Social Critique and Comedic Reconciliation in Shaw's You Never Can Tell

Abstract

The romantic comedy You Never Can Tell provides a dual love story; it focuses on the courtship of a young couple but also on the possible reunion of family members who, in their indignation over past wrongs, are self-focused and unwilling to compromise. The waiter in George Bernard Shaw's play reassures these obstinate individuals of improved relations with the words 'You never can tell, a phrase so central to the play's optimistic philosophy that it serves as the title. While the refrain you never can tell proffers seemingly lukewarm advice for such a dynamic experience as falling in love, the philosophy, in fact, allows Shaw to mitigate between two opposing poles: a firmly held critique about the social institution of marriage and a credible faith in the human capacity to love and forgive. You Never Can Tell is traditionally considered a precursor to Shaw's greater work, Man and Superman, for both plays involve a husband-catching wife and a man who is tentative about marriage. However, viewing You Never Can Tell as merely a prelude for Shaw's theories of Creative Evolution and the Life Force unnecessarily diminishes the play. The comparison applies only if we overlook the main character's feminist position, if we insist on seeing her as a romantic heroine who finds her true self when she falls in love and discards her rigid feminist sensibility. In fact, this play can be seen