Shaw's Settings: Gardens and Libraries

Conclusion

· 125 · Conclusion Having conducted this close examination of Shaw’s use of settings—specifically his use of gardens and libraries—we can safely describe the patterns and significance of those settings. In brief, we may conclude that Shawincorporatesthesetwosettings,whichrecurwithregularitythroughout his works, as a way of providing a complete dramatic experience, these settings becoming an extension of the characters, conflicts, and themes as well as a supplement to the language experience of his plays. The theatre is a listening place, and language tends to dominate drama. Anyone familiar with Shaw’s plays knows that one of his great strengths is his use of language, and much of the power that resides in his plays comes from his language. Shaw made no apologies for his talk, calling his plays dramas of discussion, advocating that dramatic values emanate from discussing opposing points of view, and admitting that his plays are all talk, just as Michelangelo’s statues are all marble and Beethoven’s music is all notes. His plays are largely composed of the clash of ideas, verbal interaction , lengthy conversations, sometimes long speeches, and a lot of talk, brilliant though it may be. But while Shaw is a verbal genius, his talents go far beyond that. A study of his use of settings leads us to the conclusion that, first, he is also a very visual artist; second, that these settings provide strong performance values ; third, these settings serve as metaphors; and fourth, these settings lend insight into his characters. Visual Effects The fact that Shaw is an extremely visual playwright may be seen in almost all of his plays, but one play in particular, Widowers’ Houses, provides an • 126 · Shaw’s Settings exceptionally poignant example of his use of libraries. We recall that at the beginning of act 2, located in Sartorius’s library, Shaw points out in his set description that “all the walls are lined with shelves of smartly tooled books, fitting into their places like bricks.” This serves as a visual, ironic counterpoint in several ways in the play. First, Blanche is seen reading, not books from this library, but The Queen, which is a tabloidlike paper containing court gossip, and the fact that the books are fitted “into their places like bricks” probably suggests that they are seldom if ever taken off the shelves. Second, like so much else of the hypocrisy in Sartorius’s life, this impressive library is there for appearance only, for when Cokane comments on “these books,” Sartorius states, “I have not looked into them. They are pleasant for Blanche occasionally when she wishes to read,” a statement that is belied by the opening scene with Blanche reading The Queen. And third, an even more powerful visual effect is achieved when, toward the end of act 2, and still in the same library, Blanche loses her temper with the parlor maid and seizes “her by the hair and throat,” threatens to kill her, and “tightens” her fingers “furiously on her.” The sharp irony here is that the audience, watching a performance, would be aware that Blanche’s inhumane behavior is taking place right in front of the “smartly tooled books,” the symbol of civilization and culture, both of which she only pretends to but neither of which she is possessed of. Performance Values As noted in the introduction, performance theory underlies many of the analyses of scenes occurring in either a garden or a library, and the pursuit of the study of performance values is richly rewarding because, as a study of these settings establishes, Shaw has a keen sense of performativity . While numerous examples of tableaux can be cited throughout Shaw, a very powerful one occurs in Mrs. Warren’s Profession in act 3, where Vivie and Crofts have a critical discussion about the nature of the businesses run by Crofts and Kitty Warren, and Crofts explains to Vivie how British society works. Vivie seeks to flee the entrapment of the British garden to find freedom and independence in London. As the discussion ends, Vivie goes to the garden gate and “raises the latch of the gate to open it and go out.” But Crofts “follows her and puts his hand heavily on the top bar to prevent its opening,” and this stage picture of Vivie trying to open the gate and Crofts preventing it is a graphic depiction of the conflict of the play, capturing in Conclusion · 127 one...