“All timid women are conventional,” says Ann to Jack Tanner at one point in the action. Mrs. Whitefield is timid and she is conventional. Shaw uses her to develop his ideas of parent-children repulsion, a theme which he had introduced into one of his novels, Immaturity, wherein Robert Smith is […]
Read more Character Analysis Mrs. WhitefieldCharacter Analysis Violet Robinson
No modest violet, Octavius’ attractive sister is womanly enough, but in the sense made clear by Ann Whitefield. In reply to Ann’s statement that Violet is “hard as nails,” Octavius insists that she is “thoroughly womanly at heart.” Ann then asks: “Is it unwomanly to be thoughtful and businesslike and […]
Read more Character Analysis Violet RobinsonCharacter Analysis Octavius Robinson
Shaw writes that Octavius comes straight from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He is, to be sure, the faithful and ardent lover of Ann Whitefield, although not engaged to her. He is further identified as the “artist man”-as a poet, to be specific. But he possesses none of the qualities which Jack […]
Read more Character Analysis Octavius RobinsonCharacter Analysis Roebuck Ramsden
“Annie’s Granny” is the old-fashioned liberal holding on to views advanced some years ago. Among his heroes are John Bright (1811-1889), outstanding spokesman for the industrialists and opponent of the Corn Laws; and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), English philosopher, known for his application of scientific doctrines of evolution to philosophy and […]
Read more Character Analysis Roebuck RamsdenCharacter Analysis Ann Whitefield
Shaw wrote to Lillian MacCarthy, for whom he created the role of Ann Whitefield: “Don’t have any blue ribbon and muslin: use violet or purple. . . . There should be a certain pomegranate splendour lurking in the effect.” And in the stage directions, he calls her “one of the […]
Read more Character Analysis Ann WhitefieldCharacter Analysis Jack Tanner
Shaw describes Tanner as a big man with a beard, a young man of “Olympian majesty more like Jupiter than Apollo.” And in the Epistle Dedicatory, the dramatist castigates other writers for announcing that their heroes are geniuses and then seldom giving evidence of the fact. He therefore provided as […]
Read more Character Analysis Jack TannerSummary and Analysis Act IV
Summary The setting now is the garden in an expensive and pretentious villa in Granada. Enry Straker enters with an elderly Irishman. The chauffeur had been asked to deliver a note to Hector at the latter’s hotel. He was and still is confused by the fact that this stranger had […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act IVSummary and Analysis Act III
Summary It is evening, and the setting is that of a natural amphitheater in the Spanish Sierras. A group of about a dozen men recline about a dying campfire, while another serves as lookout on the adjacent rise of ground. These are an international band of brigands dedicated to stopping […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act IIISummary and Analysis Act II
Summary The setting is the carriage drive in the park of the house near Richmond. Jack Tanner, dressed in the contemporary costume for motoring, is watching his chauffeur, Henry Straker, who is repairing the automobile. The conversation between the two reveals that Enry (as he is usually called) is one […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act IISummary and Analysis Act I
Summary The setting is a study in Portland Place, London. Onstage is Roebuck Ramsden, a rather elderly man of affluence and affairs. Octavius Robinson, a young poet, is announced by the maid. He appears dressed in an elegant suit of mourning. As Ramsden consoles him, the audience learns that Octavius’ […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I