Storytelling Output Report

for

"Candida"

ANALYSIS INFORMATION:

 

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General Storytelling:	Complete
Act Order Storytelling:	Signposts Only
Character List:	Major Characters
Build Characters:	Partial

 

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Author:		George Bernard Shaw
Analysis sources:		Source Material: Bentley, E. R. (1947). Bernard Shaw. Norfolk, CN: New Directions Books. Charney, M. (Ed.). (1985). Classic comedies. New York: Signet. Ervine, St. J. (1956). Bernard Shaw: His life, work and friends. New York: Morrow. Holroyd, M. (1988). Bernard Shaw: The search for love. New York: Random House. Irvine, W. (1949). The Universe of G.B.S. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Genre:		Domestic Comedy
Setting:		The home of Rev. James Mavor Morell and his wife, Candida-St. Dominic's Parsonage, located in the north east quarter of London.
Period:		October, 1894
Analysis by:		Katharine E. Monahan Huntley

Comments:

"Candida" is a domestic comedy in the form of a three-act play. Charney (1985) states:

"Shaw points out in a letter to the Evening Standard of November 30, 1944: "Candida" is 'a counterblast to Ibsen's "Doll House," showing that in the real typical doll's house it is the man who is the doll' (p. 486).

In Dramatica, similarities between the two plays extend to Main Character Direction, Approach, and Range; Obstacle Character Range; Objective Story Work, Limit, and Judgment; Story Goal, Consequence, Costs, and Dividends; all 4 Domains and Concerns.

For analysis purposes, Act 2 is treated as Act 2 and 3.

The Cast List is complete with extensive descriptions and few build characters. Please note Shaw's unconventional spelling and punctuation within quoted material.

Brief Synopsis:

Into the happy household of the Reverend James Mavor Morell and his wife Candida comes the aristocratic and waiflike poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who is a "strange, shy youth of eighteen." Although a foolishly petulant, unmanly, and romantic youth, he exposes the complacency and smugness of the Morell's marriage. (Charney, 1985, p. 486)

Name: James Morell
ID: Main Character
Gender: Male
Description:

A vigorous, genial, popular man of forty, robust and good-looking, full of energy, with pleasant, hearty, considerate manners, and a sound unaffected voice, which he uses with the clean athletic articulation of a practised orator, and with a wide range and perfect command of expression. (Shaw, 1896, p. 492)

Role: Clergyman, Candida's husband
Characteristics:

Motivation: Logic
Methodology: Inaction
Evaluation: Trust
Purpose: Knowledge; Self Aware; Equity

Name: Eugene Marchbanks
ID: Impact Character
Gender: Male
Description:

He is a strange, shy youth of eighteen, slight, effeminate, with a delicate childish voice, and a hunted and tormented expression and shrinking manner that shew [sic] the painful sensitive of very swift and acute apprehensiveness in youth, before the character has grown to its full strength...he is so uncommon as to be almost unearthly; and to prosaic people there is something noxious in this unearthliness, just as to poetic people there is something angelic in it. (Shaw, 1895, p. 505)

Role: Poet
Characteristics:

Motivation: Feeling
Evaluation: Test
Purpose: Thought

Name: Burgess
Gender: Male
Description:

He is a man of sixty, made coarse and sordid by the compulsory selfishness of petty commerce, and later on softened into sluggish bumptiousness by overfeeding and commercial success. A vulgar ignorant guzzling man, offensive and contemptuous to people whose labor is cheap, respectful to wealth and rank, and quite sincere and without rancor or envy in both attitudes. (Shaw, 1895, p. 497-498)

Role: Candida's father
Characteristics:

Purpose: Inequity

Name: Candida
Gender: Female
Description:

She is a woman of 33, well built, well nourished, likely, one guesses, to become matronly later on, but now quite at her best, with the double charm of youth and motherhood....she is like any other pretty woman who is just clever enough to make the most of her sexual attractions for trivially selfish ends; but Candida's serene brow, courageous eyes, and well set mouth and chin signify largeness of mind and dignity of character to ennoble her cunning in the affections. (Charney, 1985, p. 503)

Role: Wife
Characteristics:

Methodology: Protection
Purpose: Aware

Name: Proserpine Garnett
Gender: Female
Description:

A brisk little woman of about 30, of the lower middle class, neatly but cheaply dressed in a black merino skirt and a blouse, notably pert and quick of speech, and not very civil in her manner, but sensitive and affectionate. (Shaw, 1895, p. 492)

Role: Morell's typist
Characteristics:

Motivation: Support

Name: Reverend Alexander Mill (Lexy)
Gender: Male
Description:

He is a conceitedly well intentioned, enthusiastic, immature novice, with nothing positively unbearable about him except a habit of speaking with his lips carefully closed a full half inch from each corner for the sake of a finicking articulation and a set of university vowels...(Shaw, 1895, p. 494)

Role: Morell's curate

Nature as it relates to Actual Work:

Morell's suffering through a real dilemma has a positive outcome. Although his confidence is shaken by Marchbanks's declaration of love for Candida and brash assumption she could not possibly be happy with him as her husband, Morell stands his ground until he is assured Candida loves him and she has no intention of leaving their home with the poet.

Essence as it relates to Positive Feel:

Morell, Marchbanks, and Candida are determined to settle their difficulties before the night is through.

Tendency as it relates to Willing:

Morell makes the effort to find out if he is losing Candida to Marchbanks:

I will not go about tortured with doubts and suspicions. I will not live with you and keep a secret from you. I will not suffer the intolerable degradation of jealousy. We have agreed-he and I-that you shall choose between us now. I await your decision. (Shaw, 1895, p. 550-551)

Reach as it relates to Both:

Women and men will empathize with the romantic problems caused by a love triangle.

Main Character Resolve as it relates to Steadfast:

True to the Christian principles he preaches, Morell employs the virtue of patience and prepares for self sacrifice as he awaits the fate of his marriage.

Impact Character Resolve as it relates to Change:

Main Character Growth as it relates to Start:

Morell needs to hold out for Candida to make the decision to stay with him.

Main Character Approach as it relates to Be-er:

As an example of James Morell's approach as a be-er, when Eugene Marchbanks announces Candida is better off with himself rather than the clergyman, Morell accepts him as a threat instead of dismissing the poet's youthful foolishness. He then puts the burden of settling the crisis upon Candida, avoiding handling the matter himself.

Main Character Problem-Solving Style as it relates to Logical:

Morell thinks linearly; when his marriage is threatened he considers nothing but the threat itself; if he had put the threat in perspective of his happy marriage, he would realize the danger never existed.

Story Driver as it relates to Decision:

"Candida" focuses on the decision Candida is asked to make, to stay with Morell or leave with Marchbanks:

Morell: We have agreed-he and I-that you shall choose between us now. I await your decision.

It is made clear, however, that Candida may decide on neither man:

Candida: Oh! I am to choose, am I? I suppose it is quite settled that I must belong to one or the other.

Morell: Quite. You must choose definitely.

Marchbanks: Morell: you dont understand. She means that she belongs to herself. (Shaw, 1895, p. 551)

Story Limit as it relates to Optionlock:

As rivals for Candida's affections, Morell and Marchbanks feel the only option in settling the matter is for Candida to choose between the two men.

Story Outcome as it relates to Success:

The Morells' marriage survives Marchbanks's efforts at disruption; Marchbanks comes to realize his true nature; Burgess is welcomed back into his daughter and son-in-law's good graces; and so forth.

Story Judgment as it relates to Good:

Morell's anxiety over the possibility of losing Candida to Marchbanks is appeased as Marchbanks takes his leave and husband and wife embrace.

Overall Story Name: "Candida, We Can Make It Together . . ."

Throughline Synopsis:

Into the happy household of the Reverend James Mavor Morell and his wife Candida comes the aristocratic and waiflike poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who is a "strange, shy youth of eighteen." Although a foolishly petulant, unmanly, and romantic youth, he exposes the complacency and smugness of the Morell's marriage. (Charney, 1985, p. 486)

Backstory:

Throughline as it relates to Activity:

Morell and Marchbanks rival for Candida; Burgess endeavors to ingratiate himself back into the Morell household; Lexy attempts to emulate Morell by endeavoring to copy his mannerisms:

Proserpine: You never cut a poorer figure than when you try to imitate him.

Lexy: I try to follow his example, not to imitate him.

Proserpine: Yes, you do: you imitate him. Why do you tuck your umbrella under your left arm instead of carrying it in your hand like anyone else? Why do you walk with your chin stuck out before you, hurrying along with that eager look in your eyes? you! who never get up before half past nine in the morning. (Shaw, 1895, p. 497)

Concern as it relates to Understanding:

Marchbanks is concerned with Candida appreciating him, and knowing he understands her; he cannot understand how the object of his desire can love a windbag like Morell; Marchbanks understands Proserpine is in love with Morell:

"Marchbanks: Ah! I understand now.

Proserpine (reddening): What do you understand?

Marchbanks: Your secret. Tell me: is it really and truly possible for a woman to love him?" (Shaw, 1895, p. 518).

Candida laughingly tells Morell that Marchbanks "understands you; he understands me; he understands Prossy; and you, darling, you understand nothing" (Shaw, 1895, p. 530).

Issue as it relates to Instinct :

Shaw thematically makes an argument that it is best to follow one's innate impulses:

Morell's first instinct upon hearing Marchbanks's declaration of love for his wife is to laugh, however, once his confidence is undermined, he loses his temper:

"Leave my house. Do you hear? (He advances on him threateningly)" (Shaw, 1895, p. 512).

Candida "is a woman of strong instincts...The maternal instinct is particularly strong" (Irvine, 1949, p. 175); "Her ways are those of a woman who has found that she can always manage people by engaging their affection, and who does so frankly and instinctively without the smallest scruple" (Charney, 1985, p. 503).

Counterpoint as it relates to Conditioning :

Thematic Conflict as it relates to Instinct vs. Conditioning:

Problem as it relates to Thought:

It never occurs to Candida that Marchbanks's schoolboy crush may threaten her husband; instead of using his own process of consideration, Lexy takes Morell's words as gospel; Prossy has a problem with everyone thinking Candida is so wonderful while she is overlooked:

Proserpine: Candida here, and Candida there, and Candida everywhere! It's enough to drive anyone out of their senses to hear a woman raved about in that absurd manner merely because she's got good hair and a tolerable figure.

Lexy: I think her extremely beautiful, Miss Garnett....how fine her eyes are!

Proserpine: Her eyes are not a bit better that mine: now! And you know very well you think me dowdy and second rate enough.

Lexy: Heaven forbid that I think of any of God's creatures in such a way! (Shaw, 1895, p. 496)

Morell has great difficulty with the way his father-in-law thinks, specifically Burgess considering his economic success "the inevitable and socially wholesome triumph of the ability, industry, shrewdness, and experience in business of a man who in private is easygoing, affectionate, and humorously convivial to a fault" (Shaw, 1895, p. 498), when in reality Burgess' success is due to the slave labor practices Morell abhors.

Solution as it relates to Knowledge:

Once Candida knows Morell has felt threatened by Marchbanks, she is able to put her husband in his place asking, "Do you mind what is said by a foolish boy?" (Shaw, 1895, p. 550); Prossy recognizes her position in the Morell household as one that is only a helpmate to Morell and his wife and comes to "appreciate her (Candida's) real qualities far better than any man can" (Shaw, 1895, p. 496); Morell demands Burgess admit he knows he is a scoundrel:

So long as you come here honestly as a self-respecting, thorough, convinced, scoundrel...you are welcome. I wont have you here snivelling about being a model employer and a converted man when youre only an apostate with your coat turned for the sale of a County Council contract. No: I like a man to be true to himself, even in wickedness. (Shaw, 1895, p. 502)

Symptom as it relates to Ability:

Prossy concentrates her efforts on making Morell happy by using her excellent secretarial abilities and her willingness to help with household duties; Lexy concentrates on improving his abilities as a curate; Candida is capable of running the household, caring for the children, and keeping her father, husband, and house guest in their proper places.

Response as it relates to Desire:

Proserpine longs for love (especially in the shape of Morell); Burgess craves prosperity; Lexy wants to be the successful clergy man Morell is; in each their own way, Morell and Candida want order restored to the household.

Catalyst as it relates to Senses:

The story accelerates forward when Candida observes conflict between Morell and Marchbanks and demands an explanation.

Inhibitor as it relates to Fate:

The inevitable arrival of Burgess, Prossy, and Lexy impedes a discussion between Candida, Morell, and Marchbanks that could have resolved the two men's conflict much sooner:

Candida (Troubled): I dont understand about this morning.

Morell (gently snubbing her.) You need not understand, my dear.

Candida: But, James, I-(The street bell rings.) Oh bother! Here they all come. (She goes out to let them in.) (Shaw, 1895, p. 545)

Benchmark as it relates to Gathering Information:

The more everyone learns how family and work relationships function, the closer they are to preventing seriously disruptive misunderstandings in the community; the more Morell and Marchbanks learn from Candida what it takes to maintain balance and happiness in the household, the closer they come to resolving the love triangle:

Marchbanks (flushing with a young poet's rage against tyranny): By what right is he master?

Candida (quietly): Tell him, James.

Morell (taken aback): My dear: I dont know of any right that makes me master. I assert no such right.

Candida (with infinite reproach) You dont know! Oh, James! James! (To Eugene, musingly.) I wonder do you understand, Eugene! (He shakes his head helplessly, not daring to look at her.) No: youre too young. Well, I give you leave to stay: to stay and learn...I build a castle of comfort and indulgence and love for him, and stand sentinel always to keep little vulgar cares out. I make him master here, though he does not know it, and could not tell you a moment ago how it came to be so. (Shaw, 1895, pp. 549, 553)

Goal as it relates to Understanding:

The goal of common concern to the objective characters is reaching an understanding of how the family and work relationships are balanced within the parsonage, and to clear up any misunderstandings that occur:

"'Candida' is based on a very old dramatic device: a misunderstanding. In the course of the play, husband and wife come for the first time to genuinely understand each other and their actual relationship" (Irvine, 1949, p. 174).

Consequence as it relates to Developing a Plan:

If Morell doesn't come to understand his wife and marriage, he will remain vulnerable to imagining she may leave him; if Candida doesn't understand the true anguish behind Morell's preachy words she may very well envision leaving him; if Marchbanks doesn't realize the domesticity is not for him, he will have to envision creating poetry, not in artist's solitude, but while carrying out such mundane chores as trimming lamps and peeling onions.

Cost as it relates to The Past:

Marchbanks turns his back on his past life as an aristocrat; Burgess must curb his tendency to be a scoundrel if he is to be a welcome member of the Morell family; and so forth.

Dividend as it relates to Memories:

Marchbanks will always have a fond memory of the first woman he fell in love with; Morell will never forget the young man who poked holes in his complacency; and so forth.

Requirements as it relates to Gathering Information:

As a woman living in a time where females were not encouraged to form, much less voice, their opinions, Candida must learn how to speak her mind; Morell must learn how his marriage operates; Marchbanks must learn what the unromantic side of domestic life consists of (peeling onions and cleaning boots) before rushing into it; and so forth.

Prerequisites as it relates to Conceiving an Idea:

Candida surmises Morell and Marchbanks have argued over her, and they must both be put in their place.

Preconditions as it relates to The Present:

The circumstances that precipitate Candida and Morell reaching a new understanding of their marital relationship, and Marchbanks coming to an understanding of his true nature, occur the moment Marchbanks declares his rivalry for Candida's affections and Morell accepts his threat.

Forewarnings as it relates to Contemplation:

Morell's serious consideration of Marchbanks's threat to take Candida away signals the potential loss of his marriage; Candida cautions Morell to keep in mind her love for him, "for if that went, I should care very little for your sermons" (Shaw, 1895, p. 530).

Main vs. Impact Story Name: "Who Will Win Fair Candida's Heart? The Clergyman or the Poet?"

Throughline Synopsis:

Irvine (1949) states Marchbanks:

...cannot understand how a woman like Candida can have any feeling for a windbag like James Morell. He tells James so without delay, having first declared his own love. Morell meets this youthful outburst with magnificent condescension and indulgence. And yet he has apparently himself noticed in Candida's attitude toward him something disturbing, which he has always been reluctant to understand....Slashing about with truths that are quite irrelevant of Candida's marriage, he cuts deep into the clergyman's self-confidence and therefore into the latter's faith in his wife's love. (p. 175)

Backstory:

Throughline as it relates to Manipulation:

Morell and Marchbanks differ in their ways of thinking about love, "James's idea of love is as romantically conventional as Eugene's is romantically poetic" (Irvine, 1949, p. 175).

Concern as it relates to Developing a Plan:

Marchbanks forces Morell to imagine how Candida may feel about her husband:

Ive never been in your church; but Ive been to your political meetings; and Ive seen you do whats called rousing the meeting to enthusiasm: that is, you excited them until they behave exactly as if they were drunk. And their wives looked on and saw what fools they were. Oh it's an old story: youll find it in the Bible. I imagine King David, in his fits of enthusiasm, was very like you. (Stabbing him with the words.) "But his wife despised him in her heart." (Shaw, 1895, p. 512)

Issue as it relates to State of Being :

Marchbanks attacks Morell's perception of himself with what he claims is the actual nature of his character:

Marchbanks (looking round wildly): Is it like this for her here always? A woman, with a great soul, craving for reality, truth, freedom; and being fed on metaphors, sermons, stale perorations, mere rhetoric. Do you think a woman's soul can live on your talent for preaching?

Morell (stung): Marchbanks, you make it hard for me to control myself. My talent is like yours insofar as it has any real worth at all. It is the gift of finding words for divine truth.

Marchbanks (impetuously): It's the gift of the gab, nothing more and nothing less. (Shaw, 1895, p. 512)

And later:

Marchbanks: Here endeth the thousand and first lesson, Morell, I dont think much of your preaching after all: I believe I could do it better myself. The man I want to meet is the man that Candida married....I don't mean the Reverend James Mavor Morell, moralist and windbag. I mean the real man that the Reverend James must have hidden somewhere inside his black coat-the man that Candida loved. (Shaw, 1895, p. 540)

Counterpoint as it relates to Sense of Self :

Thematic Conflict as it relates to State of Being vs. Sense of Self:

Problem as it relates to Speculation:

Morell giving credence to the unlikely scenario Candida may leave him for Marchbanks is the source of problems between the two men.

Solution as it relates to Projection:

Once Morell and Marchbanks are able to extrapolate there is no place in the poet's future for the Morells' kind of domestic happiness, their problem is resolved:

Marchbanks: I no longer desire happiness: life is nobler than that. Parson James: I give you my happiness with both hands: I love you because you have filled the heart of the woman I loved. Goodbye. (Shaw, 1895, pp. 553-554)

Symptom as it relates to Ability:

Each man is convinced they are the only one suited to make Candida happy. Morell concentrates on his conventional qualities as an upright and honest man, who makes a viable living, while Marchbanks is sure his romantic imagination and childish neediness will fulfill her dreams:

Morell: Some fiddlestick! oh, if she is mad enough to leave me for you, who will protect her? who will help her? who will work for her? who will be a father to her children? (He sits down distractedly on the sofa, with his elbows on his knees and his head propped on his clenched fists.)

Marchbanks (snapping his fingers wildly): She does not ask those silly questions. It is she who wants somebody to protect, to help, to work for. Some grown man who has become as a little child again. Oh, you fool, you fool, you triple fool! I am the man, Morell: I am the man. (Shaw, 1895, p. 543)

Response as it relates to Desire:

As much as Marchbanks is driven to upset the Morells' domestic situation, Morell is motivated to maintain it. Morell's anxiety increases as Marchbanks undermines his sense of security; Marchbanks becomes sympathetic toward Morell as he begins to understand his rival's vulnerability.

Catalyst as it relates to Situation:

Morell and Marchbanks determine their situation is intolerable and must be resolved quickly.

Inhibitor as it relates to Truth:

Morell's and Marchbanks's progress toward resolving their conflict is impeded when at first Morell keeps the truth of Marchbanks's revelation from Candida:

Morell (puzzled): Why do you want her to know this?

Marchbanks (with lyric rapture): Because she will understand me, and know that I understand her. If you keep back one word of it from her-if you are not ready to lay the truth at her feet as I am-then you will know to the end of your days that she really belongs to me and not to you. Goodbye. (Going.)

Morell (terribly disquieted): Stop: I will not tell her.

Marchbanks (turning near the door): Either the truth or a lie you must tell her, if I go.

Morell (temporizing): Marchbanks: it is sometimes justifiable-

Marchbanks (cutting him short): I know: to lie. It will be useless. Goodbye, Mr. Clergyman. (Shaw, 1895, pp. 513-514)

Benchmark as it relates to Conceiving an Idea:

As time goes on, Morell arrives at the idea Marchbanks is accurate in his prediction that Candida has come to despise him in her heart:

Morell (continuing): Eugene was right. As you told me a few hours after, he is always right. He said nothing that you not say far better yourself. He is the poet, who sees everything; and I am the poor parson, who understands nothing. (Shaw, 1895, p. 550)

Role: Clergyman, Candida's husband

Description:

A vigorous, genial, popular man of forty, robust and good-looking, full of energy, with pleasant, hearty, considerate manners, and a sound unaffected voice, which he uses with the clean athletic articulation of a practised orator, and with a wide range and perfect command of expression. (Shaw, 1896, p. 492)

Throughline Synopsis:

Irvine (1949) states:

In the opening scenes we learn a good deal about the Reverend Morell. Toward Prossy and Lexy, he is wise and indulgent; toward Burgess, vigorous and frank. "He is a first rate clergyman, able to say what he likes to whom he likes, to lecture people without setting himself up against them, to impose his authority on them without humiliating them." We learn also that he considers his wife the rock and foundation of his happiness. (Irvine, 1949, p. 174) Problems occur for Morell when a young friend of the family decides he is in love with Morell's wife, Candida, and the clergyman's self-confidence diminishes. It is not until he puts this tempest in a teapot on his wife's shoulders to resolve that he himself is finally put in his place in regard to himself, his wife, and their relationship.

Backstory:

Throughline as it relates to Fixed Attitude:

James Morell holds fixed points of view on the role of the Christian, and roles husbands and wives play in marriage.

Concern as it relates to Memories:

Morell recollects his estrangement from his father-in-law is because Burgess paid starvation wages to his parishioners Burgess hired, and how he "shamed the Guardians out of accepting your tender: I shamed the ratepayers out of letting them do it: I shamed everybody but you. (Boiling over.) How dare you, sir, come here and offer to forgive me..." (Shaw, 1895, p. 500); he unhappily recalls the poet's words of the morning when Candida raves about Marchbanks's astuteness:

Morell: His words!

Candida (checking herself quickly in the act of getting up): Whose words?

Morell: Eugene's.

Candida (delighted): He is always right. He understands you; he understands me; he understands Prossy; and you, darling, you understand nothing. (She laughs, and kisses him to console him. He recoils as if stabbed, and springs up). (Shaw, 1895, p. 530)

Issue as it relates to Evidence :

Morell's misery increases as he accepts Candida's words as grounds for belief that she no longer loves him.

Counterpoint as it relates to Suspicion :

Thematic Conflict as it relates to Evidence vs. Suspicion:

Problem as it relates to Self Aware:

Morell is absurdly self-important. He cannot recognize the difference between rhetoric and conversation, so that he makes the constant error of addressing everyone as if they were his audience.... he is content to spout clerical and moralistic platitudes at moments of high crisis...trapped by his own oratorical self-sufficiency. He is too articulate to distrust the medium in which he has been so brilliantly attractive. (Charney, 1985, pp. x, 487)

Solution as it relates to Aware:

Candida does her best to teach Morell to become outwardly perceptive. "Candida is constantly aware of how obtuse her husband really is, and that it is her role to point out to him that marriage depends on love and not on a handful of high-minded principles" (Charney, 1985, p. 487).

Symptom as it relates to Ability:

Morell focuses on his ability as a pastor, and as a husband:

Morell (with proud humility): I have nothing to offer you but my strength for your defence, my honesty of purpose for your surety, my ability and industry for your livelihood, and my authority and position for your dignity. That is all it becomes a man to offer a woman. (Shaw, 1895, p. 551)

Response as it relates to Desire:

Morell is motivated to maintain his happy marriage, and makes the mistake of concentrating on his talent for oratory to expound on his abilities as a man and husband to keep her-when all Candida wants is his faith in her love for him: "Candida is stung with the ridiculous posturing of her husband's 'mellow' style, and...she speaks 'coldly,' offended by Morell's 'yielding to his orator's instinct and treating her as if she were the audience in the Guild of St. Matthew' (Charney, 1985, p. 487)

Unique Ability as it relates to Evidence:

As a personage of importance in the community, Morell is in a position to gather evidence of wrongdoings and misunderstandings and put an end to them as evidenced by his stopping Burgess' mistreatment of the parishioners (slave wages); Morell eventually has all the proof he needs of his wife's love and loyalty for him.

Critical Flaw as it relates to State of Being:

Morell's absurd self-importance and tendency toward being overly dramatic undermines his sincerity with Candida and others around him:

Morell's supreme fault is one which is typical of all eloquent people, whether they be politicians or priests. Such men...deceive not only emotional audiences, but, what is worse, themselves, because they vainly imagine that eloquence and mind are identical. (Ervine, 1956, p. 281)

Benchmark as it relates to Contemplation:

The more Morell considers Marchbanks a threat, the more he is concerned with the state of his marriage.

Role: Poet

Description:

He is a strange, shy youth of eighteen, slight, effeminate, with a delicate childish voice, and a hunted and tormented expression and shrinking manner that shew [sic] the painful sensitive of very swift and acute apprehensiveness in youth, before the character has grown to its full strength...he is so uncommon as to be almost unearthly; and to prosaic people there is something noxious in this unearthliness, just as to poetic people there is something angelic in it. (Shaw, 1895, p. 505)

Throughline Synopsis:

Marchbanks, an eighteen year old poet and friend of the Morell family has fallen in love with Candida Morell, and "conceiving love as a romantic ecstasy which has nothing to do with the domesticities of peeling onions and trimming lamps and little to do with the sublunary detail of physical possession" (Irvine, 1949, p. 175) he unsuccessfully attempts to win her away from her husband.

In the extremity of defeat and suffering, he rises suddenly to a realization of his destiny, and rejecting the mere happiness of Candida and her husband, goes out into the night, so that at the very close of the play the theme of the loneliness and self-sufficiency of genius surges up to dominance. (Irvine, 1949, p. 178)

Backstory:

Throughline as it relates to Situation:

Marchbanks explores the institution of marriage and "domestic bliss."

Concern as it relates to The Past:

Candida points out to Marchbanks his past is what makes him the poet, and that domestic life would stilt him:

Candida: ...You have had to live without comfort or welcome or refuge, always lonely, and nearly always disliked and misunderstood, poor boy!

Marchbanks (faithful to the nobility of his lot): I had my books. I had Nature. And at last I met you...

Candida (in his (Morell's) arms smiling, to Eugene): Am I your mother and sisters to you, Eugene?

Marchbanks (rising with a fierce gesture of disgust): Ah, never. Out, then, into the night with me! (Shaw, 18955, pp. 551-552)

Issue as it relates to Prediction :

Marchbanks foretells the demise of Morells' marriage when he compares James Morell to King David and Candida to his wife who "despised him in her heart" (Shaw, 1895, p. 512).

Counterpoint as it relates to Interdiction :

Thematic Conflict as it relates to Prediction vs. Interdiction:

Problem as it relates to Thought:

Marchbanks is infatuated with the thought of being completely devoted to one person and receiving complete devotion in return. This infatuation drives him away from his own family and into Candida's.

Solution as it relates to Knowledge:

Marchbanks accepts the knowledge that what he thinks is his undying love for Candida is a passing infatuation and comes to the conclusion he must remain a lonely poet when he:

Experiences the metamorphosis from sensuality to spirituality and artistic dedication. Looking upon the suffocating commonplaces of the Morell household, he concludes that domesticity, security, and love are inferior ends compared with the sublime and lonely renunciation of the artist. (Holroyd, 1988, p. 316)

Symptom as it relates to Order:

With great disdain, Marchbanks focuses on how the Morells' marriage is structured; his opinion of their domestic situation unnerves Morell.

Response as it relates to Chaos:

Marchbanks's declaration to Morell that he loves his wife brings chaos into Morell's well ordered life.

Unique Ability as it relates to Prediction:

Marchbanks predicts to Morell Candida will leave her husband for himself; this forces the clergyman to re-evaluate himself, his wife, and their marriage.

Critical Flaw as it relates to Instinct:

Marchbanks instinctively understands the true nature of others, however, this instinct fails when it comes to understanding his own. This quality eventually undermines his impact on Morell.

Benchmark as it relates to The Present:

The longer Marchbanks remains in the Morells' existing domestic situation, the more he comes to realize he wants no part of it. This eventually leads to his exit, relieving the pressure he has put on their relationship.

The Overall Throughline Act Order:

Overall Story Signpost 1 as it relates to Understanding:

Morell teases Lexy that if he catches the measles he would be a lucky man if nursed by Candida:

"Lexy (smiling uneasily): It's so hard to understand you about Mrs. Morell-

Morell (tenderly): Ah, my boy, get married; get married to a good woman; and then you'll understand" (Shaw, 1895, p. 495).

After a three year estrangement, Morell's father-in-law seeks an "honorable unnerstannin" (Shaw, 1895, p. 504) and whatever else he can get from his son-in-law; and so forth.

Overall Story Journey 1 from Understanding to Doing:

Overall Story Signpost 2 as it relates to Doing:

Morell is receiving a deputation; Proserpine is transcribing Morell's letters; Candida is tending to household matters; Marchbanks is "wandering about the room in his lost ways" (Shaw, 1895, p. 517).

Overall Story Journey 2 from Doing to Obtaining:

Overall Story Signpost 3 as it relates to Obtaining:

Candida informs Morell she must have his attention; Candida tells Morell to "Put your trust in my love for you, James; for if that went, I should care very little for your sermons: mere phrases that you cheat yourself and others with every day" (Shaw, 1895, p. 530); Burgess exclaims madness is "catchin! Four in the same ouse" (Shaw, 1895, p. 533); through Morell, Burgess wants to obtain an introduction to the chairman of the Works Committee of the County Council; and so forth.

Overall Story Journey 3 from Obtaining to Gathering Information:

Overall Story Signpost 4 as it relates to Gathering Information:

Candida discerns what has transpired between Morell and Marchbanks; Marchbanks wishes to find out what Candida ever saw in Morell; Proserpine learns the effects of champagne; and so forth.

The Main vs. Impact Throughline Act Order:

Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 1 as it relates to Developing a Plan:

Marchbanks cuts Morell to the quick when he demands Morell to envision what he believes is the spiritual emptiness of Candida's life with him.

Main vs. Impact Story Journey 1 from Developing a Plan to Playing a Role:

Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 2 as it relates to Playing a Role:

Marchbanks objects to Morell that Candida act as a servant in her own home to save money, "But your wife's beautiful fingers are dabbling in parrafin oil while you sit here comfortably preaching about it: everlasting preaching! preaching! words! words! words!" (Shaw, 1895, p. 523), while Morell pragmatically explains, "Yes: but she isn't a slave; and the house looks as if I kept three. That means that everyone has to lend a hand" (Shaw, 1895, p. 522).

Main vs. Impact Story Journey 2 from Playing a Role to Changing One's Nature:

Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 3 as it relates to Changing One's Nature:

Marchbanks becomes sympathetic to Morell when sees the pain he is in, believing he may be losing his wife.

Main vs. Impact Story Journey 3 from Changing One's Nature to Conceiving an Idea:

Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 4 as it relates to Conceiving an Idea:

Morell and Marchbanks come up with the idea that Candida must choose between them, not conceiving that she might choose neither.

The Main Character Throughline Act Order:

Main Character Signpost 1 as it relates to Contemplation:

Morell contemplates a speaking engagement for Communist Anarchists; he considers if Burgess has actually changed his slave driving ways; Morell considers he has a rival for his wife.

Main Character Journey 1 from Contemplation to Innermost Desires:

Main Character Signpost 2 as it relates to Innermost Desires:

As Morell begins to take Marchbanks's rivalry seriously, he starts to fear for his marriage:

(Morell is silent. Apparently he is busy with his letters: really he is puzzling with misgiving over his new and alarming experience that the surer he is of his moral thrusts, the more swiftly and effectively Eugene parries them. To find himself beginning to fear a man whom he does not respect afflicts him bitterly.) (Shaw, 1895, p. 525)

Main Character Journey 2 from Innermost Desires to Memories:

Main Character Signpost 3 as it relates to Memories:

At the opening of Act 1, Morell makes clear to Prossy, that despite his active schedule, he is committed to address any group that asks of his services. And later on, Candida asks, "Why must you go out every night lecturing and talking? I hardly have one evening a week with you" (Shaw, 1895, p. 527). Yet, by Act 3, because he believes himself to be in the midst of a marital crisis, for the first time in everyone's memory Morell is frustrated with a demand for a speaking engagement, "These people forget that I am a man: they think I am a talking machine to be turned on for their pleasure every evening of my life" (Shaw, 1895, p. 532).

Main Character Journey 3 from Memories to Impulsive Responses:

Main Character Signpost 4 as it relates to Impulsive Responses:

Morell's immediate response to Marchbanks addressing his wife by her first name is to involuntarily seize the poet:

Morell: Out with the truth, man: 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. (Shaw, 1895, p. 542)

The Impact Character Throughline Act Order:

Impact Character Signpost 1 as it relates to The Past:

Marchbanks wishes to put his past life as an aristocrat behind him to take on what he believes is the romantic life of a starving artist.

Impact Character Journey 1 from The Past to The Future:

Impact Character Signpost 2 as it relates to The Future:

Marchbanks recites to Candida how he would like to take her away into the future with, "A tiny shallop to sail away in, far from the world...or a chariot! to carry us up into the sky, where the lamps are stars, and dont need to be filled with parafin oil every day" (Shaw, 1895, p. 524).

Impact Character Journey 2 from The Future to How Things are Changing:

Impact Character Signpost 3 as it relates to How Things are Changing:

Marchbanks views his developing relationship with Candida as positive, especially when he interprets her teasing words to Morell as cruel taunts.

Impact Character Journey 3 from How Things are Changing to The Present:

Impact Character Signpost 4 as it relates to The Present:

Marchbanks make an assessment of his current situation and determines he prefers the future of a solitary poet: "Looking upon the suffocating commonplaces of the Morell household, he concludes that domesticity, security, and love are inferior ends compared with the sublime and lonely renunciation of the artist" (Holroyd, 1988, p. 316).

All Concerns:

Morell's recollection of Marchbanks's negative comparison of himself to King David, and the poet's assertion that he, and not Morell, understands Candida and is therefore the only man worthy of her causes a rivalry between the two men that ceases once Candida enlightens Morell to the make-up of their marriage and shows Marchbanks he will do better living a poet's life by holding onto his past unhappiness.