Shaw: Freedom

Ø  Behind his homour lies the satire of the contemporary social condition.

Ø  His simple talk was actually a denunciation of the conventional and capitalist view of freedom.

Ø  Politically Shaw conformed to democratic socialism, a variant of Marxism, according to which the society should try to reach the socialist political condition gradually by democratic means.

Ø  The concept of freedom, which Shaw satirises, was the fundamental principle of the Enlightenment, and he does so because, in a capitalist society, according to the Marxian view, freedom of the individual can never be realised.

Ø  “What you do to a horse or a bee, you can do to a man or woman or child…sort”.: With this Shaw, however, comes to the immediate social and political condition of the time, in which the concept of freedom __ derived from the grand idealistic project of the Enlightenment, and nationalistic bias produced by the First World War __ was being glorified and used by the upper class as a means to achieving their self-interests.

Ø  “most actual governments…enforce your slavery and call it freedom”.: the farce of the democratic system in a capitalist state

Ø  capitalist mechanism: the means by which the system tries to dupe people and establish, legitimize and perpetuate itself. approaches the ideological theories of Althusser and Gramsci.

Ø  “Ideology represents”, Althusser tells us, “the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real condition of existence.”

Ø  “ideological apparatuses”, to quote Althusser, manipulate the common mass to cast votes in favour of the capitalist leaders.

Ø  In 1882, he attended a lecture in London by Henry George and was at once persuaded by its sociological ethic to become a socialist.

Ø  Shaw was a proponent of the theory of “eugenics”, which believed in the improvement of the human race through selective reproduction.

Ø  In his play Man and Superman (1903), he wrote that “the only fundamental and possible Socialism is the socialization of the selective breeding of Man”

Ø  At a meeting of the Eugenics Education Society on March 3, 1910, he suggested the use of a “lethal chamber” to address their problem.

Ø   The key of the street: a variant of the phrase ‘key of the door’- used when a person comes of age at twenty-one and is said to have the key of the door and can come and go as he pleases. Shaw implies that the ordinary worker’s or wage slave’s freedom simply consists in the insecure freedom of being able to move from one employer to another, or none.

Ø  ‘Home, Sweet Home’: a sentimental song

Ø  Shaw’s ironic point is that though the UK and her allies won the 1914-18 war, during or after which monarchical rule in each of the countries named was overthrown, these republican developments were neither intended nor approved, in the cases of Russia and Turkey, by the victors.

Ø  The Factory Acts are designed to ensure good working conditions, the Wage Boards to set fair rates of pay, and the dole is a common term for Unemployment Pay. The New Deal, originally an American term applied to President Roosevelt’s schemes for social reconstruction in the 1930s, is used here to cover similar social reforms in the England of that period.

Ø  A titled lady: Lady Astor, who took her seat as the first woman in the House of Commons in 1919

Ø  Rule, Britannia! : title of a patriotic song

Ø  Satan will find mischief still: quoted from divine songs of children xxi ‘Against Idleness and Mischief’, by the dissenting minister and poet Isac Watts (1674-1748).

Shaw begins the essay with the proposition that a person can be called completely free in such a condition, in which he will be able to “ do what he likes, when he likes, and where he likes, or do nothing at all if he prefers it”. He firmly denies the possibility of the existence of such a person, as human beings are all slaves to nature:

“…we must all sleep for one third of our lifetime__ wash and dress and undress__ we must spend a couple of hours eating and drinking__ we must spend nearly as much in getting about from one place to place.”

From this funny yet inexorable condition of human life, Shaw very cleverly moves on to the fact that some of the “natural jobs” can be placed on others’ shoulders:
“What you do to a horse or a bee, you can do to a man or woman or child…sort”.
With this Shaw, however, comes to the immediate social and political condition of the time, in which the concept of freedom __ derived from the grand idealistic project of the Enlightenment, and nationalistic bias produced by the First World War __ was being glorified and used by the upper class as a means to achieving their self-interests. According to Shaw the farce of the democratic system in a capitalist state lies in the fact that “most actual governments…enforce your slavery and call it freedom”. However, the citizens of the state continue to be deceived by the system, rather than rising to protest. Shaw terms this unequal relationship “the unnatural slavery of man to man”.

Shaw points out an important difference between the “natural slavery of man to Nature and the unnatural slavery of man to man”. According to him, the first, though unavoidable, provides pleasure after its fulfilment; for instance, if nature forces us to drink, she makes drinking pleasant. The same is true of eating, drinking, sleeping and other activities. Shaw introduces this difference and cites examples, more importantly, to explain the evils of the former in more acute terms. He refers to a few thinkers, such as Karl Marx and Thomas More, who denounced this slavery and attempted to abolish it. At this point, his explanation of the capitalist mechanism —that is, how the system tries to deceive people and establish, legitimate, and perpetuate itself —approaches the ideological theories of Althusser and Gramsci. “Ideology represents”, Althusser tells us, “the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real condition of existence.” He points out that several ideologies – namely, religious ideology, ethical ideology, legal ideology, and political ideology – all of which operate invisibly in the superstructure. Shaw strikes at the very root when he says, “Naturally the master class, through its parliaments and schools and newspapers, makes the most desperate efforts to prevent us from realising our slavery.” He explains historically how the British capitalist system has established itself by propagating the so-called glorious events as the Magna Charta, the defeat of the Spanish Armada and Napoleon. Then he explains how “ideological apparatuses”, to quote Althusser, manipulate the common mass to cast votes in favour of the capitalist leaders. What is more alarmingly effective, according to him, is the educational system, which operates in the superstructure and “ends in deluding the master class much more completely”.

Thus Shaw explains the difference between the two kinds of slavery and conclusively tells the listeners/readers: “Wipe out from your dreams of freedom the hope of being able to do as you please all the time.” For, according to him, people have to remain occupied doing the natural slavery for at least twelve hours a day, while their unnatural slavery is controlled and regulated by the legal and administrative system of the country.

Ans- According to Shaw, there is no perfectly free man on earth because logically this is impossible. Whether humans like it or not, they must sleep for one-third of their lifetime; wash and dress and undress; they must spend a couple of hours eating and drinking; they spend as much time travelling from one place to another. For half the day, they are slaves to their natural requirements, which they cannot shirk.

2) Do all social and governmental regulations aim at regulating man’s slavery?

Ans- Shaw says that the object of all honest Governments should be to prevent the unnatural slavery of man to man. But he regretfully observes that the actual motive of all Governments is just the opposite. The Government enforces the slavery of man to man and calls it freedom. They also regulate the norms of slavery and try to keep the greed of the master class within bounds. This does not leave the repressed class any freer because they have to choose between one master and the other.      

3) What does Shaw think of the right to vote?

Ans – Shaw thinks that governments simply deceive the public by promising that they have the power to govern the country themselves, allowing them to choose their representatives through their right to vote. A general election is held every five years. At the election, two of their rich friends, who are divorced from the pains of the commoners, become the candidates for the election. The candidates themselves are unworthy; therefore, in spite of having the right to vote, the people are not free to do whatever they would like to do.

4) How is man’s slavery to nature pleasant?

Ans- Shaw believes that man’s slavery to nature is pleasant because even though she (nature) forces man to eat and drink, she makes eating and drinking pleasurable so much so that some people simply live to eat. The comforts of civilised society and family life are so great that young people are eager to get married and join building societies to realise their dreams.

5) How can slavery be ended?

Ans- Shaw points out that man’s slavery to man is unnatural and must be prevented at any cost. He says that poets do not praise slavery. They say that no man is good enough to be another man’s master. Shaw uses the example of Marx, who had advocated that law could only stop slavery. Because there were no proper laws against slavery in those times, there were continual civil wars. Thomas More also raised his voice against such a social evil. He believed that peace could be achieved only by compelling everyone to do their own share of work with their own hands and brains, and not to put it on anyone else.

6) What means does the master class use to maintain the upper hand over the slave class?

Ans- The master class through its Parliaments, schools and newspapers, makes the most desperate efforts to prevent the masses from realising their slavery. By directly controlling their thoughts, the master class prevents the slave class from forming a derogatory opinion of them. Whenever the people complain, they are told that they themselves are responsible for their misery because of their own wrong choice of their representative. When they try to protest about the system of voting, they are reminded that they have been given the Factory Acts and the Wage Board, and free education, and the New Deal, and the dole. They always reassure the slave class that they do not need any more than has already been given to them.

7) How do the master class prevent the upheaval of the downtrodden masses when lead by famous figures?

Ans – Shaw says that whenever famous writers protest against the imposture of the master class, they teach the people that they are traitors to the country. Shaw provides examples of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Tom Paine in the eighteenth century, as well as Cobbett, Shelley, Karl Marx, and Lassalle in the nineteenth century, and Lenin and Trotsky in the twentieth century.  These people are declared atheists and libertines, murderers and scoundrels, and often it is made a criminal offence to buy or sell their books. If their disciples make a revolution, England makes war upon them and lends money to the other powers to join her in forcing the revolutionists to restore the slave order.

8) How is the master class led to accepting the righteousness of human exploitation?

Ans- Shaw regrets that though “the prodigious mass of humbug is meant to delude the enslaved class only, it ends in deluding the master class more completely”. A gentleman whose mind has been formed at a preparatory school run by the master class itself, followed by a public school run by the government and a university course, is entirely under the false notion of created history, dishonest political economy and snobbery taught in these places. The gentleman’s education teaches him to think highly of himself. He believes that being socially superior to the commoners is his right to have others, who are underprivileged, do his work.  He sincerely believes it to be his duty to shed his blood and the blood of others to the last drop to defend such a nation which has bestowed so many favours on him.

9) Why do most workers or women vote for their social superiors?

Ans- Shaw notes that great men like Aristotle believed that men must be made ignorant idolaters before they can be made obedient workers and law-abiding citizens. One must pretend to have God-like-superiority in order to draw the attention of their social inferiors. Women are no exception to this rule. Shaw notes that when women were enfranchised and given the right to sit in Parliament, the first use they made of their votes was to defeat all the women candidates who stood for freedom of the workers and had given them years of distinguished service. They had elected only one titled lady of great wealth. The reason behind such a mistaken choice is due to human nature. Human nature can, of course, be changed through education. But education is provided by the Government and the Government would never like to educate the masses to think against the existing system.

10) How does a civilized society protect its citizens?

Ans- According to Shaw, a civilized society has a Government which frames a constitution enumerating the rights and duties of the citizens. Absolute freedom of the citizens is restricted by the laws of the land, enforced by the police, who will oblige the citizens to do something and not do something else and to pay rates and taxes. If they do not obey these laws, the courts will imprison them and if they go too far, kill them. If the laws are reasonable and impartially administered, the citizens have no reason to complain, because the laws increase their freedom by protecting them against assault, highway robbery, and disorder generally.  

11) How should an intelligent trade union movement conduct its affairs?

Ans- Shaw points out that it becomes very difficult for the employees to work under such tyrannical employers. They have only one remedy, that of joining a trade union movement. The trade unions use the weapon of strike, which is the device of starving on the enemy’s doorstep until justice is done. The extreme form of strike—the general strike of all workers at the same moment—is also the extreme form of human folly, as, if completely carried out, it would extinguish the human race in a week’s time. And the workers will be the first to die. According to Shaw, the general strike is madness. Practical trade unionism would never sanction more than one big strike at a time, with all the other trades working overtime to support it.

12) What are Shaw’s views on working hours and retirement?

Ans- At the end of his essay, “Freedom”, G.B. Shaw tickles our minds with a question: if we had unlimited freedom, would we be able to handle it responsibly? Since absolute freedom is impossible, Shaw leaves his readers to decide for themselves whether, if they had a choice, they would work eight hours a day and retire with a full pension at forty-five, or would they rather work for four hours a day and keep on working till the age of seventy. Shaw wittily concludes the essay by urging his readers to talk this proposition over with their wives and not try to send any replies to him.

13) “Nature may have tricks up her sleeve to check us if the chemists exploit her too greedily”. Critically comment on the statement.

Ans- Science and technology can definitely help produce machines and increase the production of food grains, which would directly help equal distribution of wealth. The author reflects on the fact that, although we can now cultivate the sky as well as the earth by drawing nitrogen from it to enhance the quality of grass, which in turn improves the quality of food given to cattle, and consequently improves our cattle, butter, and poultry, it might prove risky. Shaw here is talking about ecological disturbance, which is the harsh reality of the modern world.

14) How did the author’s forefathers win freedom for themselves? Give some examples.

Ans- Shaw mockingly points out that whenever countries like England or America are attacked by external forces, they try to prevent them. If the said countries are victorious in their assault, they note it down in their history books as the glorious triumphs of patriotism. He gives a few examples. The forceful signing of the Magna Carta by King John; the defeating of the Spanish Armada; the beheading of King Charles; the acceptance of the Bill of Rights by King William; the issue and implementation of the American Declaration of independence; the victory of the battles of Waterloo and Trafalgar and the changing of the German, Austrian, Russian and Ottoman Empires into Republics.  

15) What, according to Shaw, are the factors that lead to the curtailment of the freedom of common men?

Ans- According to Shaw, a lot of factors contribute toward the curtailment of the freedom of common men. First of all, man is a slave to his own bodily desires and needs. Secondly, he becomes a slave to the fancies of his employers, to whom he has to remain obedient in order to feed himself and his family. Thirdly, he is a slave to his landlord. Fourthly, the Government of his country extracts income tax from him. Fifthly, by the opaque education given to him by the Governmental institutions. Finally, his independence is mocked through the flawed institution of voting and democracy.

A.     As a radio talk it was intended for larger audience

B.     Shaw wrote in plain and straightforward style to communicate his ideas to the lay people

C.    The topic was simple

D.    Shaw was instructed to talk in simple language, the audience was lay people.

2.     The essay is ________in tone

A.    Sarcastic

B.     Humorous

C.    Critical

D.    Apparent

3.     Shaw said, ___” made a man of me.”

A.      Sidney Webb

B.      Marx

C.       Shakespeare

D.      Brecht

4.     Shaw subscribed politically to

A.    Marxism

B.     Socialism

C.     Democratic Socialism

D.    Communist

5.     According to Shaw

A.     no man is perfectly free

B.     some men are perfectly free

C.    master classes are perfectly free

6.     Overall, Shaw’s idea of freedom is

A.    Humorous

B.      Ironic

C.    Unpalatable

D.    Politically biased

7.     The concept of Freedom, which Shaw attacks in the essay, was derived from

A.     Enlightenment

B.     Capitalism

C.    Modernism

D.    Industrial Revolution

8.     “Naturally the master class, through its parliaments and schools and newspapers, makes the most desperate efforts to prevent us from realizing our slavery.” Shaw here seems to echo the theories of

A.    Marx and Lenin

B.     Althusser and Gramsci

C.    Trotsky and Stalin

D.    Karl Marx and Thomas More

9.     Shaw makes a reference of Magna Carta

A.    A great event in English history

B.     As an example of how people are duped

C.    As an example to prove how freedom is exploited

D.    As a pretext for slavery

10.   What does Shaw refer to as “this prodigious mass of humbug”

A.     Parliaments, and schools and newspapers

B.     Common people

C.    Master class

11.     What does Shaw mean by the word ‘humbug’

A.      deceptive or false talk or behaviour.

B.      Falsely proud

C.       Insincere and unfaithful

12.    How does Shaw look upon [election] voting rights of the people

A.    A means to progress

B.     Equality and freedom

C.     A trick to dupe the people

13.    According to Shaw, education used

A.     As a tool to dupe people through false ideas

14.   “Whenever  famous  writers  protest  against  this imposture—say  Voltaire  and  Rousseau  and  Tom  Paine in  the  eighteenth  century,  or  Cobbett  and  Shelley,  Karl Marx  and  Lassalle  in  the  nineteenth,  or  Lenin  and Trotsky…” What exactly does Shaw mean by “against this”

A.     Capitalist system of society

15.    How is the master class deluded by “this prodigious mass of humbug”

A.     The capitalist education system instils certain false ideas in them

16.   “I am never controversial over the wireless.” This statement is

A.     Humorously ironic

17.    In the essay, Shaw makes an attack on

A.      Sheeley

B.      Napolean

C.      Aristotle

D.      Tom Paine

18.   “When women were enfranchised…” What is the year?

A.    1919

B.     1918

C.    1916

D.    1691

19.   “…the  arrogance  of  the  master  class are themselves entirely artificial products of

A.     education and of  a  propaganda

20.  “An  opposite  mentality  could, it  is  argued,  be  produced  by  a  contrary  education  and propaganda.” Shaw says this in the context of

A.     “the idolatry of  the  slave  class  and  the  arrogance  of  the master  class”.

21.    “…the idolatry of  the  slave  class  and  the  arrogance  of  the master  class” What does Shaw mean here

A.     The allegiance shown to the political system of the country and the highhandedness of the master class.

22.   “…Nature may have tricks up her sleeve” Shaw here talks against

A.     Overexploitation of the natural resources which may lead to environmental disaster

23.   “…the only advice we can give one another is that of Shakespeare’s Iago: ‘Put money in thy purse.” Shaw here refers to

A.      the practice of hoarding money and making property in capitalist society.

24.  “Now don’t send the answer to me, please talk it over with your wife.” Here Shaw

A.     Leaves the conclusion of the talk to the readers

25.   What is the old word for ‘freedom’ Shaw wants  to use in the essay

A.     Leisure