The Representation of Children in the Plays of Bernard Shaw
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THE REPRESENTATION OF CHILDREN IN THE PLAYS OF BERNARD SHAW Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester by Manal I. Fattah Department of English University of Leicester 2016 Abstract Fattah, Manal, University of Leicester, 2016. The Representation of Children in the Plays of Bernard Shaw. This thesis explores the parent-child relationships in Shaw’s early and middle plays, with a special focus on the destructive and constructive role of parents and children in social and human evolution. It examines how Shaw uses these particular relationships and what they represent in light of his views on social progress, evolution, and education. Although children received a great deal of attention from Shaw, their representation in Shaw’s drama has not received much serious attention from scholars and critics. This thesis explores parents and children in eight of Shaw’s plays in terms of generational conflict: Mrs Warren’s Profession (1894), The Devil’s Disciple (1897), You Never Can Tell (1896), Man and Superman (1902), Major Barbara (1905), Pygmalion (1912), Misalliance (1910), and Fanny’s First Play (1911). The first two chapters demonstrate the constructive role of the child in social progress and human evolution and the destructive effect of the parent on the child’s progress. The third chapter explores the constructive role of the parent in the child’s education and development. The final chapter examines the parent-child relationships in Shaw in light of his views on the family as a social institution. Throughout my study, I refer to a variety of Shaw’s non-dramatic writings, such as his prefaces, letters, interviews, and criticism. As a result, this thesis draws the reader’s attention to the relation between Shaw’s dramatic and non-dramatic writings. My study reveals that there is a link between Shaw’s progressive views and his plays: both are meant to agitate and provoke the audience into thinking, questioning, and challenging. The conclusion is that Shaw used drama, in general, and the family, in particular, as a vehicle for his views. This is important in understanding Shaw’s plays, and it provides evidence of Shaw’s commitment to the socialist cause and the didactic purpose of art. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Gail Marshall to whom I am sincerely grateful for her great intellect, excellent advice, and continuous support and guidance. Without her help, I would not have been able to complete this work, and it is such a pleasure and an honour to be her student. I would also like to thank Dr Victoria Stewart and Dr Holly Furneaux for their advice and constructive comments during and after the probation review. Enormous gratitude is due to the University of Leicester for all the facilities and services provided to me on campus and off campus. Skills and career development resources as well as training programmes and events have been of great benefit to me. Special thanks to Helen Steele, Jackie Hanes, and all other library staff for their advice, guidance, and IT help. I am deeply indebted to my devoted and beloved husband Awadh Almalky for his patience, comfort, and constant encouragement and support over the years, especially when I get frustrated and stressed. He has always been there for me. I am particularly thankful to him for accompanying me during the course of my study in the UK. What would I do without him? Last, but not least, my thanks and appreciation go to my wonderful parents and my brothers who have always been an inspiration to me and have always believed in me. I would also like to thank my lovely friend and colleague Najah Alzoubi for her emotional support and the time she has spent listening to me and chatting with me while having our coffee. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................... iv Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Children in Shavian Non-dramatic Writings ......................................................... 5 Children in Shavian and Other Dramatic Writings .............................................. 13 Critical Studies of Shaw and Children ................................................................ 18 Chapter One: Children and Social Progress ............................................................ 31 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 31 Mrs Warren’s Profession .................................................................................... 41 The Devil’s Disciple ........................................................................................... 52 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................................ 62 Chapter Two: Children and ‘Creative Evolution’ ................................................... 64 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 64 You Never Can Tell ............................................................................................ 79 Man and Superman ............................................................................................ 94 Chapter Conclusion .......................................................................................... 105 Chapter Three: Children and Education ................................................................ 108 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 108 Major Barbara ................................................................................................. 120 Pygmalion ........................................................................................................ 134 Chapter Conclusion .......................................................................................... 148 Chapter Four: Children and the Family as a Social Institution .............................. 151 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 151 Misalliance....................................................................................................... 160 Fanny’s First Play ............................................................................................ 174 Chapter Conclusion .......................................................................................... 188 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 191 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 198 iv Introduction Bernard Shaw once declared in a speech delivered to the Fabian Society in 1886: ‘A Socialist cannot define his attitude towards the Family without great risk of placing himself in a false position’ (qtd. in Bertolini, Family Values 149). Shaw could not have described himself better, for his attitudes and ideas about the family and children are indeed inconsistent and ambivalent. In this speech, entitled ‘Socialism and the Family,’ Shaw expresses a strong condemnation of the family: ‘I hate the Family. I loathe the Family. I entirely detest and abominate the Family as the quintessence of Tyranny, Sentimentality, Inefficiency, Hypocrisy, and Humbug’ (153). Shaw’s aversion to the family and his belief that it is an insignificant and inefficient institution are expressed more frequently in his non-dramatic writings, especially in his substantial ‘Treatise on Parents and Children’ (1914) (his preface to Misalliance). For instance, Shaw claims there that ‘it is an error to believe that the family provides children with edifying adult society, or that the family is a social unit. The family is in that, as in so many other respects, a humbug’ (52). Shaw here repeats a word he previously used in his speech ‘Socialism and the Family,’ ‘humbug.’ The word ‘humbug’ is also repeated in the same treatise and associated this time with ‘nuisance’ to describe the family: ‘the homelier the home, and the more familiar the family, the worse for everybody concerned. The family ideal is a humbug and a nuisance’ (93). Shaw’s desire for the breakup of the family is implicit in this quotation by suggesting that family members should be as distant and independent from each other as possible. On the other hand, Shaw asserts in The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism (1928) that ‘the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to the country and to mankind is to bring up a family,’ and that ‘[t]he most important work in the world is that of bearing and rearing children’ (25, 326). Both this statement and that in ‘Socialism and the Family’ are discussed in the same context of socialism, and provide an example of how Shaw contradicts himself. In order to understand the reasoning behind Shaw’s views of the family, it would be useful to look at the family in the broader context of socialism. In general, socialism undermines the family and tends to loosen family ties and parental