistent traits in human (male and female) beings into what becomes a descriptive philosophy of what the human animal is, and even positing something you could call a religion.
Shaw posits a Life-Force which, on the female side, seeks the creation of life. Women in Shaw's view are huntresses, each seeking from the pool of possible procreative partners the man most likely to produce superior offspring, and securing that man in marriage. The Superwoman is an especially strong and cagey huntress.
The male human is essentially destructive where the female is creative. And while this destructiveness can be devastating to society, it also serves creatively, as when a revolutionary mind tears down an obsolete system and makes way for a new one.
This play contains long-winded paragraphs of people speaking philosophically, yet it is also funny. Tanner's final unsentimental rant as he capitulates to the wiles of Ann Ramsden is a beautifully funny ending. You might say that it's a reverse of Taming of the Shrew, with Tanner as Kate and Ann as Petruchio.
The third act (of four) is the dream sequence, "Don Juan in Hell", which is often performed as a stand-alone play. Tanner becomes Don Juan, the now jaded seducer, having spent centuries in hell (a place where people seek pleasure and beauty). He's tired of it, and now intends changing his residence to heaven (because you can do that at will). Heaven is a place of truth; of reality. Don Juan wants to go there and set himself apart from those who are there to enjoy the humdrum reality, and contemplate realities yet to come. Everyone, including the Devil, is a reasonable sort, and the characters enjoy quite a lively conversation.
The Shavian Superman is one who has ideas that humanity may not quite be ready for, but who pushes in a new direction. The Superman and Superwoman are drawn from Darwinian thought. They are avatars which appear every so often to shepherd humanity to the next phase.
The play's appendix is "The Revolutionist's Handbook", a pamphlet ostensibly written by Tanner, which states his philosophy. After first demolishing ideas that there has been any progress in civilization, "Tanner" proposes that we experiment with human breeding in creating Supermen. Shaw, although a socialist, was disillusioned with democracy (as practiced) as government by the rabble, and was wrestling with finding out a way to improve the common stock of man so that democracy would become a more intelligent instrument.
Shaw posits a Life-Force which, on the female side, seeks the creation of life. Women in Shaw's view are huntresses, each seeking from the pool of possible procreative partners the man most likely to produce superior offspring, and securing that man in marriage. The Superwoman is an especially strong and cagey huntress.
The male human is essentially destructive where the female is creative. And while this destructiveness can be devastating to society, it also serves creatively, as when a revolutionary mind tears down an obsolete system and makes way for a new one.
This play contains long-winded paragraphs of people speaking philosophically, yet it is also funny. Tanner's final unsentimental rant as he capitulates to the wiles of Ann Ramsden is a beautifully funny ending. You might say that it's a reverse of Taming of the Shrew, with Tanner as Kate and Ann as Petruchio.
The third act (of four) is the dream sequence, "Don Juan in Hell", which is often performed as a stand-alone play. Tanner becomes Don Juan, the now jaded seducer, having spent centuries in hell (a place where people seek pleasure and beauty). He's tired of it, and now intends changing his residence to heaven (because you can do that at will). Heaven is a place of truth; of reality. Don Juan wants to go there and set himself apart from those who are there to enjoy the humdrum reality, and contemplate realities yet to come. Everyone, including the Devil, is a reasonable sort, and the characters enjoy quite a lively conversation.
The Shavian Superman is one who has ideas that humanity may not quite be ready for, but who pushes in a new direction. The Superman and Superwoman are drawn from Darwinian thought. They are avatars which appear every so often to shepherd humanity to the next phase.
The play's appendix is "The Revolutionist's Handbook", a pamphlet ostensibly written by Tanner, which states his philosophy. After first demolishing ideas that there has been any progress in civilization, "Tanner" proposes that we experiment with human breeding in creating Supermen. Shaw, although a socialist, was disillusioned with democracy (as practiced) as government by the rabble, and was wrestling with finding out a way to improve the common stock of man so that democracy would become a more intelligent instrument.