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Theme and Structure in Bernard Shaw's Political

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Theme and Structure in Bernard Shaw's Political THEME AND STRUCTURE IN BERNARD SHAW'S POLITICAL PLAYS OF THE 1930'S Jeffery Alvin Williams B.A., The University of British Columbia, A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMEITS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts in the Department of English We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard. THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, I968 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his represen• tatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department nf (^yj i > S The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date Ayr'A 3o y ii ABSTRACT The political extravaganzas dominate Shavian drama of the 1930' s, Shaw's last really productive decade. They form a fairly large and coher• ent group, but their topicality and their abstract, seemingly non-dramatic techniques have prevented most critics from examining the plays on their own merits. This thesis attempts to show how Shaw, in his political plays, not only chronicles his very close involvement with the urgent social prob• lems of the interwar years, but also how he develops special artistic devices to embody his themes. Shaw's political plays offer a continual flow of analysis and criticism of an age which he thought was heading for disaster and war. In Too True to be Good (l93l); he analyzes modern man's sense of directionlessness and In• dicates that he must re-evaluate his aims and goals, his morality and econ• omics, and discard worn out values which no longer describe either human nature or contemporary problems. This play introduces a theme which pre• vails in all Shaw's political extravaganzas of the period: that men must overcome their limited frames of reference and must cultivate an open-mind- edness in their search for meaning and direction in a complex world. In On the Rocks (1933), he investigates governmental problems In England and im• plies that in a world of selfish insularity, democratic government founders, needing more than ever a strong leader to impose a direction on the country. Recognizing the sinister implications of even an interim dictatorship, Shaw is almost driven to despair. In The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles (193^), Shaw retreats from the ugly and almost insoluble problems of the immediate world, to define and examine in abstract and symbolic terms the problems dis- Iii cussed in the earlier plays. Shaw reaffirms his faith in the Life Force, again stresses that life -will continue to evolve, and asserts that if man •wants to he the vanguard of evolution he must he able to adapt to the un• expected . Having expressed his ultimate thoughts and allegiances in The Simple• ton, Shaw seemed to abandon his concern "with political problems in his plays, until the urgency of world developments in the late thirties brought the preacher in Shaw to the pulpit of the stage again in Geneva (1938)- But in this play Shaw's inability to maintain an aesthetic distance from world events interfered with his artistry so that he produced a play lacking the unity of theme and structure found in the earlier plays of the period. But while the political plays of the thirties chronicle Shaw's very close involvement with complex social problems, they also reveal Shaw's attempt to develop special dramatic techniques to render an artistic ex• pression of his thoughts. The seemingly chaotic structures, weak charac• ters , and garrulous speeches really are in many ways well suited to the topical themes. Shaw utilizes a symposium type of discussion, which is ap• propriate for the searching for direction, the open investigation of all aspects of a complex problem. But perhaps the most characteristic and least understood technique in these plays is Shaw's use of structure as a major thematic device. Once understood, the seemingly random structures are not evidence of "imitative fallacy", of using negative techniques to express negative themes, hut of an artistic handling of technique to en• hance thematic comment on the chaos. In the best of Shaw's political plays there is a well integrated mating of theme and structure which be• lies any idea that these plays are the products of a man in his dotage. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION • • • 1 TOO TRUE TO BE GOOD » • • 10 ON THE ROCKB 37 THE SIMPLETON OF ME IMEXPECTED ISLES 59 GENEVA 78 CONCLUSION 99 SELECTED LIST OF ¥ORKS CONSULTED 101 I PRODUCTION The var has been a fiery forcing house in which we have grown with a rush like flowers in a late spring following a terrible winter. And with what result? This: that we have outgrown our religion, outgrown our political system, outgrown our strength of mind and character. Too True to be Good The major problem facing modern critics of Bernard Shaw is the evalu• ation of his career as a whole, but there is so much in Shaw that deserves the strongest praise that critics have tended, until very recently, to focus almost exclusively on earlier "standard" plays. If one were to judge from much of the criticism, Shaw's career as a dramatist effectively ended with Saint Joan (1923). But since approximately one quarter of his total dra• matic output dates from 1929, any adequate evaluation of Shaw's dramatic career must give more than a cursory glance at the late plays. The polit• ical extravaganzas dominate Shavian drama of the 1930's, Shaw's last really productive decade. They form a fairly large and coherent group, but their topicality and their abstract, seemingly non-dramatic techniques have pre• vented critics, with, a few notable exceptions, from examining the plays on their own merits. This thesis attempts to show how Shaw, in his political plays, not only chronicles his very close involvement with the urgent social problems of the Interwar years, but also develops special artistic devices to express his themes. One of the most characteristic and least appreciated techniques in these plays is what Martin Meisel calls "structural analogue,""1 1Shaw and the Ninete enth-Century Theater (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 19^3), P- ^28. 2 a use of structure as an important thematic device. Shaw exploits allegory, fantasy, and symbolism in his plots and characters, hut he also uses struc• ture to carry his themes home to the minds of his audience. An understanding of the function of the loose structures is essential to appreciating Shaw's special artistry in his political extravaganzas of the 1930's. " Most critics recognize that World War I marked a turning point in Shaw's career. Heartbreak House and the plays that follow it are different in tone and dramatic method from the plays before 1919- The war seems to have had a decisive effect on Shaw and his plays. It provided traumatic evidence of mankind's patent aversion to acting rationally. Never very confident about the common mass of humanity, Shaw became increasingly con• cerned and perturbed with the crucial problems of governing in a technolog• ically advanced but spiritually stagnant world. As aids to providing dir• ection in the modern chaotic world, the old social, economic, religious and moral values were hopelessly outmoded because they more than ever negated or ignored the facts of life. Yet countries in the west tried to muddle on using the old touchstones, with the result that the world seemed to be headed inevitably for disaster. Heartbreak House, Back to Methuselah, and Saint Joan deal with some of the complex problems facing man at the time: the problem of existence in a morally and spiritually chaotic world, the problem of obtaining truly responsible government in such a world, and the problem of effecting urgently needed real human progress. Having written three major plays on these problems, Shaw spent most of his time preparing the enormous compilation of his thoughts on politics in The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism (1928). With the thirties came a series of world events which ominously 3 seemed to prognosticate disaster and another world war. It was during this period that Shaw wrote the plays that many of his zealous admirers would like to ignore, that unsympathetic critics point to as the fantastic rarnb- lings of a senile man, and that even otherwise appreciative critics dismiss as Important only to Shavian scholars. Yet Too True to be Good (1931), On the Rocks (1933), The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles (193U), and Geneva (1938) all reveal Shaw's vital concern with major contemporary political and philosophical issues, and all utilize new departures in dramatic tech• nique, which once understood show that Shaw could produce under the pres• sures of the times some very well conceived and provocative drama. Because most critics feel obliged to say something about the late plays, the surface characteristics of these plays are fairly well known. In fact many have said that these plays are nothing but surface. Their topicality, their "formless" structures, their weak characters and their extravagant fantasy are often considered evidence of Shaw's dramatic de• cline. In the words of A. C. Ward: "The grand old tree was parting with its leaves; the organism was losing its Impulse to coordinate and unify.... By.the time Shaw wrote Too True to be Good he had ceased to concern himself ..0 with the formalities of playwriting .
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