This is apparently from a play, Man and Superman, which I have never previously heard of, let alone read or seen. I suspect that, much like Oscar Wilde’s plays, it is at least as much a vehicle for witty epigrams as it is an actual performance or plot.
This is apparently from a play, Man and Superman, which I have never previously heard of, let alone read or seen. I suspect that, much like Oscar Wilde’s plays, it is at least as much a vehicle for witty epigrams as it is an actual performance or plot.
The quote is from an appendix that consists entirely of epigrams that are attributed to one of the characters in the play—it’s not actually part of the play as performed. (Shaw was tired of “smart” characters in plays that don’t actually do anything to show that they’re smart so he wrote it to justify the character’s asserted intelligence.)
That’s a fascinating approach to characterization. What do you do, have the actors all read the appendix before they start rehearsals?
I have no idea!