버나드 쇼 희극의 권력과 코나투스의 충돌과 반전구조 —<워렌부인의 직업>, <피그말리언>, <캔디다>, <바바라 소령>, <상심의 집>, <성녀 조안>을 중심으로—

Abstract

This study is to investigate the unique dramatic techniques and a few philosophical themes in some of G. Bernard Shaw's comedies of ideas. Shaw made much efforts to deliver some practical epistemic answers regarding how to live and how to see in the world to his spectators at the theatre based on such major ideas as Bergson's creative evolutionary energy, Nietzsche's Intuition, and Spinoza's conatus, which is a strong desire to survive or overcome the hardships with other people in the unpredictable society. This thesis analyzes the structure of reversal and subversion between conatus and power derived from capital, religion, and politics, which have been mainly and consistently described in Shaw's six famous comedies; Mrs Warren's Profession, Pygmalion, Candida, Major Barbara, Heartbreak House, and Saint Joan. Shaw denounced cynically and satirically such serious and dark social problems as poverty, prostitution, marriage, war, female, religion, language, manners, and hierarchy which most major characters confronted in their immoral and hypocritical communities around the Victorian period. He tried to make his spectators find out the proper feasible keys to solve the heavy issues through forming the stage of discussion and argument in the theatre. Most men of power have had the trouble with defending their social authority castle, habitus from the ordinary or low level class. Pierre Bourdieu's habitus is a social habit which has been required by education, family background, economic competence, income, sociality, marriage, personal relations, housing, and jobs. While Shaw's upper class characters tried to protect their own habitus formed by capital and religious privileges, low level people gave themselves trouble about attaining the high habitus by education, marriage, and deceit. Although Shaw's characters failed to get higher positions or habitus by several means, it may be essential and urgent for them to realize the following spiritual recognitions like intuition and insight of Spinoza, Bergson, and Nietzsche. Shaw warned the danger of conatus' loss while characters went through the blockage in the society, as well as urged them to set up their independent habitus based on conatus, unconstrained emotion, joy, and freedom. Vivie, Candida, Eugene, Shotovor, Ellie, Barbara, and Saint Joan can be Shaw's heros and heroines who are supposed to resist and destruct the social structure which has threatened their existences and conatus, energy for survival.