[Posted by Ed]
In Man and Superman, gender is constructed in a rather unusual way; females are shown to be much more powerful then men, as they are the ones who coax men into marriage. Even Tanner, who declares that “the first duty of manhood and womanhood is a Declaration of Independence” (Shaw, 53). Then, in act three, Don Juan, who greatly resembles Tanner leaves the pleasures of hell so that he can be independent: “to be in heaven is to steer” (Shaw, 95). This same character despite his resistance to conventions and the Devil, then succumbs to the power of Ann. Do you think women are portrayed positively, or more ambivalently?
