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Candida

by George Bernard Shaw

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 794 ratings · 38 reviews

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Published 1952 by Penguin Books (first published 1898)

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Jan 07, 2012 Ramona Tudor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays

- spooilers -

I cannot help myself but love this story. At first, it quite annoyed me and I was a little bit scared by its following. I thought, in some or another sequence, that it will end like Ibsen's piece of work. And I got scared because, however, I didn't want Candida to be separated from the lovely Morell.He was, for me, the only agreeable and dear character from this story and I have quite fancied with him - even though I cannot find a serious and real explanation for the matter. I have...more - spooilers -

I cannot help myself but love this story. At first, it quite annoyed me and I was a little bit scared by its following. I thought, in some or another sequence, that it will end like Ibsen's piece of work. And I got scared because, however, I didn't want Candida to be separated from the lovely Morell.He was, for me, the only agreeable and dear character from this story and I have quite fancied with him - even though I cannot find a serious and real explanation for the matter. I have just loved the character, his personality, his being and his words - also, his love towards his wife that made me tremble with satisfaction and smile with content.
I have despised Eugene from the bottom of my heart and soul when I thought he would be able to ruin this beautiful relationship, the home of two human beings that loved and respected each other. To tell the truth, this is the first time I encounter such beautiful harmony and such a perfect and lovely atmosphere between two people and maybe, only maybe - it's just me and my fancy towards harmony and homely happiness that makes me think like this and regard the matter as it is. Or maybe, there is a stunning feeling that flows from this relationship between those two characters.
Coming back to Eugene, I must say I despised him, but in the end he did not look as fearsome and ugly as he looked until then. His boyish attitude was long gone by then and I suppose that was the thing that did it. I loved Morell because he was a man, whatever that may mean, but Eugene was just a boy, a poet that naturally understood things. But this boyish poet, was not a man and by thinking he was right in everything and being quite right in many matters, he didn't see one essential spot, and that is the fact that, whatever Candida was, whatever he saw in her, whatever he thought of her or she thought of herself or whatever much the suffering may be - she was to love her husband forever, to cherish and respect him and to be with him for all their remaining lives on Earth. It may be that Candida loved Eugene as well, but in quite a different matter than she loved Morell, because she was mature, she was a woman, not a girl and if Eugene would have come to her when she was younger, she would have thrown herself away in his arms. But, being a woman, a wife and a mother, she couldn't engage herself in other relationship but with her own husband - and that fact, i deeply loved and admired.(less)

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Oct 12, 2012 Judy added it · review of another edition

Mmmmmm. Not sure that I should rate this play, as I suspect my appreciation of G.B.S.'s intentions are confused. Part of the problem is that relevant points of characterisation do not emerge through the spoken word, but through stage directions - not all translatable into action. For instance, it is intimated in Act I via stage directions that neither Morell nor Candida are likely to appreciate the art of the Titian painting dominating the wall in the study, but this fact - which makes clear at...more

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May 21, 2013 Momina Masood rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays-drama

I think I'll grow to like this play better as I sift through more of its criticisms and interpretations. There were naturalistic splashes across the character of Marchbanks, and similar tints to Candida, as well, though I don't know how many others noticed them, or if they were there at all. But something made me cry out inside while reading Marchbanks' lines - 'what has the naturalist got against moral convictions, and why?!' But I surrender this thought; it being a tad irrelevant.

"The play is...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Fabian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Here: 3 distinct attitudes toward marriage. Alas, this is not as good as the outstanding "Arms and the Man," nor, for that matter, the tepid "Mrs. Warren's Profession." It is regarded as "brilliantly plotted"; with one, or perhaps THE, most masterfully-plotted play. Also, it was what Shaw considered to be his favorite. But I was not moved by Candida. Perhaps it is the title that is to blame--being so closely related to that favorite of mine, Voltaire's "Candide" my expectations were... different...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Sylvain rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

MARCHBANKS: I know. You feel that you could love anybody that offered–
PROSERPINE (exasperated): Anybody that offered! No, I do not. What do you take me for?
MARCHBANKS (discouraged): No use. You won't make me real answers – only those things that everybody says.

MARCHBANKS (hopelessly): Nothing that's worth saying is proper.

One of the biggest realizations I’ve had this past year is that there are relationship people and single people. Relationship people continue to be so even when they are single...more

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May 22, 2009 mizuki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, college

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 20, 2011 Matthew Dunleavy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From spoilersliterature.blogspot.ca-

I have been aware of Bernard Shaw for quite a long time but, for one reason or another, I have never got around to reading or watching one of his plays. However, that all changed as I read Candida (122 pages).

The story centres around a situation that has been around as long as story telling has (that’s just an educated estimation!); two men fighting over one woman. The woman in question is Candida and the two men are Reverend James Morrell (Candida’s current h...more From spoilersliterature.blogspot.ca-

I have been aware of Bernard Shaw for quite a long time but, for one reason or another, I have never got around to reading or watching one of his plays. However, that all changed as I read Candida (122 pages).

The story centres around a situation that has been around as long as story telling has (that’s just an educated estimation!); two men fighting over one woman. The woman in question is Candida and the two men are Reverend James Morrell (Candida’s current husband) and Eugene Marchbanks (a young poet).

The first thing I found very surprising about Candida is Shaw’s treatment of stage direction. It seems as though Shaw was worried that whoever would direct his play in the future would, in current terms, f*ck it up! You can see this through his unnecessarily long descriptions of characters and settings (for example the beginning of the play has over 3 pages worth of stage direction before the dialogue begins). His stage direction seems more fitting for a novel, or short story, than a play.

Shaw gives a very interesting insight into love throughout this book. An example of this is when he has Marchbanks explain why shy people can’t find love, “I see the affection I am longing for given to dogs and cats and pet birds, because they come and ask for it” (Shaw 43). So the moral of this is- if you are shy you are less likely to find love than a dog!

The play ends on a very interesting note. Part of the final piece of dialogue (given by Marchbanks) is “I have a secret better than that in my heart”, and the final stage direction is “they do not know the secret in the poet’s heart” (Shaw 81). Up until this point the play has been very straight forward with lots of discussion about love and beliefs yet this final line adds a twist. I can’t say it really adds anything to the play, it is more of a frustration due to the fact that nothing prior provides anything that can be read into as a secret.

During an argument between Morrell and Marchbanks, I came across another of my new words; whelp! Morrell says to Marchbanks, “You sniveling cowardly whelp” (Shaw 39). I have never heard somebody use a synonym for a puppy as an offensive term (although I supposed it makes sense coming from a reverend instead of something really offensive).

My final point about this play is in regards to an ‘extra’ at the back of this book which is called a ‘Glossary of Cockney Words’ (page 120-22). The glossary is given to help understand Mr. Burgess (Candida’s father), when I saw this I assumed it was provided because Mr. Burgess would use cockney slang (I had noticed it on the contents before starting the play). However it only really outlines words that mostly involve Mr. Burgess dropping a h when it is needed and adding a h when it is not needed. Including this somewhat undermines the intelligence of the reader especially when it tries to say it is for “a dialect used by uneducated Londoners” (Shaw 120); as an educated individual from the North West of England (nowhere near London!) that also always seems to drop the h I can assure you this isn’t a special dialect by any means.
(less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Being an admirer of Bernard Shaw's witticisms in his social commentary plays like Pygmalion, Apple Cart, Man and Superman and Saint Joan, I was pleasantly surprised to find this heart-warming, whimsical turn by Mr Sarcastic himself. As the parson and the eighteen-year-old poet crossed swords I felt myself troubled by the tense situations (unlike his more famous plays where one can appreciate the comedy in the fast dialogue) and when Candida spoke I felt myself calm down. How is it that Bernard S...more

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Jun 07, 2012 blake rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-classic

I'll start with the caveat that I'm a novice when it comes to plays, but that said, this was a thoroughly captivating work that I was able to finish in about 2 hours. It was light but dealt with weighty themes (love, relationships, sexism, etc.). The psychological insights were poignant, if not entirely subtle. I read this only with an idea of getting a better grasp on Shaw, but admittedly was not very enticed by the description of the play. After all of that I was very pleasantly surprised by t...more

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Jul 14, 2009 Paul Dinger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Candidia is the free spirit wife of a minister totally devoted to the social gospel, but she would gladly be the lover of a local younger poet who is devoted to her. But would she stay? Written for a society that was devoted to marriage, Shaw gives us a marriage that is anything but conventional and yet somehow works. One can really see the influence of Ibsen on this play, especially in the character of Candidia, she is Nora from the Doll's House who somehow marries again, only this time she won...more

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Feb 12, 2010 Keely rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, humor, reviewed, uk-and-ireland

Chekhov wrote his realist stories between drinks at parties in his home, taking inspiration from the characters around him to create a world of small, short-sighted people who seem real through a combination of meanness and absurdity. They are dull enough to have the problems of a normal person, but eccentric enough to come off as individuals instead of simply mouthpieces or archetypes.

Shaw sometimes works along the same lines, but his approach to absurdity is much grander, and will not yield to...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: early-modernism, script, funny, classic

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read a hundred so-called "classics" for the first time, then write reports on whether they deserve the label

Book #19: Candida, by George Bernard Shaw (1898)

The story in a nutshell:
As one of many "comedies of manners" from the Victorian- and Edwardian-era playwright George Ber...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Timothy Morrow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This comedic tale was very entertaining. The banter between the two male leads was dramatic and hypnotyzing. I could not stop reading. The story centers on the theme of love within each character. Each character had their own unique love towards another character. It was quite a read. I am happpy for the ending, though as someone who could relate to Eugene, I was a little glum.Regardless if the ending this play was a delight and then some! Timothy~

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Nov 24, 2011 Angélique rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays

3 1/2 Stars. I definitely enjoyed this play more than the previous Shaw play I read. Although I still didn't feel a deep affinity for any of the characters, I found them on the whole much more intriguing and as a whole more likeable. The plot unexpectedly excited me so that I eagerly pressed towards the ending. I look forward to diving deeper into the meaning of this play.

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Sep 14, 2012 Nena rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Audiobook Version performed by L.A. Theatre Works:

This is a brilliant play revolving around a woman who, in a time when women were supposed to be seen and not heard, takes control over her life and gets even . . . no, she gets ahead.
A really good play and if you are going to experience it, do it right and listen on audiobook by LATW.

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Sep 15, 2009 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays

The only Bernard Shaw play that I have seen in person, this was a delight to read. During the actual play itself, some of the dialogue and settings passed me by at too rapid a pace to savor and take in. Witty repartees and a tight fast moving plot make this play memorable, even in written, not acted form.

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Jul 09, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, drama, fiction-20th-century, ireland, read-2012

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The life of a vicar's wife is turned upside down by a young poet. Romantic comedy from George Bernard Shaw with Hannah Gordon, Edward Petherbridge and Christopher Guard in a production first broadcast in August 1977 and directed by Ronald Mason.

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Mar 22, 2009 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good, but not great. This play is surprisingly shallow for Shaw. It is a nice story about loving relationships, but only one of the characters is challenged in any way and the whole play feels a little slight.

I guess I was just expecting more.

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Jul 23, 2012 Serena rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-novels-and-plays

I loved the character changes in Eugene and Morell. Felt so sorry for Morell, but I kind of sympathized with Eugene too. Candida was kind of cool. Her Dad didn't seem all that bad either.

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Apr 20, 2009 Claire S marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Recommended to Claire by: Himself, and CCLaP.

Shelves: a-we-ll-see, award_p_nobel, cclap-100, classics, fiction, class-relations, global, historical, form_complexia, pol-historical, pov-content_global-of-location, women

CCLap verdict: not a classic. Although George Bernard Shaw himself is a great figure of the literary arts, only one to win both a Nobel and an Oscar, etc.. etc..

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Dec 23, 2012 Don Weidinger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A woman’s perceptiveness, the gift of gab and socialism, longing for love, nothing worth saying is proper, a scoundrel or fool, a wonderful play.

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Nov 23, 2012 Wa Leerasa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shaw's last author's note about the secret in the poet's heart is thought-provoking and left the play with a good suspended note.

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Dec 18, 2012 Ren rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this absurdly funny. This is the sort of thing that made me want to be an English major.

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May 18, 2012 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was just okay. The plot is too fast moving, lacking attention to detail.

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Aug 02, 2010 Manal added it · review of another edition

woman so pure when she loved and so strong at the same time

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Jun 19, 2009 Lia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays

What a strange sense of humor about love and supposed love.

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Jun 25, 2010 Lobstergirl rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Todd Palin

Facile, antiquated, repulsive.

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May 04, 2010 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: published-1939, spring-2010, satire, play-dramatisation

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 28, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Last year, this book saved me from the sombreness and nausia of a long flight from Colorado to New York. Candida is one of Shaw's hidden gems. It's perpetually hilarious how "things fall apart" in this play! Do check it out!

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Apr 14, 2013 Jc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not quite the timeless time I expected. I suspect that that I'd my fault.

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About George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, socialist, and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama. Over the course of his life he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all his plays address prevailing social problems, but...more

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Quotes from Candida

“We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.” — 52 people liked it

“Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly about? They are more true: they are the only things that are true.” — 10 people liked it

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