The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-25
BERNARD SHAW'SnEW COMEDY
"MAN AND ~ PERNAN" WIT AND
PHIIOSOPHl.

Abundant. MS TecIlRical Ability Never
H~Tere Olspiased 10 Such Poor ~.
van,age-sen,e Revolutionary MaNiMS.
Some day in the far future. let us hope.
when the spirit Of Bernard Shaw shall have
been gathered to the gods. his popular
vogue may be an established fact. Audi
ences may flock to sip wit, philosophy ana
humor before the footlights OF the Shaw
theatre; but unless the asse,nbage be largely
composed OF Shaw rsptcds, OF overmen
and overwomen [" oversOuls, not altogether
in the Emersonan sense) il is dificult 10
picture any other variety listening 10 Man
and Superman," his newly published
comedy For one thing. il is not play to be
played, though il may be read with delight
bordering on despair. A deeper reason
exists for its hopelessness-i is such a
violent attack on what might be called
the Shaw s,Iperstructure. that his warmest
enemies and chiiest admirers will wonder
what il is all about. Mr. William Archer.
one OF the latter has Just confessed his
discontinue in the pages Of the critic
Man and Superman odious title-is
Shaw's attempt at wild Duck, formerly
one of Ibseu's most puzzling productions
Shaw mocks Shaw as Ibsen sneered at
Ibsen. This method OF viewing the diverse
of your own medal George Meredith would
ray the back of the human slate--is GER
tainly a revelation OF mood versatility,
though disgusting one to the man in the
street II does not seem 10 be playing
fair in the game. Sometimes 1t Is not
With Ibsen il was he wished to have his
fling at the Ibsenite, and he had it. With
Mr.. Shaw one is tempted 10 eNclaim: Ana
drums and trumpets again, even II the cart
be reprinted. wide his earlier prefaces)
The preface habit too. il growing upon
this distinguished excrescence upon the
British public consciousness He has pref
aced" once too often. In the pleasing
and unpeasing plays. in the puritanical
comedies, his "forewords" were full of
treat served up with Hibernian sauce,
which produced upon the mental palate
the favors OF Swift, of Nietzsche, of Aris-
tophanes and Of Shaw. This compound
could not be slowly degrstaed because
the stuff was too hot. Velocity is one OF
Mr.. Shaws prime characteristics. Like
n pianaforte virtuoso whose fingers work
faster than his feelings. the Irishman is
lost when he essays massive, soncrots
canflend He il as emotional as his own
typewriter and this defect, which he pa
rades as did the fox in the fable, has stood
in the way Of his writing a great play. Re
despises love and therefore cannot appeal
70 mankind
T., 10 hsa a y
sounded bt.t bfasser and shriller; the
wires are wearing L is addressed TO
Arthur Bingham Walkley, by all odds
the most brilliant. erLdits and satisfying
Of English dramatic critics Now the
cruel thing about this preface is that in it
the author tries to foist upon the critic Of
the London Times the penalty attached to
writing such play as Man and Super
man We can't all be DIytlers and write
prefaces as great as poems; and Mr.. Shaw
might have left out either the play or the
and spared the ner Yes Of HE HE i,6s
He sta. ted ont to make play on Don Juan,
an cid and ever youthful theme. He Sue
ceeded in turning out an amorplols mon
ster, part dream, part sermon, that Will
haunt its creator al Frankensteln was
and Superman" is nightmare
To be impairment is not necessarily an
evidence Of wisdom; nor does the dazzling
epigram supply the missing note OF
humanity. But our author Is above
humanity. He would deal with the new
man who is to succeed the present used-up
specimen. Following Met Zache's injunc-
ton this later evolution will "be hard.
That is, he must freeze up, If needs he by
artificial process, all the springs Of natural
Instincts. He must realize that in the in
evable duel of the sexes he will Ike worsted
unless he recognizes that he is the pursued
not the pursuer. In the animal kingdom
II ia the male that is gorgeously bedizened
for the purpose of attracting the feeblel
faculty of attention in the female. So ii
the human order the man ia the cynosure
of the woman. For him she exists Hel
whole education and existence is an effor
to win him-perbaps not for himself, never
theless to win and wear him This may b+
biologcally correct. though hardly gallant
Mr.. Shaw might have added that. unlik,
lightning, women strike twice in the 81 rn'
spot Frivolity, however is not in Mr.
Shaws present scheme OF applied IN
sociology
As Is the case with most reformers, 1t
has harked back to the past for his futur
types. His men and women, though the
90 down to the sea in motor cars, convers
about Ibsen, Met zsche and Karl Marx
wear twentieth cent ury modes, are in realit
as old rs the hills and az savage as hillmer
They are only trihe more self-conscious
The present play--let us call II one for tn
sake OF the argument deals with preciou
baggage" named Ann WhHefeh. She ID
In the words OF Ibsen, a mighty huntress
OF men. She is pert, very vulgar. Quit
uncivilized, quite Ignorant Of everyda
feminine delicaces; in word. the Ne'
Woman according TO the gospel OF Shaw
Her pursuit of man unavowed, bold,
the story OF the play. She is hot -foote
after revolut ionary socialist John Tame
Every word that springs or saunters frol
his lips, every movement Of his musculs
person, betrays the breed Of Daredev
Dick, Of all the revolutionaries in all tn
Shaw plays-the true breed Of which Sail
Bernard is himself the unique Progenito
Tanner is rich and believes himself a
anarchist. He is mistaken, He il only
Fabanite with cash, Fabianite who hf
lost the shining face" OF a neophyte ar
talks daggers and dynamite, though !
uses them not Ann has been left an o