This shows life and family are unpredictable. Shaw wants families to grow with care and reasoning. Blind tradition harms relationships. He encourages honesty and respect among family members. Society should learn from flexible and kind families.
Marriage and Love: Marriage is a social concern for Shaw. He criticizes arranged and formal marriages. Valentine and Gloria’s love is free and natural. Shaw humorously notes:
“No, no, no. Not love: we know better than that. Let’s call it Chemistry.”
He wants people to choose love wisely. Marriage should not follow strict social rules. Women should have the freedom to choose partners. Shaw uses comedy to show wrong ideas about love. Society should accept modern and equal relationships. True love needs reason, respect, and freedom.
Social Manners and Hypocrisy: Shaw mocks social manners and false appearances. Victorian people care more for rules than truth. He writes:
“We don’t bother much about dress and manners in England”
This humor shows social hypocrisy. Manners should not hide human feelings. People act to impress society. Shaw wants honesty, natural behavior, and simple living. Social rules should serve humans, not control them. Comedy exposes selfishness and false pride. Society can improve by valuing sincerity and truth.
Life and Human Struggle: Shaw presents life as full of challenges. Birth, marriage, and death are risky and uncertain. He writes:
“It’s unwise to be born; it’s unwise to be married; it’s unwise to live; and it’s unwise to die.”
Life brings struggles for everyone. Shaw shows humans face hardships constantly. He uses humor to criticize life’s difficulties. People often follow tradition blindly, which can create more problems. Shaw encourages courage, wisdom, and independent thinking. Life is not predictable, but humans can act wisely. Challenges teach lessons about society and freedom.
Freedom and Individuality: Shaw emphasizes personal freedom and individuality. Characters like Valentine and Gloria act freely and wisely. Society often limits people with rules. Shaw writes:
“How many times he has laid the trap in which he has caught you…”
This shows human behavior in love and social life can be manipulative. Individuals must act with reason and independence. Freedom helps society improve. Shaw’s plays teach that individuality and intelligence are necessary for social progress.
In “You Never Can Tell,” Shaw proves himself a socially conscious playwright. He attacks false pride, family domination, and gender inequality. He teaches freedom, truth, and understanding through humor and dialogue. Shaw’s aim is not only to entertain but also to reform society. His play is a fine example of how comedy can express wisdom and awaken human conscience.
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