Saturday, June 9, 2007
Assignment 2: Marriage and Shaw's Candida
Marriage is one aspect of modernity that undergoes close scrutiny in the first two plays we've read. How does Shaw use dramatic (i.e. characterization, dialogue) and theatrical (i.e. setting and stage direction) elements to examine marriage in Candida? What does he seem to be saying about marriage, and which lines or passages seem important?
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With the hearth being the center of action and the constant emphasis placed on good housekeeping, the play presents the crucial aspect of marriage to be the creation of a comfortable Home. The setting of the play makes the hearth the focal point of all action, as the stage directions ensure that various characters warm themselves at the ever-burning "generous" fire - an unconscious, symbolic desire to achieve or steal a bit from the happy hearth of the Morells' household.
The last act of the play is very revealing as to Shaw's perception of what marriage entails, as far as the roles assigned to the partners are concerned. Candida, the wife who is shown to be the boss in the household from the first moments she's mentioned ("she's only coming for two days to see how we're getting on without her"), says "I make [my husband] master here, though he does not know it," reinforcing the idea that it is not only the woman's power, but also the duty to do so. Shaw is very critical of society in that respect, since it is the man (Morell), who is in the spotlight for his good deeds, and Candida, who has to "refuse money' when needed, i.e., taking care of the unpleasant, mundane realities of life. Marchbanks holds the same sentiment, when he points out to Morell that "his wife's beautiful fingers are dabbling in paraffin oil while [Morell] sits there comfortably preaching about it." Marchbanks places Candida on a pedestal, wishing to whisk her away from mundane household duties into the land where "the marble floors are washed by the rain" (and not by Candida's or other women's hands), and where the lamps "don't need to be filled with paraffin oil." In this regard, the play is critical of the traditional male-female roles assigned to husbands and wives, and astute in pointing out that it is, in fact, women who are the true masters in their households.
I agree with Eugenia, that when the play first is presented it places an emphasis on how the home should be kept and the importance of a comfortable home in a marriage. The play also shows how imperative the wife is in a marriage and how dependant the husband is of her. Not solely on what she does to maintain their serene environment but her presence alone is essential.
Aside from that, the last scene in the play gives way to the reality of marriage which breaks away from the stereotypic views of the world; which believes that the man controls the household. In actuality it is the wife that gives her husband the power by being submissive and allowing him to handle certain things because he is the man. However, she is the one in control. She has control over her household but this is done incognito so to speak but at the end of the day that man knows he is nothing without that woman. The play says it best when Candida states that Morell has power because she gives it to him. The play proves that in marriage the woman takes on more than one role she is not only a wife but a lover, a housekeeper, a mother, a bestfriend, a sister, and she fills all these roles to perfection. At the end we realize that in marriage it is more than love that conquers but it is the foundation that love stands upon.
Expanding on what Ebony Moore wrote – Shaw imparts to the readers of Candida that the roles of husband and wife have evolved from the traditional dominate male provider and subservient female child bearer to a more complex, muddled, yet superior form. Morell is ostensibly the archetypal dominate husband with his strength, preacher charisma, and distinguished good looks until Candida’s authoritative character is hinted at for the first time when Morell says, “She’s only coming up for two days … to see how we’re getting on without her.” (p.137) Candida travels back in middle of a long vacation just to make sure that her husband and his affairs are running smoothly. After this starting point Candida is seen babying Morrell as she scrutinizes his face and says, “My boy is not looking well” (p.162) and toying with his insecurities when she puzzles him about the true reason behind his multitude of congregants. Some might believe, especially men, that such a relationship is detrimental for Morell but, near the fruition of the play, the readers realize that no man could be in a more secure position than he: Candida rhetorically declares in the drawing room, “Ask me what it cost to be [Morell]’s mother and three sisters and wife and mother to his children all in one.” (p.181) Candida proves and Morell acknowledges that at his core he is unselfconfident and only the strength of his wife fuels his vigor.
In modern society, the institution of marriage continued to play a very important role. This was evident in the behavioral patterns portrayed by the characters of Morell, Candida and Marchbanks. Shaw seemed to highlight that conflict existed within the family over issues of relationships, support and resolution.
Candida possessed power and was the dominant individual in this relationship. She controlled the activities of the home. Morell was the subservient partner. He was dependent on her. His behavior can be described as ‘boyish ingenuousness”. He noted, “It’s all true,… what I am you have made me with the labor of your hands... You are my wife, my mother, my sisters you are the sum of all loving care to me.”
Even though, Candida possessed the power she regarded him as master and respect must be paid to him. “Stop…Didn’t you hear James say he wished you to stay? James is the master here. Don’t you know that?” She considered him her hero.
Candida provided emotional support for Morell. During his intense “preaching match” with Marchbanks she entered, the room, in time to quell the already tense situation. She addressed Marchbanks, “You have been annoying him. Now I wont have it”.
Though she was annoyed with Marchbanks she was concerned about him being turned out at that time of the night. Candida was aware of Marchbanks youthfulness. She referred to him as the boy or the child. She said, “You are like a child you cannot hold your tongue.” Her final remarks to him gave the reader an indication of how she visualized him along and a reason for her final decision, “Will you, for my sake, make a little poem out of the two sentences I am going to say to you? … repeat it to yourself whenever you think of me?... When I am thirty, she will be forty-five. When I am sixty, she will be seventy-five.”
In some modern society, some males regarded their partner as property. Shaw set the stage for an auction at the end of the play. Even though it did not involve money males had to ‘bid’. Morell said, “We have agreed- he and I – that you shall choose between us now. I await your decision.” To this Candida remarked, “…my lord and masters what have you to offer for my choice? I am up for auction, it seems. What do you bid, James.”
I agree with many of the observations made by my fellow classmates. Shaw's opinions on marriage, as portrayed through his play Candida was most definitely a sign of the emerging modernity of the time. Even the simple fact that Shaw created a character such as Candida and entitled the play after her speaks a lot for the changing role of women in early modern society and drama/literature as well.
Furthermore, as already mentioned in other comments, Act III is very telling of Shaw's opinions on marriage. When Morell and Marchbanks have their discussion about Candida, Morell's reponses are not what I would expect from a late 19th Century husband. On p. 173 he says, "...my wife is my wife: I want no more of your poetic fripperies. I know well that if I have lost her love and you have gained it, no law will bind her." Here Morell speaks of a law highter than is enforced by the laws of marriage, proving that Morell- and perhaps, to an extent, Shaw as well- had a much deeper meaning of marriage than the usual "until death do us part...".
Also, it is interesting to note that at the end of Acts I and II Morell is the one who has the last word over Candida, but at the end of the entire play, Candida is the one who ultimately has the last word. This could be symbolic of the shifting roles of power in their marriage.
I agree with many of the comments made by my other classmates as well. The institution of marriage is coveted in Candida.
I noticed that in this play, Candida is the boss of the relationship and her husband, Reverand Morell, has no problem admitting to that, "Ah my boy get married: get married to a good woman..." (137). This is very different from the type of relationship that was between Hjalmar and Gina. Hjalmar was in charge of that relationship. Gina revered him. I like what Donna said about during this time, some men regarded their wives as property. This was not the case in Candida.
i really found the dialogue in act 1 between Morell and Lexy and then later between Morell and Marchbanks very interesting. in both conversation Morell sounds as if he is trying to convince himself of his true love for Candida and about the perfection of their marriage. however, he only sees her as skin deep,and this causes him to need her and depend on her rather then to love her. this also enables her to be the boss over him which both empowers her and perhaps spites her in the end when she chooses to be with him because he needs her the most. on the contratry, Marchbanks seems to find her inner qualities, but this type of love does not seem to prevail.
I'd start off by saying that this is a rather intriguing play. This play questions the Victorians concept of love and marriage, asking what I woman would really like for her husband to provide for her. The play is set in the northeast suburbs of London in October,and tells the story of Candida, the wife of a first-rate clergyman named James Mavor Morell. Morell is a popular Christian Socialist Reverend in the Church of England, yet Candida is responsible for much of his success. I find this to be quite captivating because in the Christian belief(and many other religious beliefs)the woman is considered to be the "neck" while the husband is the "head" or as we all know the saying "Behind every great man is a great woman" and we clearly see this in the play. The wife standing behind her husband ensuring his achievements.
Candida is portrayed as a head strong woman, however, she is forced to make the wrong choice, however, with the time that this play was written, it reassures us that she doesn't have the "power" to make her own choices. Although to some, it may sound like an old-fashioned idea, but some woman find themselves fulfilled by being their husband's needed support and help-meet. Overall, I find Candida to be a ideal woman because in the end, she decides to chose committment over passion. Only weak women would chose committment over passion, which is why we have so many families with children from who knows how many fathers. Truly, our human nature desires a more exciting ending and would totally understand if she had chosen the poet, but Shaw is presenting her strength and virtue through the choice she made. It would be an incomplete conclusion to his theme if at the end she became less than the woman she was.
I agree with everyone who has pointed out that Shaw has a very modern look on marriage. Candida is depicted as a very strong and virtuous woman who in the end chooses commitment to the one who needs her and her love the most, her husband, over passionate attraction to a young poet who doesn't get as much love as he deserves. I think that during the time the play was written women were not meant to be viewed as strong characters. A woman was supposed to be nothing but an extension, a property of her husband. In this play, Merchbanks dares to openly pursue the property of another man and therefore challenges the basic concept of marriage during that period of time. Merchbanks view on love and marriage allows the woman to be more free and happy and enjoy her life outside of the 4 walls where she is drowned with attention and love. All though Candida is in charge of her marriage with James and she makes him the master, he life is not exciting and mainly revolves around his career. In the last lines of Act III, Candida disregards Merchbank because of his youth and their age difference and reunites with James. I think that in today’s world, in a similar situation, age would not be a significant factor to pass out on a life promising more freedom
Rather than reinforcing the idea of marriage or commenting on the changes in which it had undergone, I read the play as if Shaw was furtively attacking the idea. It is shown as a fickle and romanticized institution. The language is very pretty, but fleeting. Morell- “I offer you my strength for your defense, my industry for your livelihood, my dignity for your position” that is beautiful but plain satire. No man unless pressed for some reason or another, such as competing for a woman, would say that. The idea is that Morrell and Eugene are madly in love but with their self and their passions. Young enthralled idealist will attach themselves to anything consider pure (candida means white or pure in Latin) and speak about it as though it is the only thing that keeps them alive. The setting too impressed this upon me. The entire play takes place in one area expressing the monotony of marriage. The idea that one is ‘locked’ or ‘wed-locked’ into only one segment of reality, which in fact is a reality created by the radical perception of the passions of young, brilliant, and impressionable mind.
I agree with my clasmates that Shaw's relatively modern view of marriage seems to be at the forefront of this play.
The wife as "real" head of household is also seen in Ibsen's "The Wild Duck", with Gina as main earner of income and manager of the household accounts. The husband, Hjalmar, has little clue as to the home's financials. Candida also manages the household, shown, as others have pointed out, in her speech detailing how "when there is money to refuse: I refuse It", and so on.
Shaw goes a little further, and in contrast to Hjalmar's pride-driven blindness to the real authority of his household, he has Morrell aknowledge and be truly indebted to Candida to her authority and control over himself and the the household.
Bernard Shaw through his characters seems to stress marriage. In Act I, Mr. Morell makes his marriage seem like the ideal marriage in his discussion with Prosperine. Candida on the other hand, shows that she is the person in the marriage that holds the weight, and she also shows that the marriage is not as ideal as Mr. Morell makes it out to be. She says in on the bottom of page 165 that her openness to discuss unconventional things "comes from James teaching me to think for myself, and never to hold back out of fear of what other people may think of me. It works beautifully as long as I think the same thing he does."
Bernard Shaw, shows us that during this time of Modernity, women had more of a voice. The secretary Prosperine, had a voice and said what she felt, when Mr. Burgess tried to berate her and she called him a fathead. This play gave the women in it more authoratative roles unlike The Wild Duck, where Gina only went along with Hjalmar's plans and decisions.
A comfortable and clean home as presented in the play is established once the role of mother and wife in Candida arrives home. And although beautiful, intelligent and of upper middle class, Candida has no qualms about putting on her 'housekeeping'dress so as to take care of her home. Even the most undesirable job such as filling the lamps with oil is ok by her. The description of the home as well as the intricate detail that Shaw describes his setting in explains how important the home is to the center of the story. I think these definable roles that differentiate husband and wife is what defines the foundation of a marriage according to roles each person plays in Shaw's Candida. The husband's job is to protect his wife and support her, where as the wife has her role as being the one to comfort, be loving and domesticated. Because of the complicated nature of human beings things aren't so black and white. The area of grey spreads very quickly in Shaw's Candida. As we see in Act I as Eugene reveals to Morell that he loves his wife and that he an outsider to their marriage understands his wife more so than Morell does. This news does not go over very well with Morell, and as he says at the end of Act I "So was I an hour ago" in response to Eugene saying that he is "the happiest of mortals." I think this end scene is important because one of the benefits of marriage is a sense of security as well as a level of comfort that one has in their significant other. And in a matter of moments someone can come along and redefine all that one holds to be a certain truth especially in a marriage. I think Shaw is showing us that marriage isn't the convention that civilization makes it out to be and that it isn't easy or even desirable according to the roles by which we define ourselves. Not to mention the idea of marriage as being something that we own in the other person as if they were a piece of proerty.
I like how Shaw shows the contrast of idealism and modernity in his characters. Marchbanks appears to represent the young and beautiful yet naive and idealistic views of marriage. He wants to keep Candida on this pedestal and play the prince and rescue her from what he considers to be "horrors" of everyday living--"No, not a scrubbing brush, but a boat: a tiny shallop to sail away in, far from the world, where the marble floors are washed by the rain and dried by the sun; where the south wind dusts the beautiful green and purple carpets. Or a chariot! to carry us up into the sky, where the lamps are stars, and dont need to be filled with paraffin oil every day." The work (industrialization) that Candida needed to accomplish brought "horrors" to someone who I found to somewhat represent Victorian aristocracy who never lifted a finger to do any work as stated by Morell who sees Marchbanks and his idealism as "idle, selfish and useless." The modernity comes with the everyday living and comfort of home life and marriage. In Candida's speech, she makes mention that not only is she Morell's wife, but she is also his "mother", "his three sisters", and "mother of his children." Though romance is wonderful, there is more to a marriage than just romance because romance cannot be kept up everyday. Even Candida shows this when she starts to bore of Marchbanks poetry because there is no real substance in it compared to a real conversation which he tries to avoid.
Marriage was supposed to be a union between a man and a woman in which the man takes care of his wife and his family financially and emotionally. The wife's job was cooking, cleaning and making sure the children didn't bother the father. In Candida, Shaw challenged the ideals of a perfect household by making Candida the feminine version of the archetypal masculine male character. She maintains a perfect household, her children love her very much and Candida is such great wife that Morell says that she is the "...rock and foundation of his happiness."
This would never happen in a Victorian play, where everything is idealized, perfect, and centered around men and not women.
Shaw's contempt for his society's morals and ethics showed through his portrayal of Candida. "The family as a beautiful and holy natural institution is only a fancy picture of what every family would be if everybody was to be suited..." (pg. 485-86)
I believe that in the beginning of this play marriage is portrayed as the woman being submissive and for the most part respectful to their husband. During the Victorian period, a woman should have social ettiquete and decorum. She should be very reserved and polite. However, Candida was a wife that took control of most things. She stepped up and took charge. Her actions were very modern. She became the rock of the marriage. I think Shaw was basically trying to show us the shift in understanding of marriage.
Shaw's view on marriage seems to be very modern. Candida is depicted as s very strong woman, even for her time. Women were supposed to be only an extension of their husbands. Candida changed this type of thinking when she came along. James, her husband loved her, but was more interested in his career.
In Act II, Candida disregards Merchbanks because he is younger. She seems to wear the pants in the marriage which is also a modern aspect. Mr. Morell says that "she is the rock and foundation of his happiness".
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