You Never Can Tell

Drama | George Bernard Shaw

Discuss “You Never Can Tell” as an Anti-Romantic Comedy.

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Is You Never Can Tell an Anti-Romantic Comedy nbsp In the play You Never Can Tell Shaw attacks the romantic ideas about love and marriage By romanticism Shaw means all that is not based on facts and reality This play is anti-romantic because Shaw satirizes the romantic and idealistic notions about love and life nbsp Anti-Romantic Comedy The term 'anti' means against or opposite and anti-romantic comedy signifies the opposite of romantic comedy To put it differently Anti-romantic is a type of comedy in which romantic fascinations are disrupted You Never Can Tell is an anti-romantic comedy because Shaw satirizes a cynical attitude toward love marriage and life nbsp Ironical Setting At the beginning of the play we notice that the plot starts very romantically but gradually turns into bitter experiences of love and marital life nbsp Anti-Romantic Ideology or Ideas Shaw expresses his ideas against traditional thinking He satirizes

love and marriage and modern Victorian society Mrs Clandon thinks she teaches her children her philosophy and ideals but she fails because her daughter Gloria disobeys her ideals and falls in love with Valentine Mrs Clandon tries to dissuade Gloria from falling in love with Valentine nbsp Anti-romantic attitude to love Shaw has an anti-romantic attitude to love Being Shaw's mouthpiece Valentine expresses his creator s attitude to love Valentine told Gloria that his attack on the conflict of love is not conventional He does not kneel in front of her She doesn t worship and adore her like a romantic lover Instead he hugs her tightly and kisses her lips Valentine says nbsp Nature was in deadly earnest with me when I was in jest with her nbsp Here he applies his new method to overcome new women's resistance His work is more direct and realistic and Valentine unconventionally wins Gloria s heart nbsp Witty Dialogue Valentine is a wit person When Gloria wants an explanation of man-woman attraction for each other Valentine describes it in terms of chemistry Valentine also illustrates that their relationship is like a chemical reaction In a chemical reaction a new is always produced by mixing at least two elements Likewise the relationship between man and woman is prolific because a new human comes to this world through such a relationship nbsp No no no Not love we know better than that Let's call it Chemistry nbsp Morality for Anti-romantic Comedy Every literary work bears morality for humans and 'You Never Can Tell' is no exception The play's morality is that everyone can never tell what will happen in the future Man needs a family and marital life needs mutual understanding Walter Buhon says nbsp It's unwise to be born it's unwise to be married it's unwise to live and it's unwise to die nbsp From the above discussion it is undoubted that this play is an anti-romantic comedy because it fulfills all elements of anti-romantic comedy Shaw breaks the conventional ideals of love and marriage and expresses his realistic view

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