A Discussion of Freedom by Shaw

FREEDOM

George Bernard Shaw

"My conscience is the genuine pulpit article, it annoys me to see people comfortable when they ought to be uncomfortable; and I insist on making them think in order to bring them to a conviction of sin." -----Shaw.

The above quoted lines show us the uncompromising character of the man who never thought idealistically about literature, that is to say, one who never romanticized it. He considered all literature to be journalistic and his purpose was to convert the nation to his opinions. He did this in two ways: by writing plays which made people laugh up to a certain point till they realized that they were laughing at themselves, and by chastising their self -complacency with his essays and lectures. It is difficult to say whether his rather opinionated and propagandist attitude contributed much to the enrichment of his plays, for he could never reach the true heights of tragedy. Even in St. Joan, where he could do it, we find the same detached and cynical observer in the last scene, with his relentlessly attacking speeches and sharp intellect which were often confronted by adverse criticism. Yeats stated that the very face of Shaw reminded him of a sewing machine. Nevertheless, Shaw is, till date, one of the rare species of honest persons whose work came out of their firm conviction and unflinching sense of values.

Shaw was indoctrinated into socialism quite early in his life due to his contact with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and William Morris, and his reading of Marx, who, he said, "made a man of me." He was also influenced by the writings of Henry George and he brought a courageous, clear mind to the study of social problems. Like his predecessor Samuel ...

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...eem to be acceptable, at least for the time being. This is also found in many of his plays which abound in endless dialogues and in which the brilliance of logic and wit cannot hide the artificiality of the situation. But Shaw sticks to his assertiveness. "Effectiveness of assertion is the Alpha and Omega of style", says Shaw. His essay introduces us to this typically Shavian style.

To conclude, we can quote from Cazamian a few lines which show the essential characteristic of Shaw, both as a man and a writer: "His reason leads him to profess a socialism tempered with anarchy; to preach on ethics of assertive simplicity; to bring love, the family, and the future of the species under the disciplinary law of a common sense fortified with `eugenics' to turn the `Superman' into a biological and near reality."

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