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Caesar and Cleopatra
(1898)
First staged in 1901.
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The Main message in this play
Always read Shaw's notes carefully, whenever you study any of his literature. In this case, I find the following remark most crucial.
Again, there is the illusion of "increased command over Nature," meaning that cotton is cheap and that ten miles of country road on a bicycle have replaced four on foot. But even if man's increased command over Nature included any increased command over himself (the only sort of command relevant to his evolution into a higher being), the fact remains that it is only by running away from the increased command over Nature to country places where Nature is still in primitive command over Man that he can recover from the effects of the smoke, the stench, the foul air, the overcrowding, the racket, the ugliness, the dirt which the cheap cotton costs us.
So true.. Isn't it? And, This is the main message in this play. Shaw has potrayed before us, the entire setup of 700 BC. And as we see in the play, the way the characters act is hardly any different than us. So, Shaw argues: Have we achieved any significant progress in these 20 centuries? Have we really evolved into higher, wiser and better human beings?
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i think shaw with good reasons has been called "english nietsche" because he like bergson saw reason and thought behind evolution carrying forward human will or lifeforce.this can easily felt in "man and superman":a comedy and a philosophy.
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