Puritanism and Revolt in Three Plays for Puritans

Abstract

The collective title which Shaw gave to Three Plays for Puritans perhaps suggests a greater degree of homogeneity in the plays than they actually exhibit. Nevertheless, there are common thematic patterns in the three plays, and the title has more than one kind of relevance. The ‘Puritans’ of the title seem intended to be both pleased and displeased by the dedication. On the one hand, the plays can be said to be ‘for Puritans’ in that they attack puritanical rigidity and narrowness of thought and outlook, and the conceptual stereotypes underlying middle-class morality. (‘It annoys me to see people comfortable when they ought to be uncomfortable’, Shaw declares in the Preface, ‘and I insist on making them think in order to bring them to conviction of sin.’)¹ On the other hand, the plays can also be seen to be ‘for Puritans’ in more favourable senses of the term. They are each marked by a deliberate avoidance of sentimental and conventionally romantic resolutions of action. They show the inadequacy of established religious and ethical codes. And they each present central characters who are, in different ways, outside and superior to the religious and moral systems which prevail in the societies in which they move. The ethical codes which are implied in their behaviour, though not denominational in character, are very close to the central teachings of the New Testament.

I am more nearly a Quaker than anything else that has a denomination.

(Shaw)