THE SHY SHAWS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 248, 24 March 1944, Page 10

THE SHY SHAWS

That. Bequest To The Irish Was Not Unexpected

(Written for "The Listener" by

N. F. H.

MacLEOD

{Mrs. Charlotte Frances Shaw, wife of Mr. George Bernard Shaw, who died on September 22, left £154,967 gross and £150,976 net personalty. After leaving £20,000 on trust for a niece and various small bequests, she left the residue on trust for her husband for life. On his death a large portion of the estate becomes a "fund from which grants will be made to conquer shyness among the people of her native Ireland, and to further the art of social intercourse among’ them.’’-Cable item.] * we % Bernard Shaw, commenting on his wife’s bequest, said: ‘"‘That part of the will does not come into operation till I am dead. A considerable number of people have already written to me from Ireland to get hold of it. They are not going to get it. What I have I hold. Mr. Churchill’s attitude is my atti-tude."-Cable item. 3 HERE is no reason to suppose that Shaw’s remarks about holding what he has, like Mr. Churchill, were spoken impromptu. He has had many years in which to anticipate the reaction of the uplifters to Mrs. Shaw’s bequest for the conquering of shyness. But the will itself! Will not the very’ wording of it\shed dews of healing and benediction upon millions of souls now inhibited and frustrated by shyness. To those who have seen Shaw always as an exhibitionist and a mountebank, how incredible that Mrs. Shaw should have lived so happily with him all these years, and while looking after this impudent man, keeping the house quiet for his work, meeting his famous friends, travelling to exciting places, and listening to the most brilliant talkers in the world-that she should all the time have had more compassion for the awkward and inarticulate than admiration for the easy and garrulous! Reception in Christchurch But I am not surprised! I saw her once. It was when the Shaws visited Christchurch, and were given a reception in the Civic Theatre. It was packed with an audience whose facial expressions, if caught, would have been the

proverbial artist’s fortune. Was it more in wonder than in pleasure? Or more in awe than understanding? I cannot tell. But when Shaw made a not particularly mirth-provoking or typically Shavian joke, they rocked and rocked with self-conscious and sycophantic laughter. Shaw tried not to look irritated, but Mrs. Shaw, if I am not mistaken, looked sorry for us. There she sat, comely, kindly and silent, but not missing a shade of feeling or meaning. There were interviews with her husband in the papers, but no word about herself, for no publicity was allowed. Mrs. Shaw habitually refused the limelight and kept herself to herself. Two Forms of Shyness The will mentions two manifestations of shyness, "awkwardness of manner," and "vulgarisms of speech." And Mrs. Shaw believed that "the most highlyinstructed and capable persons" are very often those who are thus afflicted, and that these defects are curable and must be cured if the world is to benefit by their knowledge and skill. No one who has learned to love Shaw for his life-long, untiring and ceaseless efforts to shock, jolt and jolly people into a more sympathetic understanding of one another, will doubt his complete sympathy with the objects of the bequest. We can imagine many discussions by the Shaws about the disposal of their separate and combined fortunes. What fascinating and facetious suggestions G.B.S. would make! Lucky (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) wife and lucky friends who shared in that delightful nonsense! But this idea if of a school for the cure of shyness was what many a kind woman might suggest, but what almost any other kind man would have dismissed as silly and impracticable. Bernard Shaw, bless him, does not consider it silly and impracticable. Who Suggested It? I wonder when the Shaws first thought of it? Had that shyest of shy men, John Masefield, been in to tea? I am sure that it had nothing to do with their friend W. H. Davies. tramp though he was, for I cannot imagine that impenitent hobo ever being shy. G.B.S. himself was once so sensitive, he tells us, that tears would fill his eyes at’ an unkind word from anyone. And does he not describe his early anxious perusal of books about etiqtiette, so that he would not do the wrong thing when invited out to dinner? He did not wish to embarrass his host nor to be a bad advertisement for his principles. The Root Cause But there was more to it than that. He saw that the root cause of nervousness lies in the fear that goes with false shame, and that it is unjust and unkind that people should be made to suffer uneasiness through their consciousness of defects and crudities for which social conditions, and not, themselves, are to blame, Let them be ashamed of nothing but insincerity and unreality! Hear Jack Tanner in Man and Superman:"We are ashamed of ev ing that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our accents, of our opinions .. ashamed to walk, ashamed to hire a hansom instead of -s a carriage, ashamed of keeping one horse instead of two. . . . Cultivate a little impudence, Ramsden, and you will become a 1emarkable man." "This is all very well," I hear someone say, "but many otherwise estimable people are conventional and unimaginative in their views of behaviour, and how can I keep fearing their mis-judg-ments?" Where manners and customs are a fine art perfected by centuries of subtle usage, I think Shaw would say that if you are like him, you will be humble enough to conform. But you must never cease to profess and practise a philosophy that includes and allows for everyone, and this implies a recognition of the fundamental equality of all people. Even if success and position were the invariable and proportionate rewards of superiority, which they are far from being, Shaw sees it as odious egotism to harden the recognition of them into a ritual dominating all relationships with those who are less fortunate or successful. Is Shyness Attractive? Angela Thirkell seems to say that shyness is an added attraction, if you are well-bred. But if you are common, the great gulf remains! Not so the Shaws! Give them even commonness if accompanied by sincerity and originality, rather than pruned and prismed sameness and _ staleness. Pygmalion shows how superficial may be "the tricks and traits of gentility," and how easily acquired by imitative people shallowly aware of the social advantages of graces. I am certain that the Shaws would not approve of a narrow application of their wishes. "Vulgarisms of speech" is a vague phrase, and I do not think they would wish to refine away from Mr. Semple, say, the Rabelaisian vividness

of his metaphors. Nor would they wish to hear the American Marines speaking standard English. And is there not charm in the awkwardness that so often goes with deep reserve and sensitiveness? I always relish the remark of an English lady in a novel by O. Douglas: "I always think Scotsmen so very reliable, perhaps because their manners are not very good."