Man And Superman

By Bernard Shaw

Man and Superman is a four-act drama written by George Bernard Shaw. The will of the late Mr Whitefield states that his daughter, Ann, is to be left in the care of Roebuck Ramsden and Jack Tanner. Ramsden is a respectable old man who distrusts Tanner, an eloquent man full of revolutionary ideas. Despite Ramsden's protestations, Ann agrees to let Tanner be her guardian and, after a resisting Tanners revolutionary ideas, marries him instead of her persistant admirer, a young man named Octavious Robinson. An engaging and interesting play sure to appeal to discerning drama fans, Man and Superman is a worthy addition to any collection and is not to be missed by fans of Shaw's seminal work. Written in 1903, this book is proudly republished here complete with a new prefatory biography of the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baltzell Press
• Release date: Jul 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781473394919

Reviews for Man And Superman

[devil_llama · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Shaw's tour de force, this is a work that combines realism with the supernatural to create a memorable piece of work. The section known as Don Juan in hell is justifiably renowned, and is a philosophical discussion that reminds me of Montesquieu and Machiavelli's Dialogue in Hell. The philosophy of the work is pessimistic; while it still retains a flavor of the socialist ideals of the author, there is an undertone of disillusionment. The roles of the sexes are skewered, by the means of characters upholding them to the letter, showing them for how ridiculous they really are. The leisure class comes off poorly, and the institution of marriage is, as usual in works by Shaw, reduced down to a condition of bondage. An interesting read, probably much too long to stage in this day and age, and certainly the long speeches would make any modern director cringe. Well worth the extra effort for a reading.

[quantum_flapdoodle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Shaw's tour de force, this is a work that combines realism with the supernatural to create a memorable piece of work. The section known as Don Juan in hell is justifiably renowned, and is a philosophical discussion that reminds me of Montesquieu and Machiavelli's Dialogue in Hell. The philosophy of the work is pessimistic; while it still retains a flavor of the socialist ideals of the author, there is an undertone of disillusionment. The roles of the sexes are skewered, by the means of characters upholding them to the letter, showing them for how ridiculous they really are. The leisure class comes off poorly, and the institution of marriage is, as usual in works by Shaw, reduced down to a condition of bondage. An interesting read, probably much too long to stage in this day and age, and certainly the long speeches would make any modern director cringe. Well worth the extra effort for a reading.

[blake.rosser · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very engaging for a long, dialogue-heavy play. Despite being sexist in his belief that women have nothing to offer outside of procreation, I generally love the ideas that Shaw puts forth, usually in Tanner's or Don Juan's words. He gives you frequent moments where you have to take a few seconds to think about the implications of a specific comment. And it's wonderful how Tanner turns societal convention and morality on its head by underlining the absurdity of his companions' reactions to various scandals. Probably my favorite line is quite an incidental comment but gives you an idea of Shaw's wit: Tanner: . . . A jealous sense of my new individuality arose in me -
Ann: You hated to be treated as a boy any longer. Poor Jack!
Tanner: Yes, because to be treated as a boy was to be taken on the old footing. I had become a new person; and those who knew the old person laughed at me. The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor: he took my measure anew every time he saw me, whilst all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you remove the Don Juan in Hell sequence, this is actually an entertaining play, but GBS goes off on his tangents until you just want to slap him. Some very well-written, entertaining characters in an amusing situation.

[jwhenderson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Man and Superman, which Shaw subtitled A Comedy and A Philosophy, demonstrates his belief in the conflict between man as spiritual creator and woman as guardian of the biological continuity of the human race. The play incorporates Shaw's concept of the “life force” and satirizes the relationship between the sexes. As always his prose is a delight to read and reread.

[danielstj · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Man and Superman, the principle drama of this book, was the weakest part. I found that I did not enjoy Shaw's play-- which is off because I usually do garnish some sense of worth about it. Nevertheless, for me, it was a disappointing read. The other two documents in this text were interesting, but not enough to bring up the book as a whole.

[mromano_95 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Man and Superman combines a dramatization of Neitsche's "ubermensch" or superman, that was believed to be the goal of creative evolution, with a romantic comedy. For that alone the play deserves five stars. That it does all of this and does it well is a remarkable achievement. The third act, Don Juan in Hell, is often played by itself. A surreal episode in the play, it is in this act that we see the realization of the play's philosophy, with the other three acts framing it with romance. Characteristic of Shaw, we see in the other three acts the Shavian inversion, where he flips commonly held notions on their head: in this case, the tradition that it is the man who is the pursuer in love. Shaw shows that in sex, it is the man who is the hunted and it is the woman who is in control.