Man And Superman

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1903

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Summary

Act Summaries & Analyses

Acts I-II

Acts III-IV

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Symbols & Motifs

The Superman

In Man and Superman, Shaw uses the character of Jack to explore the idea of the Superman. Shaw’s conceptualization of the Superman expounds upon Nietzsche’s idea of the ubermensch. In Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883), Nietzsche formulates the idea of man in a nonreligious society since, as he says, “God is dead.” Without a god, “man ought to be overcome.” This mean that men must evolve to be more than they are. The Superman is more intelligent than his peers. He can rise above the expectations of social convention. He defines his own morality rather than subscribing blindly to religious ethics. And he is adept and intuitive in adapting himself to become better.

One prime example of the Superman is Prometheus, the Ancient Greek Titan who defied the will of the gods to bring fire to humanity. In doing so, he broke with convention and changed the course of human destiny. As a character, Jack strives for this idea of the Superman. His Revolutionist’s Handbook argues for the dismantling of social decorum. But these Supermen tend to stand alone. They fare poorly and suffer punishment or assassination because the men around them are mediocre. Similarly, Jack is ultimately unable to resist the ensnarement of marriage.

The Revolutionist’s Handbook

Jack’s book, The Revolutionist’s Handbook, represents Shaw’s ideas for a changing social system. He even includes a copy of the Handbook with the published text of the play, attributed to Jack but obviously written by Shaw. In The Revolutionist’s Handbook, Jack proposes a future for humanity that is based in the philosophical works of Nietzsche, among others. It is a political manual that is as wordy as the character of Jack himself, and although Shaw is essentially utilizing Jack as a vehicle to propagate his own ideas, the ideas in the handbook also extend insight into Jack’s character.

In particular, the handbook criticizes monogamy and traditional marriage. Since, as Jack argues, marriage is about procreation, people should choose their partners based on optimal breeding rather than love or social status. With the current marriage practices (in the early 1900s), the wealthy landowners had much more opportunity to choose their mates, regardless of genetic fitness. Jack suggests that abolishing the social expectations of monogamy and marriage would allow more open breeding practices. He also argues for the elimination of property rights, since private property allows the wealthy to have unchallenged control of society.

By tossing Jack’s book in the trash without reading it, Ramsden shows that ideas without action are impotent. In fact, based on a single review, those who were meant to learn from the book deemed it too scandalous. When he agrees to marry Ann, Jack is giving in to social pressures to conform in ways that go against the doctrine of his book, proving that these pressures are not so simple to resist. Even if Jack manages to convince Ann to allow him to sell the wedding gifts to pay for more copies of his book, he is still only sharing texts while committing marriage, the opposite action from that which he proposes.

Don Juan in Hell

When Shaw’s friend challenged him to write a Don Juan play, the obvious implication was that he ought to write a work of romanticism, a form which Shaw had clearly been rebelling against. Don Juan is a legendary fictional Spanish character originating in the 17th century. In the centuries since, there have been many iterations, but usually he kills Don Gonzalo, the father of one of his lovers, Dona Ana, in a duel and then has dinner with a statue of Don Gonzalo. Don Juan is a manifestation of hedonism. He is reckless and criminal in the name of pleasure. In particular, his name has become a colloquialism for a womanizer – a man who manipulates women into giving him pleasure while avoiding any duty or commitment to her.

In Man and Superman, Shaw inserts Don Juan as a dream figure. He imagines a Don Juan who has evolved past hedonism to focus on philosophy and higher purpose. With this portrayal, Shaw cheats the challenge. Narratively, Don Juan has killed the father of his lover in a duel and is now in Hell. But as a romantic hero (or anti-hero), Don Juan has changed, having reflected upon his previous priorities. The strange dream sequence, often omitted from productions of the play, is an odd, didactic vehicle for ideology. The many pages of verbose philosophy (and very little action) make it almost unstageable.

The dream is about the struggle of men to decide who they will be. The Devil offers Hell, which is entirely about the pursuit of pleasure without rules or consequences. By setting the play in Hell, Shaw even removes the promised ultimate consequence of eternal damnation. Thus, this choice is about the advancement of men and the human race. Attempting to transcend and improve humanity is boring and not at all enjoyable. And yet, Don Juan—an analog for Jack—decides that he prefers to go to Heaven. Although Jack is Don Juan, when Jack and Mendoza awake, it seems as if they had the same dream. Even Octavius quotes poetry from the dream, implying that it was his dream as well. Therefore, this dream describes the choice and quandary of all men.