Name: Muskaan Hossain

Roll Number: 202032-11-0065

Registration Number: 032-1211-0066-20
CC 12: Looking Back at Shaw's Feminism: Offstage and Onstage
3rd Year, 5th Semester
Abstract:
In spite of Shaw's attempts at departing from the conventional nineteenth-century demure,
agreeable, ladylike "womanly" woman, Shaw appears to cast his characters in the familiar mold
of the archetypes of women present in Western Literature. Shaw, who in theory supports gender
equality, imposes strict gender roles in his works. This slight fallacy wouldn't stand out to
scholars so much if he hadn't written so strongly against stereotyping women in his essays. In
sharp contrast to the traditionalist roles ascribed to the feminine in his plays, his political views
about women challenged tradition.
In this article an attempt has been made to examine the four portraits painted and repainted by
Shaw in their inflexible roles as the Mother, as the Enemy (destroyer, temptress), as the Goddess
(personification of chastity, purity, and selflessness), and as the modern Working Girl.

The Riddle Of Shaw (Stephen Spender) lies in the fact that he's more than an entertainer, so
where does the central passion of his work converge? "The answer is, I think, a kind of fanatical
good sense, prepared to sacrifice feeling and enjoyment to good sense.” It is difficult to
categorize Shaw, and his opinions on specific topics diverge as well. Critics have mixed opinions
in regards to Shaw as a feminist. Some say he was an "extoller of women" (Thomas Mann),
while others like G. K. Chesterton felt that he was a "Feminist in politics, but, Anti-Feminist in
emotion." Whether Shaw may be feminist or anti-Feminist, his favorite topic still was women.
Shaw has been successful in creating more memorable women than men and that has left an
impression upon his readers for decades.

In Barbara Bellow Watson's 'A Shavian Guide to the Intelligent' an emphasis on the
unconventional unladylike woman presented by Shaw is made. These women are domineering,
sexually aggressive, intelligent, witty; and by extension 'unladylike'.

Shaw inverted the roles of the womanly and the unwomanly woman in his fight against the
romantic love of Victorian fiction and drama, and in doing so, foresaw the present-day woman.
The conventional feminine ideal in the nineteenth century, to no one's surprise, was a man-made
ideal. There were three broad concepts of the woman in the Victorian age.
Looking Back at Shaw's Feminism: Offstage and Onstage:
The conservative view, which was the widely accepted image viewed the woman as the weaker
sex, who must remain docile and submissive and needed protection from her male counterparts.
They were also considered less intelligent and their needs were narrowed down to pleasing men
and being attractive to men. Coventry Patmore wrote in favor of this view in The Angel in the
House: “Man must be pleased, but him to please / Is woman's pleasure."

Opposed to this conservative view was the advanced view of the woman who revolted against
the social, economic, political restraints imposed upon her and to the leisurely boredom imposed
upon her as a wealthy citizen who dared not perform her household tasks at the risk of being
called 'déclassé'.
Tennyson's Princess Ida represents the "new woman" seeking equal rights with men:

"Two heads in council, two beside the hearth,

Two in the tangled business of the world.
Two in the liberal offices of life . . . "

In between these two radical and conservative views lay a middle view that held women's legal
disabilities must be removed but she should not have access to a professional vocation, a
franchise, or higher education lest she jeopardize her "womanhood." Her primary purpose in life
is to mentor and uplift her more worldly mate, and that woman is "different," not an equal
member of the human race but rather a subordinate who must adhere to a dual code of ethics.

The Romantic Ages glorified women as love and beauty incarnate and imposed impossible
standards on women. Shaw rejects these saccharine values and emphasizes on the notion of a
woman as a representation of a force guiding humanity to higher planes of existence.

Bernard Shaw in his Preface to Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant states "romance as the great
heresy to be swept off from art and life". According to him, the tragedy and comedy of life lie in
the consequences of our persistent attempts to base our institutions on ideals suggested by our
"half-satisfied passions", rather than a "genuinely scientific natural history."
The Victorian girl, who at her core was a realist, satiated her romantic desires by reading the
period's primly passionate novels, but she married accordingly, most likely to a man of her
parents' choosing.

Shaw was intrigued by the power wielded by a fascinating woman- the clever woman who
allowed herself to be glorified as the model of womanliness could actually be a tyrant if she so
wished.

However, he seems to have hyper focused upon these elements and could not really break the
mold outside his immediate imperative. He creates characters that are archetypes in Western
Literature and in play after play these archetypes are crystallized as the four distinct types in his
play. The different characters across his plays can thus be converged and four characters emerge-
the mother, the temptress, the goddess and the emancipated woman. Shaw was an early and
vigorous
exponent of female/male equality, insisting "that a woman is really only a man in petticoats, or,
if you like, that a man is a woman without petticoats." But none of these ideas find substance in
his plays. The four observed archetypes are the chief proponents in his plays and his feminist
views by extension stands still. Shaw wasn't creating women that were extremely radical, he was
just supporting radical women who already existed in contemporary literature of the time. Shaw,
by extension was just validating his Princess Ida in his plays.

Understanding that he was after all a man and enjoyed a greater degree of privilege, it is
disappointing that he did not develop female characters who were representative of his stated
belief that women should be treated equally to men and should pursue a personal identity distinct
from socially prescribed duties.

The temptress, the femme fatale, the La Belle

Dame sans Merci, the Eve inspires awe and terror and by virtue she is a fascinating, manipulative
and destructive woman. This type frequently appears in Shaw's writing and is metaphorically
compared to the "tiger cat" or "viper." We observe her in the savage ferocity with which Blanche
Sartorius pursues love, in Raina Petkoff's attack after learning of Sergius' flirtation with Louka,
and in Ann Whitefield's increasingly tightening hold on Tanner. The femme fatale given the
most thorough treatment by Shaw is Cleopatra, the kitten-turned-tiger who, against Caesar's
caution, stains her hands with the blood of her foe. Men are no match for these women. Even the
male-dominated Eliza Doolittle displays her claws and threatens to scratch when, following her
victory in Act IV, Higgins and Pickering ignore her.

The fertile earth-mother is characterized in the form of Lady Cicely. Instinctively, these women
provide parental protection and authority, as seen when Raina coaxes and shakes her "chocolate
cream soldier" when he is too exhausted to stay up or when Major Barbara commands her "sweet
little Dolly Boy."
One of Shaw's most memorable mother-women is Candida; throughout the play, she abuses and
humiliates her two "sons," Morell and Marchbanks, who alternately take turns in the last act
sitting in a child's chair at her feet.,

Margaret Schlauch contends that this Mother-Goddess appears frequently throughout Shaw's
works as a symbolic character, using Lady Cicely, Candida, Mrs. George (Getting Married), and
Mrs. Hushabye as examples (Heartbreak House). Candida, for
example, sees herself as the supporter of male achievement and gives herself to the man who
needs her most. She also says that Shaw's goddess-figures, as manifestations of intentionally
creative progress, provide as unambiguous allegorical vehicles for his idea of the Life Force in
their most elaborate forms. Shaw, who in principle pushes for equality, maintains strict
boundaries between the sexes in his attitude toward women and the Life Force. We are presented
with the paradox of a man who argues against the romantic idealization of women but worships
the mother-goddess figure in his plays.
Shaw inexplicably criticized the idea that women are angels while embracing the idea of women
as saints in his plays- Major Barbara is a savior for others in his plays, as is Saint Joan.

Shaw's best portraits of women are nuanced and don't fit neatly into one category. For instance,
Candida is depicted as a seductress who plans to teach Marchbanks "what love really is" while
also having a strong maternal instinct. She frequently uses the phrases "silly boy" or "my boy"
when speaking to both Morell and Marchbanks. Ann Whitefield is a combination of literary
types- Tanner views her as a viper, the femme fatale whereas Ramsden views her as the epitome
of female propriety. By the end of the play, she is identified with the creative maternal impulse
of the Life Force. Shaw regards Ann as "Every woman" and significantly, every woman is a
composite of traditional types.

The last archetype is the modern representation of the liberated woman who has shunned
stereotypical "feminine" roles. This type of character has been portrayed in literature as an
unmarried, plain, and "masculine"–looking woman. This character can be best exemplified in the
characters of Louka Or Vivie Warren. Like Shaw they have no use for the beauty-worshippers or
the idealizers of love and they believe in free choice. This character archetype resembles the
radical outlook in the best regard, but even in his plays her decisions and views don't settle well.
She makes her opinion heard, and it resonates, to an extent. Even in Shaw's background she is
too radical and there appears to be a gap between her intended effect and the actual effect. Her
words stand hollow and she is separated from the other characters. No attempt is made to accept
her in the manifold of society.

By saying that the strong character portraits drawn up by Shaw belong to literary types does not
attempt to diminish the artistic credibility of the plays. In his defense the archetypes were built
upon real life models from his life. We wouldn't be shocked to find these stereotypes in Shaw's
writing if he hadn't fought so forcefully against them given how pervasive they are in Western
literature. However, the fact that the kinds do show up means that we should reevaluate all of
Shaw's female characters. To start, we should cease praising their novelty and establish a clear
line between Shaw's customary depiction of women in the plays and his feminist ideas.
References:
1. Feminism and Female Stereotypes in Shaw Author(s): Elsie Adams Source: The Shaw
Review, JANUARY, 1974, Vol. 17, No. 1, SHAW AND WOMAN (JANUARY, 1974),
pp. 17-22
2. Bernard Shaw’s ‘A Conception Of The "Womanly" Woman’, Author(s): Jacqueline
Gunlock Wolke, ‘A Thesis’